Crown definition of partner

Wai 38: Te Roroa Report

“That the Crown take urgent action to amend the procedural provisions of the Resource Management Act 1991 to ensure that all Maori with interests in multiply-owned Maori land have the right to be informed on all matters affecting their land”

“The Crown has identified a problem with multiply-owned Maori land in relation to resource management matters and has provided a solution, the “iwi authority”, which is assumed to be a traditional concept. To provide what is thought to be a “Maori” solution suggests an assumption that it is a Maori problem. It is not. It is a Crown problem…” “In our view there is an urgent need for amendment to the Resource Management Act 1991 in order to overcome problems such as those in relation to s353 “iwi authorities” and the time limits throughout the Act.”

Wai 64: Rekohu- A Report on Moriori and Ngati Mutunga Claims in the Chatham Islands

”We find that we must part company with the understanding of ‘tangata whenua’ and ‘mana whenua’ as used in the Reserves Act 1977, the Conservation Act 1987, and the Resource Management Act 1991. In section 2 of the latter, ‘mana whenua’ means ‘customary authority exercised by an iwi or hapu in an identified area’. ‘Tangata whenua’, in relation to a particular area, is defined as meaning ‘the iwi or hapu that holds mana whenua over that area’. We think that this confuses several things, not least by its association of ‘tangata whenua’ with power. We have thought it best to leave aside the legal definitions and to look at the matter solely in customary terms.”

“As we see it, the core meaning of ‘tangata whenua’ relates to an association with the land akin to the umbilical connection between an unborn child and its mother. It comes from creation beliefs holding that Maori were born of Papatuanuku (Mother Earth) and is used to describe the first people of a place, as though they were born out of the land. However, it is also used to describe those who have become one with the land through occupation over generations. It is relevant to ask whether the newcomers placed the placenta of the new born on the land, whether their ancestors have been regularly buried in particular sacred sites, and whether regular respect for those ancestors and sites is still maintained.”

“These and similar questions define the degree of permanence or transience in cultural terms.”

“Accordingly, it is possible that some people can be more ‘tangata whenua’ than others, so that the term ‘tangata whenua tuturu ake’ or ‘the true tangata whenua’ might be used to distinguish, for example, Moriori, from Ngati Mutunga of Rekohu. Moriori described the latter as ‘tangata whenua iho’ meaning ‘afterwards’.”

“But ‘tangata whenua’ is not customarily used to describe political power. Instead, it would be appropriate for Maori speakers to talk of conquerors on the one hand and the true owners of the soil, the tangata whenua, on the other.”

“[W]e cannot support the approach adopted in the Resource Management Act 1991, which defines tangata whenua by asking who has the customary authority in a place. If that question can be answered at all, the answer will surely exclude many who are properly tangata whenua as well. If it is the intention of the Act that some special consideration should be given to Maori who have ancestral associations with particular areas of land, then we think that it would be best if that were said. It might then be found that more than one group has an interest. If in any particular case it is intended that particular Maori communities should be heard, then it would be best to describe the type of community, be it traditional or modern.”