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UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND                                                     TE WĀNANGA O WAIPAPA – MĀORI STUDIES

MAORI 732 TINO RANGATIRATANGA

   2019, Semester I (30 points)

 Description

An examination of rangatiratanga as expressed in He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; how it is exercised; and a theoretical framework for the analysis of cultural politics between Māori and Pākehā and between indigenous people and coloniser states.

Course Convenor

Professor Margaret Mutu

Office: Rehutai (Building 253) Room 206

Phone: +64 9 9237465 or leave a message with +64 9 9238506

Email: m.mutu@auckland.ac.nz 

Coursework

 Three assignments and a seminar:

  • Assignment 1: Literature Review 15%. Due 25 March.
  • Assignment 2: Topic from the Literature worth 25%.  Due 19 April.
  • Assignment 3: Major Research Project worth 40%. Due 31 May.
  • Seminar: Worth 20% on your major research project.This will be presented in the week prior to the project being due (the week of 20 May at a time agreeable for all the class).

Topics for assignments:

Assignment 1:

Topic: Provide an outline and commentary of all substantive works published to date on tino rangatiratanga.

For this you need to locate all literature on tino rangatiratanga and then review it (describing what each work covers and the approach it takes and then providing critical comments on whether the work provides a fair description/assessment of tino rangatiratanga).

You need to start with a clear definition and description of tino rangatiratanga and more specifically, its application in He Wakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tireni (the Declaration of Independence/Sovereignty – hereafter He Wakaputanga) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (hereafter Te Tiriti). To help you formulate that please look at the basic works in this area such as

  • chapter 4 and chapter 5 ofNgāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation Margaret Mutu et al. Wellington, Huia. 2017.
  • ‘The Humpty Dumpty Principle at work: The role of mistranslation in the British Settlement of Aotearoa. ‘He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni’ and ‘The Declaration of Independence’ by Margaret Mutu in Sabine Fenton (ed.)For better or for worse: Translation as a tool for change in the Pacific. Manchester UK, St Jerome 2004. 11-36.
  • ‘Constitutional Intentions: The Treaty Text’ by Margaret Mutu in Mulholland, Malcolm and Veronica Tāwahi (eds). Weeping Waters,Wellington, Huia, 2010. Pp. 13-40.

These works take a Māori studies and linguistic (translation studies) approach.

A careful legal philosophical and tikanga-based analysis of Māori views of how rangatiratanga should be excercised is taken in

  • He Whakaaro Here Whakaumu Mō Aotearoa: The Report of Matike Mai Aotearoa – The Independent Working Group on Constitutional Transformationby Moana Jackson, National Iwi Chairs Forum and University of Auckland, 2016 available at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/MatikeMaiAotearoaReport.pdf

This is a very important report in that it sets down the foundations for constitutional transformation in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

A very thorough historical, legal philosophical and Māori studies approach is taken in the Waitangi Tribunal's account of He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti provided in

It is well worth taking careful note of this report bearing in mind that it was written for the Crown/government, conveying the Tribunal’s interpretation of Ngāpuhi’s and Te Taitokerau’s understandings of the context and meaning of He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti.

 You also need to consider

  • Colonising Myths, Māori Realities: He Rukuruku Whakaaroby Ani Mikaere. Wellington, Huia, 2011.
  • The State of Māori Rightsby Margaret Mutu. Wellington, Huia, 2011.
  • Weeping Waters: The Treaty of Waitangi and Constitutional Changeedited by Malcolm Mulholland and Veronica Tawhai. Wellington, Huia, 2010.
  • Mana tangata: The politics of empowermentedited by H.T.Janke and M.Mulholland. Wellington, Huia, 2011.

 And of course a major source is the  

  • Waitangi Tribunal reports

These are the basic texts and most are readings for undergraduate Māori studies courses. In preparing your review you need to locate all other writings and commentaries on tino rangatiratanga and its application deriving from He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti (using both the library and on-line materials). In particular you should consider the works of Moana Jackson, Edward Taihākurei Durie, Mason Durie and the more recently compiled hapū and iwi accounts and books.

You should also consider the international benchmarks for indigenous peoples’ sovereignty and self-determination to see how they compare with Māori understandings of tino rangatiratanga. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the formally recognised benchmark and there are a number of commentaries on it. The works of the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the rights of indigenous peoples, especially those of James Anaya, are helpful here as well. You should check the United Nations Human Rights Council website (and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) for the most recent publications in this area.

 Assignment 2:  

Topic: Choose a specific topic that you want to follow up out of your readings and carry out a more in depth study and critique of it.

Please discuss with the Course Convenor the topic you would like to choose before starting in this assignment.  

 Assignment 3: Major Research Project

 Topic: Choose a topic arising out of your readings or anything else you may like to choose and carry out an in depth study and analysis of it.

This research project may carry on from your second assignment. Please discuss the assignment and project with the Course Convenor first.

Seminar:  

Topic: Your major research project 

The seminar will be delivered to the class. Your presentation should take between 15 and 20 minutes to allow 10 minutes discussion.

The purpose of the seminar is to ensure you can explain and discuss your research clearly and succinctly and to provide you with comment and feedback on your research to date. You must have completed the first draft of Assignment 3 before you deliver your seminar.

 Possible Suggestions (only) for Research Projects

  1. If anyone would like to take a language approach, you could search the 19th century Maori language newspapers to see how the word rangatiratanga was being used in the late 19thand early 20th centuries and consider whether its meaning has changed. 
  2. A case study of an area you are particularly familiar with (as examples, a block of your own whanau land, or, your children’s kohanga reo, or, this university). 
    1. Consider how the example would function if tino rangatiratanga was upheld.
    2. Describe how it actually functions.
    3. Using the criteria established in (a), critique the current functioning of your example in terms of tino rangatiratanga and suggest changes that may be needed to uphold tino rangatiratanga (if it is needed).
  3. Consider whether and how the New Zealand government complies with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or, whether and how it complies with specific articles of the Declaration.
  4. Consider one or two Tiriti o Waitangi settlements you are familiar with and consider whether and how they uphold the mana and tino rangatiratanga of the claimants.

 

 

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due