UPDATED PĀNUI – FROM WAI 262 TO TIAKI TAONGA

Kia manawanui mai - our updated pānui below

FROM WAI 262 TO 
TIAKI TAONGA

Wai 262 was the Waitangi Tribunal claim that started the constitutional movement for a tikanga-led framework – to be recognised in law and reflected in Kāwanatanga policy – that meets the needs of taonga and mātauranga Māori.

Kanohi Ora engagement, led out by the original claimant whānau and iwi, has reignited those calls to action and presently welcomes all iwi Māori into the fold of the kaupapa.

We are naming our collective aspiration for the remedies to those original claims, brought in-step with a 21st century context and inclusive of all kaitiaki Māori, as “Tiaki Taonga”.

Go to https://www.wai262.nz/ for the origins.
Go to https://www.tiakitaonga.com/ to join the movement.

KO TIAKI TAONGA HEI MANA TUREPAPA

Our vision is the constitutionalisation of te Tiriti o Waitangi through entrenchment of the framework, Tiaki Taonga.

A few points we heard recently at the Tiriti-based Futures & Anti-racism Conference and Designing our Constitution that support this vision:

1. The importance of relationships with local people 

  • Tiaki Taonga will offer pathways to connect directly with Tangata Whenua, Tangata Moana who have mana over taonga tuku iho.
2. In imagining a post-colonial future we have to imagine that the distribution of power between Tangata Whenua and Tangata Tiriti can become tika
  • Tiaki Taonga will provide the space for Kāwanatanga to explicitly acknowledge that it asserts no proprietary rights or interests in taonga Māori and mātauranga Māori.
3. “[A] constitution for our land must come from our land” (quoting the late, great Moana Jackson): 
  • Tiaki Taonga will rely on tikanga and kawa to determine appropriate decision-making authority in relation to taonga and mātauranga Māori. 
4. International legal instruments are useful to set standards and to tautoko what we already have domestically through He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
  • Tiaki Taonga will embody the principle that Māori have the full and exclusive decision-making authority to taonga Māori as guaranteed by He Whakaputanga, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and supported by the Mataatua Declaration and Te Puea Declaration; as well as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Art 8(j) and the Inter-Governmental Committee of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources.  

We are mindful that words like “entrenchment” come from the Kāwanatanga sphere of influence and denote a rigidity that is inconsistent with the flexibility required for tikanga-led solutions. 

Designing Tiaki Taonga requires us all to think about what parts of it must be fixed as fundamental for all and what parts must be kept flexible in ways that honour tribal differences.

Ka whakatinanahia ngā mana turepapa, ā, ka whakamanahia ā-turepapatia Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Constitutional rights are exercised and Te Tiriti o Waitangi has constitutional recognition. 

Ngā Kōrero a Kanohi Ora mō Tiaki Taonga

Watch this Pūrongo ā Iwi produced by Te Reo o te Uru about the Kanohi Ora hui ki Taranaki held earlier this year. 

“Ko te tino pūtake…ki te mau ki tō tātou ao Māori”  - Kura Moeahu
RARAUNGA REO O NGĀ RINGATOI MĀORI: VOICES OF 100 MĀORI CREATIVES

On the Misappropriation and Protection of Māori Creatives Works 

One of the engagement tools we are using to inform the design of Tiaki Taonga is a survey focused on the experience of Māori creatives in the misuse and misappropriation of their creative works.

It's been designed for Māori who are practitioners in the creation and composition of creative endeavors. Visit Te Raraunga Reo o ngā ringatoi Māori landing page for more info and to complete the survey.

Here, Māori creatives can share their perspectives on policy and legal gaps in the protection of taonga Māori, including mātauranga tuku iho. Through this project we hope to amplify their voices in this space. 

The core team, led by project creator and Kahu Aronui member Aroha Mead, includes Lynell Tuffery Huria and Dr. Ella Henry. Their efforts are supported by the Wai 262 Taumata Whakapūmau, Te Aho Matua, Kahu Aronui, Te Pae Roa and Toi Māori Aotearoa.
 

WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANISATION ("WIPO") & MĀTAURANGA MĀORI

Next month WIPO will host a diplomatic conference that will represent the final stage of negotiations among its member states before the adoption of the International Legal Instrument Relating to Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources. 

According to WIPO “the future instrument aims to enhance the efficacy, transparency, and quality of the patent system”. 

On behalf of Wai 262 Taumata Whakapūmau our Kahu Aronui gave feedback to Te Puni Kōkiri (with only 3 days notice) last September 2023 regarding the New Zealand government’s position on the instrument. Our key concerns are:

  • The way in which Te Puni Kōkiri on behalf of the Kāwanatanga engaged with Tangata Whenua on issues of such importance. 

