Ko te tūāpapa māmā o te tikanga Māori ka tīmata me te pātai: 'He aha te mea tika?' He aha te mea tika? Mai i reira ka āhua mai ngā mātāpono hāngai ki ngā horopaki tauwhāiti, e takea ana i te whakapapa me te whanaungatanga i roto i ngā rautau hei waihanga i tētahi tauira e nohotahi ai te tangata i tōna taiao me te hapori.
“Ko te tautika te whāinga,” e ai ki tā Te Aopare Dewes (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Whakaue), he hoa rangapū kei Chapman Tripp, he kaiārahi anō hoki mō tō rātou rōpū Māori ā-ture, arā Te Waka Ture.
Hei tā Dewes, i ā ia e tipu ake ana, i kite ia i te whai wāhitanga a tōna matua, a Whaimutu, ki ngā hīnga ika Māori, ā, i riro tērā hei akoranga māna mō te āhua o te whakahaere i ngā rawa me te tiaki hoki “i a Papatūānuku, rātou ko Tangaroa, me ngā tamariki katoa”, me te whakatautika i te hiahia ki te whakamahi i aua rawa e rangatira ai, e ora rawa atu ai hoki te hapori.
Nā te rīpoata Wai 262 i horapatia e Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 2011, i whakatakoto he kōrero hōhonu, e pā ana ki te tūranga me ngā haepapa o ngā tāngata whenua hei kaitiaki taonga.
Mai i tērā wā, kua whakaumutia ngā whakaaro e pā ana ki ngā tikanga, ki ngā ture me ngā whakataunga a ngā Kōti, tae noa atu ki te whakatangata ā-ture i te awa o Whanganui, o Te Urewera me Taranaki Maunga hei tāngata. Kua āta tuhia ēnei kōrero ki roto i te rīpoata mohoa a Chapman Tripp e kīia nei ko ,Te Ao Māori Trends and Insights – ahakoa he maha ngā hanganga hōu e arotakehia ana e te kāwanatanga hōu.
“I te roanga atu, ko ngā panonitanga me ngā kōkiritanga i ngā kōti e mea ana kua piki ake te mana o ēnei tūpuna... E whakaatu ana tēnei i te taipakeketanga o Aotearoa whānui, e whakapiki ake ana i te mana o te taiao, e iti iho ai tō tātou awenui, i te tirohanga tangata.”
Ko tētahi wero anō, e kī ana ia, ina koa ki te taha ki te āhuarangi, ko te whakatika i te pōhēhē e hāngai katoa ana ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki te rangapū. “Ki taku whakaaro, ehara tērā i te tikanga o Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki tā te Māori titiro i te wā i hainatia ai e rātou. Ko te tino rangatiratanga kē tōna ake tikanga.”
Hei tāna anō hoki ko ngā iwi e pōhēhētia ana he “nunui ā rātou puka kaute” pērā i a Waikato-Tainui me Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei e kawatautia ana kia whakapau i ā rātou anō pūtea hei whakaū i ngā kaupapa āhuarangi “mehemea e hiahia ana rātou ki te whakatinana i tō rātou tino rangatiratanga”.
“Ki taku whakaaro kāore tērā i tika. Nā ngā tāngata katoa te taiao i tūkino, nō reira, he aha te tikanga kia whakapau a Waikato-Tainui i ā rātou pūtea whakataunga, i riro mai nei i a rātou nā runga i ngā takahitanga ā-Tiriti, a te Karauna hei haupū i ēnei kaupapa?
“E whakapae ana ahau nā te tukanga whakatau kerēme Tiriti i waihanga he tūāpapa e taea ai e ngā iwi te kōkirikiri ki te Karauna, ki te tautohu i ngā hātepe hei whakatika i ngā awa, hei whakangāwari rānei i ngā pānga pitomata i te huringa o te āhuarangi i te anamata.”
Ko tāna anō, mā te kōkirikiri, me te whai pūtea i ngā tari Kāwanatanga hei whakatū i ngā kaupapa e ārahina ana e ngā iwi, ētahi rautaki rānei e taea ai e ngā iwi me ngā hapū ki te arataki e pā ana ki te whaitua āhuarangi.
“Mā te pērā e puta mai ai te tino rangatiratanga ki te ao mārama.”
Mātakitaki i te roanga atu o te uiui a Te Aopare Dewes i konei.