ka tipu haere te aro ki te tiriti

Mai i ngā 1930 ka kaha ake te minamina o ngā tāngata o Aotearoa kia noho te Tiriti o Waitangi hei tuhinga taketake mō tēnei whenua. I te tau 1932 ka kohaina e Kāwana-Tiānara Lord Bledisloe me tana wahine te pito whenua i hainatia ai te Tiriti ki te motu.

Ko te wawata ia, kia noho hei wāhi whakamaumahara ki te hononga ahurei o te Māori me te Karauna, i tohua e te whakaaetanga i tatū ki Waitangi i te tau 1840. Ka whakatūria he poari kaitiaki he Māori, he Pākehā anō ōna mema hei whakahaere i te wāhi nei. E rua tau i muri mai, ko tōna 10,000 ngā Māori i puta ake ki te whakanui i te rā i hainatia ai te Tiriti. Ko te tuatahi tēnei o ngā huihuinga maha ki Waitangi ka tū i te 6 Pepuere i ia tau.

Te Tiriti: he ngutu kau, he kōrero pono rānei

Ko ngā whakanuitanga i te kotahi rau tau mai i te hainatanga i te tau 1940, i āhua tāmarutia e te urunga anō o Aotearoa ki te pakanga. Engari i whakamahia e te kāwanatanga ngā mahi whakanui i Waitangi hei whakakotahi i ngā iwi e rua i runga i te whakahīhī tahi ki tō tātou nei motu. Ka whakatuwheratia he whare rūnanga hou (te “marae o runga”), he mea āta whakairo, āta hanga i raro i a Ngata. Ka whakatairanga ngā nūpepa i te noho tāhuhu mai o te Tiriti i roto i ngā kōrero o Aotearoa, hei kaupapa taketake mō tēnei whenua.  

Engari kāore a Ngata i huna i tana whakaaro me whai tonu te kāwanatanga ki te rongoā i ngā hē o mua, kia taea ai e te iwi Māori te “whakakopi ō rātou mata ki ngā mahi o mua”. Tērā pea e tipu ana te mana aro whakamuri o te Tiriti ki ētahi Pākehā tokomaha, engari ko te noho tawhiti tonu o ngā kupu o te Tiriti me ngā āhuatanga kua pā ki ngā iwi Māori maha i te 100 tau mai i te hainatanga, ka noho tonu hei take e matangurunguru ai ētahi o ngā kaihautū Māori. 

Engari nō te tau 1960 rawa i whakamanatia ai te Rā o Waitangi hei “rā whakawhetai ā-motu”.

Kua riro kē ko te 6 Pepuere tētahi rā e whakatairite ai te iwi Māori i ngā āhuatanga pono me ngā ngutu kau. Engari nō te tau 1960 rawa i whakamanatia ai te Rā o Waitangi hei “rā whakawhetai ā-motu”. Nō te tau 1973 i riro ai hei rā whakatā tūmatanui. Ka haere ōna tautohetohe, ā, i te tau 1974 ka hurihia te ingoa ki te Rā o Aotearoa. Engari i te tau 1976 ka hoki anō ki te Rā o Waitangi.

Te tipu haere o te mana taurite: ngā 1930 ki ngā 1940

E pai haere ana te noho taha ohaoha o te nuinga o ngāi Māori i te wāhanga whakamutunga o ngā 1930. Me kōrero i konei a T.W. Rātana, te poropiti Māori nui i arotahi ki ngā mōrehu, ki te hunga rawakore. Nāna tētahi kaupapa tōrangapū whai tikanga tonu i whakaara ake i te tau 1928. Ka mahi ngātahi ia me te kāwanatanga Reipa tuatahi i muri i te tau 1935, ā, autaia ana ngā painga i puta ki te Māori i raro i te kaupapa tiaki tangata a taua kāwanatanga.

I te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao he nui atu i te 27,000 ngā tāngata Māori (he tata ki te hautoru tēnei o te taupori Māori) i whakakorikorihia kia uru ki te pakanga e te Māori War Effort Organisation. I muri i te pakanga o ngā tau 1914–1918, ko te tohe a ngā hōia Māori i hoki mai, kāore rātou i whiwhi i ngā āwhina i whiwhi rā ō rātou hoa Pākehā. Heoi anō, he kaupapa here ōpaki kē pea tēnei – ehara i te kaupapa here ōkawa. Kāore i āta aukatihia ngā hōia Māori i hoki mai i te Pakanga Tuarua. I taurite ake te āhua o te tohatoha i te “utu rongomau” i tēnei wā. Waihoki, i te tau 1947, ka whakakorehia te kupu “Native” i whakaaro rā ētahi he kupu whakaparahako, ka whakamanatia kētia ko te kupu “Māori”. I te tau 1948 ka riro ko Tipi Ropiha te Māori tuatahi kia noho hei kaihautū i te Tari Take Māori.

Ka tutuki haere pea i konei tēnei mea te whiwhinga ōrite. I mua atu i tēnei whakaohorere ana tērā te ōrau o ngā kōhungahunga Māori e matemate ana, tae atu ki ērā atu inenga mō te pai, te hē rānei o te noho. Engari ināianei kua pai haere, kua tata ake ki ō te iwi Pākehā. Otirā, arā tonu ētahi Māori i matangerengere i te mea i rangitahi noa te mana motuhake o te Māori i te wā o te pakanga. Heoi anō te mea i toe mai, ko ngā komiti ā-iwi me ngā komiti whāiti āhua ngoikore ake i whakatūria i raro i te ture o te tau 1945.