  • Māori have a relationship with the genetic resources themselves (i.e. Our Whakapapa!), which is not limited to the traditional knowledge associated with those genetic resources.

The New Zealand government needs to acknowledge this domestically in the development of national legislation and other remedies for Māori rights and interests in both genetic resources and the traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources. That’s where Tiaki Taonga comes in. 

Treatment of our Whakapapa is also relevant to principles and modalities related to information sharing by member states that may impinge upon the development of tikanga and good practice for Māori data governance at the iwi/hapū level.

  • The regime proposed is too soft on disclosure of origin, for instance patents can’t be revoked if the disclosure requirement is not complied with. 

  • TPK’s use of the pronouns “our/ours” are inappropriate terms for Kāwanatanga to use when describing our Māori values or perspectives.
     

Patents are rights legally granted by governments for an invention i.e. a new product or process, the material it’s made from, or how something is made. The patenting system is one that’s generally not compatible with traditional knowledge systems of Indigenous Peoples; hence, the need for the original Wai 262 claim, and the novelty of Tiaki Taonga to bridge the divide for taonga and mātauranga Māori.

Did you know the UN celebrates World Intellectual Property Day every year on 26 April? 

You can nominate a Changemaker (inventors, creators, entrepreneurs) whose mahi does right by mātauranga Māori on their website. 

Carver, artist, designer Bernard Makoare at a Kanohi Ora hui ki Rangitāne held earlier this year. 

Just as the patents system is an area of domestic law where mātauranga Māori intersects with international law, so too is the permitting system for taonga species. This is kōrero relating to Wai 262/Tiaki Taonga that Bernard speaks to as a practitioner of mātauranga Māori.

COMING UP: 30 YEAR COMMEMORATION OF THE MĀTAATUA DECLARATION

In 1993 the nine tribes of the Mātaatua confederation hosted the first international indigenous conference on the Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Delegates from fourteen countries attended, including indigenous representatives from Ainu (Japan), Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, India, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Surinam, USA, and Aotearoa. 

The conference resulted in the trailblazing Mātaatua Declaration on Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1993) which is recognised by international law. The declaration is monumental as an expression of mana motuhake in relation to mātauranga Māori and memorialises our connection with other iwi taketake across the globe.  

Sadly for Aotearoa, it has received greater recognition by international fora than by the New Zealand Government, whose legal counsel during the Wai 262 hearings contested the standing of the declaration because it was negotiated by indigenous peoples themselves and not by state Governments on their behalf. Boo…We look forward to attending the 30 year commemoration events in Whakatāne (which were postponed last year) next month in May. 

Tiaki Taonga is our generation’s opportunity to ratify the Mātaatua Declaration.

 Preamble to the Mātaatua Declaration:

  • Declare that Indigenous Peoples of the world have the right to self determination and in exercising that right must be recognised as the exclusive owners of their cultural and intellectual property 
  • Affirm that the knowledge of the Indigenous Peoples of the world is of benefit to all humanity;
  • Recognise that Indigenous Peoples are capable of managing their traditional knowledge themselves, but are willing to offer it to all humanity provided their fundamental rights to define and control this knowledge are protected by the international community'
  • Insist that the first beneficiaries of indigenous knowledge (cultural and intellectual property rights) must be the direct indigenous descendants of such knowledge;
  • Declare that all forms of discrimination and exploitation of indigenous peoples, indigenous knowledge and indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights must cease 

Te Whare Pūkōrero

For the purposes of Kanohi Ora engagement, the following resource has been produced as a digital tool by which to uphold the intention, kia whakapūmau te mauri o Wai 262. 

Designed to complement the voice-building aspect of our campaign; weaving together some of the voices of rātou mā i para i te huarahi for Wai 262, together with kōrero from kanohi ora now, to share the feels among all Aotearoa who wish to continue the kaupapa through to its fruition in Tiaki Taonga. Join the movement!

MĀ TE REO MĀORI HEI WHAKAMĀRAMA: TRANSLATIONS FOR TIAKI TAONGA

An important step in our mahi has been the translation of key terms for Tiaki Taonga  into te reo Māori. Given the nature of issues that Tiaki Taonga embodies and the context within which we seek the regime to operate, it’s essential to be consistent in our application of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga in communicating the fundamentals. 

NGĀ KUPU O TE RĀ

cultural misappropriation = hone ahurea

intellectual property rights = mana whakairo hinengaro

proper labeling = te tika o te tapanga

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

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