The ‘unsettledness’ of Treaty settlements

In the eyes of the law, Treaty of Waitangi settlements are deemed full and final. But research by a Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington PhD graduate shows they are not the end of the road.

Woman in orange hi vis vest with pine forest behind her with evidence of fire.

Margaret Kawharu (Ngāti Whātua/Mahurehure) completed her PhD in New Zealand Studies via the Stout Research Centre, and says, “There’s an inherent contradiction in treaty settlements, namely that the unintended consequence of them is that there is more ‘unsettledness’ post-settlement,”

Margaret’s research draws on her extensive experience working on Treaty of Waitangi claims and in governance roles for her iwi, Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara—her thesis is a case study of the iwi’s settlement, which was lodged in 1992 and settled in 2013.

“I wanted to explore the realities of unsettledness, so looked to my own iwi’s experience with the treaty settlement I had helped manage.”

She says reaching a settlement is not the be all and end all for tribal groups.

“Once people have been through a treaty claim process, got through negotiations to settlement, they want to focus on the positive, but what I was wanting to do with this doctoral thesis was to make not only the whānau, but also the general public more aware of the complexities.”

She says a treaty settlement is an inherently optimistic process because it is perceived to bring justice to long-held grievances and acknowledge hurt.

“But despite the financial redress and degree of rangatiratanga [self-determination] a treaty settlement brings about, I have found it is also another form of colonisation. It entrenches norms and behaviours that comply with the institutional framework of the Crown yet does not offer the comparable power and resources to the settling group to effect major change to those legislative and bureaucratic institutions,” she explains.

“Though a settlement provides a framework in principle for reparation, further negotiation with the Crown is often required to finalise it, which can be difficult to achieve.”

Margaret says a tribe’s post-settlement governance entity often has such a raft of tasks to achieve, it detracts from their ability to invest settlement money and make it work for their people.

“Consequently, the logistics of post-settlement are plagued with complexities and distractions, which can cause division and disappointment within the settling group in their struggle to meet their own expectations.”

However, a settlement also provides opportunities for empowerment and transformation by providing more assets, resources and mechanisms of self-governance and co-governance than the iwi had before, says Margaret.

Her research has shown that rigorous debate post-settlement has been necessary for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara to determine what is important to them, and in that way it will prompt creative and innovative approaches to best support and uplift whānau.

“There’s a strong will to continue to evolve, to fulfil the hopes of those kaumātua who lodged the treaty claim to provide a more settled future for generations of Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara to come,” she says. “The original claim committee was made up of kaumātua who put in a huge amount of effort very unselfishly for the bigger picture—I felt an obligation to honour them and remember them with my thesis.”

Margaret says she hopes her research helps tribes engaging in treaty settlements to remember that the process is an ongoing dialogue.

“Reaching a settlement isn’t the end of the hard work: I think of the Treaty of Waitangi/te Tiriti o Waitangi as living documents and I think a settlement is much the same.”

Margaret, who was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2012 for services to Māori, says her research is also a continuation of pioneering work by her late father, Sir Hugh Kawharu. Sir Hugh—himself a Te Herenga Waka alumnus—was a scholar and prominent tribal leader of Ngāti Whātua who is best remembered for his translation of te Tiriti o Waitangi from a Māori perspective.

“Treaty issues were a topic you couldn’t avoid in our family,” she laughs. “I definitely felt a sense of duty to do something useful in this field, but I also loved anthropology as a lens, so this research stems from a true passion.”

Margaret is looking forward to Te Hui Whakapūmau on December 13.

“It’s very exciting to be among the first Te Herenga Waka students to attend a graduation ceremony at Ngā Mokopuna—it will be a real honour.”

Read The Unsettledness of Treaty Settlements: Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara - a case study, by Margaret Kawharu.


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