Sunday, August 27, 2006

New Zealand history and the Treaty of Waitangi--Part IV (of IV)

A new Maori movement was underway midway through the 1900s led by inspired leaders, including a new spiritual movement and an effort to integrate into politics. In 1943 Maori held four parliamentary seats and in the late 1940s they were instrumental in holding together a Labour coalition to govern. Maori started to receive some of the extra help they needed: there was a higher expenditure on Maori schools, housing, and welfare. Maori pensions amounts were brought into line with Pakeha pensions and unemployment payments were likewise made equal, where in the past both had been lower based on a specious argument that Maori needed less. Some 280,000 Maori lived in New Zealand in 1980, a number vastly larger than ever before. Maori language continued to be taught in Maori schools and universities, community buildings were erected in large numbers and customs became a treasured part of society. Still, the claims of the Treaty of Waitangi continued over decades into the 1980s and 1990s.

An act of 1985 enabled Maori to take complaints about the non-fulfillment of the Treaty of Waitangi before the Waitangi Tribunal, a permanent government commission. Work toward this effort became a strong focus for Maori and the government minister for treaty settlements was equally committed. The first large settlement was about fisheries and Maori rights to fish. The case was argued for years and finally settled in court in 1992.

In December 1994 the government launched a plan to settle all Treaty claims by the year 2000. Settlements were made with iwi mostly over land issues. At June 1998 some 720 claims were still outstanding and approximately 70 new claims were sent to the tribunal each year. The target completion date of 2000 was likely to be passed. By the end of 2003 18 settlements had been made at a cost of about $718 million.

For all political parties, the subject of the Treaty of Waitangi is critical to their election platform. A political stance on the Treaty indicates how you feel Maori grievances are perceived and how claims are to be treated, IF the party believes they should be fulfilled at all.

An interesting news story came out a week ago about one of the settlements. The 1997 settlement with Ngai Tahu, the name of an iwi tribe, was originally for $170 million. This iwi decided to bank the full amount of the settlement and it is now worth some $500 million. Last week the iwi launched its own savings scheme with the settlement moneys. Each one of the iwi’s 37,000 members is entitled to get direct financial benefit from the settlement.

Rather than give out lump sums to each member at the time of the settlement, the iwi decided to provide for future generations. The scheme (NZ uses this term with a positive connotation but it always catches me up!) is called Whai Rawa (pronounced feye rawa, wh=f sound) and registered members who save $1 will receive an equal match for savings from the iwi at the end of every year. Children will get matched $4 for every $1. Savers can only withdraw money during their lifetime to pay for three purposes: college education costs, first home purchase, or retirement. The New Zealand Finance Minister was present at the announcement of this scheme and described Whai Rawa as “social entrepreneurialism.”

Thus concludes Angela’s most briefest ever look at Maori history. For some, it wasn’t brief enough, but I hope some of you enjoyed it . . . I know it has helped me to better understand the culture I now inhabit, a culture that is tied very closely to Maori as well as Western influences. Plus I learned a few nifty new words in a new language.

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