I whakatūria te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi (te taraipiunara) i te 1975, i taua wā e tutū ana te puehu nā ngā porotēhi o ngā 1970, he mea whakatū nā runga i ngā inoi a te Māori, mō ngā tekau tau i hipa, kia puretumu ngā takahitanga a te Karauna, ki te Māori. He whāiti noa te mana whakahaere a te taraipiunara i tōna oroko tīmatanga, arā, ko te titiro noa ki ngā take onāianei, ka mutu i itiiti rawa ngā uiuinga.
Te tipu o ngā porotēhi
I whakatūria te taraipiunara i te wā e tutū ana te puehu i te pāpori nā runga i ngā takahitanga i te porihanga o mua, o nāianei hoki ki te Māori. Neke atu i te rau tau a ngāi Māori e nanaiore ana kia whakatauria o rātou nawe ki te Karauna, mā roto mai i ngā petihana, ngā kēhi kōti me ētahi atu ara ture, engari auare ake.
He ‘whananga Māori’ i hua mai i ngā tōmuri tau 1960, nā, hei tāpiri atu, ko ngā tono kia kaha ake te ōritenga i te ture me te pāpori, pērā ki ērā o tauiwi, ko te whakarauora i te ahurea Māori (hui atu hoki ko te reo Māori), ka mutu ko te aukati i te hokonga whenua Māori e toe ana. Ko te pōhēhē a ētahi kaiporotēhi he rūkahu noa iho te Tiriti, engari nāwai ka whakahautia te Karauna e rātou kia whakamanahia te tiriti. Taka rawa ki 1975 kua maninohea te iwi, ā, ka hīkoi whenua ki Pāremata.
Ko Matiu Rata (Ngāti Kurī, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Whātua), te minita take Māori o Reipa, i whakahau i ōna hoa mahi o te urupū minita pāremata ki te whakamahu i ngā kōharihari a te iwi Māori mā te whakatū i tētahi taraipiunara motuhake. Mā konei whakamāmāhia ai ngā mahi whakatewhatewha e pā ana ki ngā takahitanga o te Karauna i te Tiriti; me te whakatau i ētahi nawe nui i waenga i te Māori me te Pākehā.
Te whakatū i te taraipiunara
Ko te hiahia a Rata kia rongohia te taraipiunara o Waitangi i ngā kerēme o mua. I whakahē ōna hoamahi ki tēnei marohi ōna, ka mahue kē te whakature i te Ture Tiriti o Waitangi 1975 nā konā whakatūria ai te taraipiunara o Waitangi me te mana ki te whakatewhatewha i ngā kerēme i pā i mua i te 10 Whiringa-ā-nuku o te tau 1975, te tau i whakamanahia taua ture. Ka whakamana anō te ture, kei te taraipiunara anake te mana whakatau i ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi; me te aro ki ngā reo e rua. Kīhai te āpitihana, a Nāhinara i whakahē; ā, ko tā tētahi o ngā mema ‘he paku noa iho ngā haepapa a te taraipiunara’.1
He huarahi ngāwar1
He whakahaere paku noa iho te taraipiunara i tōna tīmatanga ake. E ai ki te mātanga tōrangapū a Andrew Sharp “he mea whakatū i te tau 1975 hei karo i ngā hiahia a te Māori kia whakamanahia te Tiriti”.2 Ka tautoko anō te tumu kōrero a Bill Oliver me te kī ‘kāore i whakaarotia ka nui te utu me ngā hui mō te taraipiunara.”3
Te kerēme tuatahi
Ko ngā mema tuatahi o te Rōpu Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi ko Kaiwhakawā Matua o te Kōti Whenua Māori a Kenneth Gillanders-Scott, ko Graham Latimer (te kaitono a te minita Māori) me te rōia a Lawrence Southwick (te kaitono a te minita ture). Ko te kerēme tuatahi i rongohia e te taraipiunara ko tērā i tomoa e Joe Hawke me ētahi uri o Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei mō te e hāngai ana ki ngā motika hī ika i te whanga o Waitematā. I rongohia te kerēme ki te whare kanikani o te Intercontinental i Tāmaki, e whakatinana ana i te tikanga tōtahi o ngā tīmatanga tau a te taraipiunara. I whakahē te taraipiunara i ngā tohenga a Hawke. Nā taua whakahēnga, ka iwingohe a ngāi Māori ki te whai i te ara mā te taraipiunara kia rongohia a rātou nawe. Ka tū tonu ngā noho whenua i Takaparawha mai i te 1977-78, ki Whaingaroa hoki i te 1978 i ngā tau tōmua o te taraipiunara.
Nō te huatakinga ake he iti noa iho ngā pānga o te taraipiunara. Ko ōna mana whakatau ka puritia ki ngā take mohoa; ahakoa i tū te nuinga o ngā raupatu i te rautau 1800. Hei āpiti, ko tāna he tuku whakataunga ki te kāwanatanga kia pēhea rawa rātou e puretumu i ngā takahanga tiriti kei ngā kerēme pakari, auare ake, i te mea kāore ōna mana ki te whakatutuki. Ko te heitara a ētahi Māori he mahi tuku kongakonga noa te whakatū i te taraipiunara hei whakararata i te hunga mautohe; me te karo i ngā awhero a te Māori.