KIA KOTAHI TĀTOU MŌ TIAKI TAONGA💯🐋🌿🌐

He pitopito kōrero mō ngā kaupapa
huhua o Wai 262 - Tiaki Taonga
i runga i ngā take o te wā mō Kanohi Ora.
Tiaki Taonga: Principled, Valued, Steadfast

Wai 262 through to Tiaki Taonga has had a generation to germinate, with many hands nurturing its shoots into a living framework kia ora ai tātou katoa kei waenga i a Rangi rāua ko Papa.

The principles and values of Tiaki Taonga are constitutional to the movement mō ake, ake, ake tonu atu rā. No matter what single ACT is committed upon the ground we stand, the seeds of our inherited legacy will grow with these principles and values kia pūmau tonu ai te mauri o Wai 262: 

  1. That the mauri of taonga Māori including mātauranga Māori is affirmed as an intrinsic value in its own right. 

  2. That the relationships of taonga Māori with other taonga, and the whakapapa relationships of taonga Māori with Māori people, whānau, hapū and iwi is affirmed. 

  3. That the mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga of kaitiaki (whether expressed and implemented by Māori people, whānau, hapū or iwi) with our taonga Māori is guaranteed, actively protected and enhanced.

  4. That the mana whakahaere and exercise of kaitiakitanga in relation to taonga is exercised in a manner that supports the benefit and wellbeing of all Māori and, in consequence thereof, of benefit to Aotearoa/New Zealand overall.

  5. That the obligation of manaakitanga is upheld for the collective benefit of all. 

  6. That the Crown obligations as an active and engaged partner under Te Tiriti o Waitangi are upheld to the fullest: 

  • To recognise, provide for and ensure compliance with the rights, interests, responsibilities and obligations of Māori in relation to taonga and associated mātauranga. 
  • To actively protect taonga and mātauranga by building and strengthening the system process and tools to ensure the implementation of Tiaki Taonga.
  • To ensure that the ongoing development and application of taonga and associated mātauranga by way of Tiaki Taonga must align with the values and aspirations of Māori as expressed by Māori. 
  • To empower and resource Māori to develop, protect and uphold the diversity and integrity of taonga and associated mātauranga over successive generations. 
  • To evaluate and monitor the various Crown’s agencies responsible for giving effect to the implementation, enforcement and monitoring of Tiaki Taonga as it relates to taonga and associated matauranga.

“A key issue arising in Wai 262, therefore, is how and whether the kind of provision for kaitiakitanga and mātauranga Māori to be found in the [Treaty] settlements process can be normalised before that process is over” 

Tiaki Taonga: Make it the Norm

Whether and how to normalise the kind of “provision for kaitiakitanga and mātauranga Māori” seen in Treaty settlements’: here, the Waitangi Tribunal was pointing out the randomness and iniquity that happens if Aotearoa relies on historical Treaty settlements as “the principal vehicle for protecting mātauranga Māori and taonga” (p247). They were also affirming that there are aspects of some settlements that show the willingness (sometimes) of Kāwanatanga “to share control of taonga with kaitiaki, protect mātauranga Māori, and support the transmission of that mātauranga to future generations” (p246). Because taonga tūturu are taonga tūturu, regardless of whomsoever is in Kāwanatanga, right? The Tribunal also pointed out that settlements can’t be all bad when they are one of the few forms of legislation that enjoy bipartisan support across Parliament when they are passed into law.

As an example, a normal provision in Treaty settlements now are Taonga Tūturu Protocols. These are protocols that require a process whereby the Ministry for Culture & Heritage actually talk to mana whenua when it comes to taonga from their area (which should be normal!). The types of taonga these protocols are particularly concerned with are the kinds you’d see in a museum; “artefacts” you might call them: objects more than 50 years old, manufactured or used by Māori, that relate to our culture, history or society. 

Normalising a system where Kāwanatanga engages with the right people when it comes to who “owns” their taonga… It’s hardly aspirational but it is something to tick off the list of what still needs doing (‘cause the scattergun approach is dumb). Perhaps, while we’re at it, we can raise the bar by normalising the importance of hapū to taonga tuku iho and consensus-based decision making?

