Te Mana O Te Tiriti : The Living Treaty, 1st Edition

The Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the Maori chiefs of New Zealand and the British Crown is the subject today of much discussion, writing and debate. Europeans sometimes express surprise at this great interest. Maori are not surprised. The Treaty has never gone away for them. It has always been a living Treaty and a document about the rights of both the new arrivals (Tauiwi) and those already here (Tangata whenau). A symbol Maori used for the how they expected the Treaty of Waitangi to work was that of a finely balanced house. New Zealand was the house and the rafters on one side were the Moari and the rafters on the other side were the European. The ridge pole on which they whole structure leans was the English Crows and law of God. This is why Maori today say the Treaty has not been honoured - that culturally, socially, politically and economically, the European rafters have been strengthened over the last 150 years while the Maori ones have been weakened. And this is why people began to speak of a journey in 1990 which would involve the peaceful transferring of some of the strength from the rafters on one side of the house to the rafters on the other to make both sides more even and therefore the whole structure more stable and strong. This book looks at the main events and thinking that led up to and beyond the Treaty of Waitangi and the linking of the two rafters to the one ridge pole.