‘To honour the treaty, we must first settle colonisation’ (Moana Jackson 2015): the long road from colonial devastation to balance, peace and harmony

摘要

Māori leaders in New Zealand continue the battle to end Britishcolonisation. The aim is to restore the balance between Māori andthe Crown guaranteed in the treaty that Māori and the BritishCrown agreed to in 1840 so that we can live in peace andharmony. Early European visitors subjected our ancestors tonumerous atrocities. Relying on the Doctrine of Discovery, theyillegitimately usurped our power and dispossessed us, leaving usin a state of poverty, deprivation and marginalisation. Theyfabricated myths to justify their criminal activities, set up anillegitimate parliament with unfettered powers, passed lawslegalising their crimes and then covered it up with amnesia. Theyestablished the Waitangi Tribunal in 1975 to inquire into breachesof the treaty, not realising that it would dismantle the myths andlook beneath the amnesia. Governments then instigated the‘treaty claims settlement’ process to extinguish all Māori claims,remove Māori rights and entrench colonisation. Researchundertaken has shown that Māori loathe this process and do notaccept that settlements are full and final. Research onconstitutional transformation has identified a possible solution.The first step towards that goal involves implementing the UnitedNations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.