What most certainly needs to be on the must-do-now list for Kāwanatanga is removing the presumption from the Protected Objects Act 1975 that “Any taonga tūturu found anywhere in New Zealand or within the territorial waters of New Zealand [is] the property of the Crown”. Did someone say, “Not even, eow”?

Āe mārika, there is a role for Kāwanatanga to actively protect taonga found by the general public, and yes there may be a place for the Māori Land Court in the administration; but c’mon, is the presumption of ownership really necessary in law (let alone the truth)? Is that really the glass ceiling we’ve reached in Crown/Māori relations? We say kāhore and kia kaha tonu tātou on all counts!

The Problem (at least part of it)

Legislation for "protected objects" doesn't protect the relationship of kaitiaki with
their tikanga, mātauranga, and taonga works. 

The Solution (at least part of it)

"The legislation could [state] that there [is] prima facie ownership of the taonga in the tangata whenua of the rohe that the taonga was found until claims to that taonga were contested and if so, resolved according to tikanga. 
(Closing submissions for Ngāti Kurī, Ngāti Wai and Te Rarawa, 2007, para 559)
BTW props to Ngāti Porou for the Cultural Heritage Expo they ran earlier this year as an exemplary measure to promote among their own people the Taonga Tūturu Protocol negotiated through their Treaty settlement.
Digitization of Kōrero Tuku Iho

While we’re on the topic of normalising Kāwanatanga provisions for kaitiakitanga and mātauranga Māori, let’s call out funding arrangements for digitization programmes.

Digitization programmes have been a lifeline for precious records of kōrero tuku iho held on “at-risk” legacy media i.e. those which are especially vulnerable to deterioration or where playback hardware is increasingly hard to come by. Go ask your nearest tween for a VHS, tape cassette, or CD player, and they’ll be like, what? The threat of deterioration is just as real for paper records too, like manuscripts and minute books. If those records are lost or simply ruined by time, that mātauranga can be lost with it.

Normalising the accessibility of digitization programmes, the kinds of which have been run through Archives NZ (the funding for which has not been continued) and the Rokirokitia programme run through Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision (which is not currently active), is some of what Kāwanatanga can do to support the cultural sovereignty of kaitiaki within a digital context, by sharing digital tools for cultural protection. Normalising this would mean taking the politics out of the funding that literally saves physical records of mātauranga tuku iho. Kia kaha rā koutou o Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga me Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision! 

Data sovereignty has been on our minds through the digitization of Wai 262 records which hold mātauranga tuku iho; in some cases, of a tapu nature; in all cases, requiring that decision-making lies with the most appropriate kaitiaki of that taonga. These are some of the real issues which our team have been thinking about and working on with tech companies to consider best practice and leading options for digitization and data sovereignty. 

Threats to digital security are real and we must be vigilant in our execution; but the bottom line for Tiaki Taonga is that repositories of mātauranga must be safeguarded and preserved for future generations.

Tiaki Taonga & Rongoā Māori
"Wai 262...is about, basically, who owns the rights to Māori culture, who controls that? It's a silly question and it's an even sillier answer." 
(Adrian Peachey)

“Me whakarongo ki ngā kōrero o ō tātou mātua, ō tātou tūpuna.
Kei roto o a rātou kōrero ngā rongoā.
Me kore koe e rongo kua kore koe e mōhio te rongoā."
(Papa Tohe)

Watch this short documentary directed by Ngāriki Ngatae, “Te Wao Nui” (2020), which shows Papa Tohe Ashby and Papa Hori Parata in action; practicing mātauranga tuku iho for the preservation of taonga in Te Wao Nui. It’s a stellar example for Tiaki Taonga of respectful and wholesome documenting that gives the feels and helps the cause: kei runga noa atu! 

Illustrating the concept that rongoā Māori goes beyond a human-centric treatment of dis-ease; and beautifully demonstrating the relationship of kaitiaki to tangible taonga through mātauranga tuku iho, to show that rongoā Māori is more than just “green medicine”, even when it’s applied to our green tuākana i Te Wao Nui. 

