Title 3:

[Cover photograph: Luke King / Cover image: fern sculpture by Virginia King]


Different Music, Same Dance:
Te Taou and the Treaty Claims Process

by Lily George

Introduction by Graeme MacRae

Afterword by John Paaka Edwards & Lou Paul (Paora)
on behalf of The Claims Committee Te Taou (Wai) 756

Social and Cultural Studies 3
(June 2004)
ISSN: 1175-7132


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Abstract:

The Treaty of Waitangi Act (1975) and its Amendment (1985) heralded a process that has seen dramatic and far-reaching changes in the organisation and politics of Maori society. From less than auspicious beginnings, the Waitangi Tribunal has come to represent one of the few avenues to justice for many Maori. The Te Taou peoples of Kaipara, Mahurangi and Taranaki Makaurau regions have gained much from participating in the claims pro­cess, particularly through gathering a comprehensive history which challenges the notion that Te Taou were a hapu of the Ngati Whatua iwi. In their journey to reclaim their identity and heritage, Te Taou have become embroiled in a procedure which requires intricate steps to the retrogressive music of bureaucratic maneuvering.

Keywords: treaty claims process, Waitangi Tribunal, Crown Forestry Ren­tals Trust, Te Taou, Ngati Whatua, Maori identity, colonisation.

Notes on Contributors:

Lily George is of Te Kapotai, Ngapuhi and Pakeha descent. She is a student and more recently a teacher of social anthropology. In 2000 she worked as a consultant to the people of Te Taou, preparing evidence for their claim (Wai 756) to the Waitangi Tribunal.

Dr Graeme MacRae is a lecturer in Anthropology in the School of Social and Cultural Studies at Massey Albany.