Ko ngā mahi matua o te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi he arohaehae i ngā kokoraho Māori e pā ana ki ngā whatinga tiriti a te Karauna, me te tuku i āna tūtohinga whakatau. Kāore ōna ritenga huri noa i te ao katoa.
Te whakatipu i ngā porotēhi
I hangaia te taraipiunara i te wā e tutū ana te puehu i roto i te ao Māori. Mai i te tekau tau 1960 ka tohea kia noho ōrite te mana o te Māori ki te Pākehā i Aotearoa; kia whakarauoratia ake te ahurea Māori (tae atu ki te reo Māori); kia tāpuitia ngā hoko whenua Māori. Ko te iho o te pakanga he rūkahu noa iho te Tiriti, engari nāwai ka whakahautia te Karauna e rātou kia whakamana i te tiriti. Ko te tamaiti o ēnei pakanga katoa ko te hīkoi whenua Māori i te tau 1975.
Neke atu i te kotahi rautau te Māori e nanaiore ana kia rangona ōna kerēme maha i ngā petihana me ngā kēhi engari auare ake. Taka rawa ki 1975 kua maninohea te iwi, ā, ka tahuri ētahi ki te noho i te whenua. Ko te whakahautanga tērā a te minita Māori a Matiu Rata ki 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 whatinga o te Karauna i te Tiriti; me te whakatau i ētahi nawe nui i waenga i te Māori me te Pākehā.
Te hanganga o te taraipiunara
Ka tohutohutia te kāwanatanga e ārikarika ana ngā kōrero taunaki e pā ai ki ngā nawe e hoki rawa ake ana ki te wā i hainatia te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840. Ka hoki whakamuri a Rata, ā, ka takamua kētia te huatau kia aro te Taraipiunara o Waitangi ki ngā nawe o muri mai i te tau 1900. Ka whakahētia tēnei tūtohunga ōna e ōna hoamahi; ā, na runga mai i te ture Tiriti o Waitangi 1975 ka hangā te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi. Heoi, ko ōna mana whakatewhatewha ka tīmata i te rā i whakamanahia taua ture, arā, i te 10 o Whiringa-a-nuku 1975. Ka whakamana anō te ture ko te taraipiunara anake te rāngai whakatau i ngā āhuatanga e pā ana ki te Tiriti o Waitangi; me te aro ki ngā reo e rua. Kīhai te rōpū āpitihana Nāhinara i whakahē; ā, ka kī tētahi o ngā mema ‘he paku noa iho te wāhi ki te taraipiunara’.1
He huarahi whakarata
He whakahaerenga 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 tāngata o runga i te taraipiunara ko te 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 ko tērā o Joe Hawke o Ngāti Whātua mō te mana whenua o ētahi whenua ā-iwi ki Ōrākei. I te tau 1977 ka whakahē te taraipiunara i a Hawke mā.
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. Ka mutu ko ōna tūtohunga ki te kāwanatanga kāore e whai mana. Ko te heitara a ētahi Māori he kongakonga te taraipiunara hei whakararata i te hunga mautohe; me te karo i ngā āwhero a te Māori.