Papa Tohe was among those who gathered at Otiria marae earlier this month for the Taitokerau Rongoā Māori hui-ā-rohe. How Tiaki Taonga can support the taonga they work with, including their practice of mātauranga, continues to be a kaupapa kōrero they're engaging with.  

Tiaki Taonga is not about Māori regulating Māori. It’s about the need to regulate Kāwantanga in their use, applications, and treatment of our taonga and mātauranga.
Learn about the cost of "Free" Trade

Tiaki Taonga is about more than the ability to be consulted or express opinions on the use of taonga; it’s about the specific ability to control mātauranga in its various manifestations. And talk about trying to do that in the age of the World Wide Web, what?! 

Therein lies the concern when it comes to the influence of International Free Trade Agreements (“FTAs”), like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement 2016 (TPPA & CPTPP); the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement with Chile, Singapore 2021; the UK NZ FTA 2022; and the EU NZ FTA 2024, especially in the context of digital trade and e-commerce.

FTAs set the rules about what state parties (those are countries that have signed up to the agreement) can and cannot try to regulate, even in their own domestic markets. Less regulation by Kāwanatanga for more competition in the economy - a pillar of the neoliberal agenda - makes it more difficult (if not altogether impossible) to protect mātauranga Māori in the global marketplace. It’s the same old problem wrapped up in international gift-wrap: that mātauranga and taonga tuku iho can potentially be used (at a global scale) without consent. 

It’s what the late, great Moana Jackson might've called out as “new yet old colonisation”: where FTAs are designed, negotiated and executed in spite of mana Māori and tino rangatiratanga; where the outcomes of those agreements can diminish the ability of kaitiaki Māori to exercise their mana motuhake over their taonga, yet elevate the control of players overseas. Because nothing (especially not “free trade”) comes for free. 

If you want to know more about FTAs and their implications on Māori control of taonga in the digital space, you can check out some awesome resources that have been developed by Ngā Toki Whakarururanga: on Digital Trade Rules & Te Tiriti, Digital Colonisation, Māori Data, FTAs Big Tech, Digital Targeting, AI & Surveillance, Impact of FTAs on Māori Creatives, and a Digital Trade Deep Dive.

Their efforts are among those that have received support through the Whakaaro kia Whai Hua fund, an outcome of our collaborative investment initiative with Te Pae Tawhiti for Wai 262; in this case, to raise awareness of FTAs and develop strategies for the protection of mātauranga Māori. Members of our own Kahu Aronui and Puna of technicians were fortunate enough to take a two-day deep-dive with FTA expert and Ngā Toki Whakarururanga pūkenga Jane Kelsey.

Tēnā koutou te toa takitini e mahi tahi ana mō te aha,
mō te tiaki taonga te take!
What's On

An opportunity for claimant whānau and iwi, together with other kaitiaki and aligned collectives Aotearoa-wide who embody Tiaki Taonga to come together and discuss issues concerning its design and implementation. 

Tickets can be purchased for the day’s panel sessions, the dinner event,
or it’s free to attend online.

YouTube
One of our invited panelists is Manu Caddie:
Entrepreneur & Activist, integrating the rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Rights of Nature with biotechnology research and commercialisation.
Spotify

Plus, a Musical Keynote in the evening from Rob Ruha: 

Aotearoa Arts Laureate, platinum certified composer, artist and musical visionary proudly joins forces, with an uplifting music proclamation to whakanui our commitment to -

"Te mana motuhake me te tino rangatiratanga mō ngā taonga katoa".

Tairāwhiti Ngutukākā Festival
18-21 September 2024. 

A festival to raise the profile of ngutukākā (kākā beak) as a taonga species that needs some help to survive introduced pests out in the wild,
like deer and goats. 

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Join the movement - Register your tautoko to Wai 262-Tiaki Taonga here: https://www.tiakitaonga.com/whakahono-mai 

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