Indigenous Restitution in Settling Water Claims: The Developing Cultural and Commercial Redress Opportunities in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Water is important to all peoples, including indigenous peoples. In recent years, the government in Aotearoa, New Zealand has utilized various cultural redress-type legal mechanisms to recognize and revive the importance of water to the Maori people’s identity, health, and wellbeing. These mechanisms create revolutionary modern opportunities for Maori to participate in the decision-making of how specific waters are used and protected. In particular, the negotiated agreements for the Te Arawa Lakes, and the Waikato, Waipa, and Whanganui rivers are studied in this article as prominent examples of how the government has agreed to, for example, co-management regimes. With the government working with Maori to resolve water claims, why–in 2012–have the government and many Maori come head-to-head about Maori rights to water, to the extent that urgent proceedings in the Waitangi Tribunal and now the High Court have been called? Part of the explanation lies in the government’s tactics for reconciliation, which focus on cultural redress solutions that concentrate on management opportunities. To date, the Government has refused to address possible Maori commercial and proprietary redress for water even though it is something that many Maori want resolved. This 2012 clash has starkly illustrated that despite the creation of several notable cultural redress water settlements, real reconciliation in a decolonized context will remain elusive until fair, complete, and holistic restitution for water grievances is offered across all redress spectrums, including cultural, commercial, and proprietary

Managing Our Treasured Home: The Conservative Estate and the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi

Since 1987, the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi have been explicitly relevant in the management of New Zealand's conservation estate. This article examines how the courts, the Waitangi Tribunal, and the Department of Conservation have interpreted and applied section 4 of the Conservation Act 1987

First Laws: Tikanga Māori in/and the Law

This address is the 10th Shirley Smith Memorial Lecture given in Wellington on 18 October 2017. It considers the possibility for the enhanced role of first laws – the laws of Indigenous peoples – within contemporary settler legal systems

Indigenous Restitution in Settling Water Claims: The Developing Cultural and Commercial Redress Opportunities in Aotearoa New Zealand

Water is important to all peoples, including indigenous peoples. In recent years, the government in Aotearoa, New Zealand has utilised various cultural redress-type legal mechanisms to recognise and revive the importance of water to the Maori people’s identity, health, and wellbeing. These mechanisms create revolutionary modern opportunities for Maori to participate in the decision-making of how specific waters are used and protected. In particular, the negotiated agreements for the Te Arawa Lakes, and the Waikato, Waipa, and Whanganui rivers are studied in this article as prominent examples of how the government has agreed to, for example, co-management regimes. With the government working with Maori to resolve water claims, why–in 2012–have the government and many Maori come head-to-head about Maori rights to water, to the extent that urgent proceedings in the Waitangi Tribunal and now the High Court have been called? Part of the explanation lies in the government’s tactics for reconciliation, which focus on cultural redress solutions that concentrate on management opportunities. To date, the Government has refused to address possible Maori commercial and proprietary redress for water even though it is something that many Maori want resolved. This 2012 clash has starkly illustrated that despite the creation of several notable cultural redress water settlements, real reconciliation in a decolonized context will remain elusive until fair, complete, and holistic restitution for water grievances is offered across all redress spectrums, including cultural, commercial, and proprietary

Providing for Rāhui in the Law of Aotearoa New Zealand

This article examines the place and nature of rāhui (Māori ‘temporary protection’ for natural resources) in the law of Aotearoa New Zealand. The word “rāhui” is used in legislation in New Zealand to describe certain conservation areas and associated conservation agreements, and to denote some particular means or measures that can be used for conservation or sustainability purposes, including in fisheries management. The authors discuss the differences between this legislative construct of rāhui, and the term as originally understood

Rauaroha: He tohu Aroha rau i te akoranga

Nö te tau 2001 i whakatüria ai e Ako Aotearoa (National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence) tëtahi tohu hei whakanui i ngä mahi a te tangata e whakaako ana i te taumata takiura. Me whakaatu te kaiwhiwhi tohu i tana ü roa ki ngä taumata tiketike rawa i tana mahi whakaako. Tekau mä rua ngä kaiwhiwhi toa i ia tau, kätahi ka whiriwhirihia ai e tëtahi kömiti kaiwhakawä kia kotahi te tangata e whiwhi nei i te Tohu Tiketike o te Pirimia. Mö ngä tau e whä kua hipa ake nei i riro i ngä kaiako Mäori te tohu tiketike nei. Ko te aronga o tënei tuhinga he whakaatu i ngä ähuatanga o ënei kaiako kia märama pai atu ai te whakaaro tiketike o te Mäori ki tënei mea te ako