tangata whenua

In New Zealand, tangata whenua ({{IPA|mi|ˈtaŋata ˈfɛnʉ.a}}) is a Māori term that translates to "people of the land". It can refer to either a specific group of people with historical claims to a district, or more broadly the Māori people who's common ancestors are buried in that particular area of land from long term occupation whereby so many generations have gone by that their ancestors are now literally the soil.

Etymology

According to Williams' definitive Dictionary of the Māori Language, tangata means "man" or, whilst tāngata (with the macronised "ā") is the plural, and means "people".{{Cite book|url=http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WillDict-t1-body-d1-d12.html#n404|title=A Dictionary of the Maori Language |last=Williams |first=Herbert W. |publisher=R.E. Owen, Government Printer |year=1957|edition=6th |location=Wellington, NZ |pages=379|author-link=Herbert Williams (bishop)|orig-year=1844|via=New Zealand Electronic Text Centre}} Tangata—without the macron—can also mean "people" in reference to a group with a singular identity.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Whenua means both "land" and "placenta" (again referencing Williams, who lists five definitions). It is an ancient Austronesian word with cognates across the Malayo-Polynesian world, from Malay benua (now meaning "continent"), Visayan *banwa and to Rapa Nui henua; ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *banua.{{cite web|url=https://acd.clld.org/cognatesets/25129#2/-60.8/162.8|title=*banua: inhabited land, territory supporting the life of a community|last1=Blust|first1=Robert|author-link1=Robert Blust|last2=Trussel|first2=Stephen|website=Austronesian Comparative Dictionary|date=2010|publisher=Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology|access-date=29 November 2022}} Unlike European thought, wherein people own land, in the Māori worldview the land is regarded as a mother to the people. The relationship to land is not dissimilar to that of the foetus to the placenta. In addition, there are certain Māori rituals involving burying the afterbirth of a newborn in ancestral land, which may further illustrate the word whenua meaning both "land" and "placenta".

Contexts

In the context of tribal descent and ownership of land, tangata whenua are the people who descend from the first people to settle the land of the district; the mana may reside with later arrivals.
At a particular marae, the tangata whenua are the owners of the marae, in contradistinction to the manuhiri (guests). After the welcoming ceremony on a marae, the guests may be afforded the temporary, honorary status of tangata whenua, and may even be invited to participate as locals as the ceremonies continue.
Tangata whenua has also become a New Zealand English term with specific legal status.

Law and custom

The indigenous peoples of New Zealand may be divided into three levels of kinship, on which traditional governance was based.

= ''Whānau'' =

The smallest level, whānau, is what Westerners would consider the extended family, perhaps descended from a common great-grandparent. Traditionally a whānau would hold in common their food store (their forest or bush for hunting birds and gathering or growing plant foods, and a part of the sea, a river or a lake for gathering eels, fish, shellfish, and other seafood). These food stores were fiercely protected: when one's resources could no longer support a growing whānau, war with a neighbouring tribe might eventuate.

= ''Hapū'' =

The next level, hapū (sub-tribe), is a group of several related whānau, and was traditionally the primary governance unit. In war, and when decisions needed to be made in negotiations with outside tribes, whānau leaders would gather and the hapū would make collective decisions.

= ''Iwi'' =

Several (or many) hapū can trace their ancestry, usually on the male line, back to a particular waka, the ocean-going canoe upon which the common ancestors of that tribe arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, and this unified level is called the iwi. Until the British arrived, the iwi was not a governance unit, it was called a

Wakameninga an example of this is in He Whakaputanga Declaration of Independence 1835 with the Nga Puhi Whakamininga of Rangatira signing a contract with King George as protector of Niu Tireni at that time Nga Puhi Rohe. The Whakameninga is a spiritual union between Io Matua Kore the Supreme Creator and the Hapu Rangatira with no 3rd party interloper interference and attendence was volantary depending on the issue Hapu could voice their non consent by not sending Their Rangatira.

Am Iwi is a New Zealand Govt controlled Statutory Trust.

However, under British and subsequent New Zealand law,the Hapu and Whakameninga was replaced by the CROWN intermediary agencies Called iwi which were formed by statute so settlements could be negotiated between Tangata, Whenua and Statutory CROWN entities to be recognized in statutes of New Zealand Governments legilative framework and under the Treaty of Waitangi these Hapu and Iwi statutory entities are accorded Treaty rights and obligations under New Zealand law, when they are recognised as Maori they are recognised as "Tangata/Whenua" within statutes.

Iwi trusts under NZ Govt authority co-ordinate Statutory Hapu Trusts who have to provide a provable relationship with a specific area of geography in unbroken occupation, and if this is acknowledged by the national or local authority, they become the legal tangata whenua under Statutory authority . Some areas may have several Hapu with pre existing rights as the tangata whenua, which can make the process more complex for non Maori entities who are creating working relationships. Some of these Hapu havnt signed settlements which cause more complexity.

When, for example, a major real-estate development is proposed to the territorial authority, because of potential desecration of burial sites which are very numerous over New Zealand's topography the tangata whenua must be consulted,{{cite web |title=Which Groups should be Consulted? This us why NZ Govt needs a data base of Hapu to contact if their area is being violated by earthworks as the potential is for dead loved ones with artefacts still in their Graves being exposed during excavations. |url=http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/rma/guidelines-consulting-tangata-whenua-under-rma-update-case-law/6-which-groups |publisher=Ministry for the Environment |access-date=15 January 2019}}{{cite web |title=Māori and the RMA |url=http://www.environmentguide.org.nz/rma/maori-and-the-rma/ |website=New Zealand Environment Guide |access-date=15 January 2019}} although the mere fact that "consultation" take place does not mean that the views of the tangata whenua will necessarily be listened to. When bones are found, the tangata whenua are supposed to be called.{{cite news |last1=Timutimu |first1=Ripeka |title=Human bones unearthed at construction site |url=https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/human-bones-unearthed-construction-site |access-date=15 January 2019 |work=Maori Television |date=21 May 2018}} In addition to these sorts of legally mandated requirements, when a person wishes to have land blessed, or when a sudden death occurs, an elder (kaumātua or tohunga) of the tangata whenua may be asked to perform a cleansing ritual.

The notion of {{lang|mi|tangata whenua}} is sometimes contrasted with {{lang|mi|tangata tiriti}}—literally, 'the people of the treaty'. Tangata tiriti refers to non-indigenous New Zealanders who are in the country by virtue of the Treaty of Waitangi. Although some see it as close to (but not necessarily synonymous with) the term {{lang|mi|pākehā}}, the peoples who have arrived through the auspices of the monarchs of Great Britain and then of New Zealand range in ethnicity, ancestry and roots from most parts of the world including the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as many islands in the Pacific. As used notably by Judge Eddie Durie, the notion of {{lang|mi|tangata tiriti}} underlines partnership and acceptance.Michael King, The Penguin History of New Zealand, 2003, {{ISBN|0-14-301867-1}}, p.167

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References