The Treaty of Waitangi

The World Health Organisation identifies health as a human right. In Aotearoa/New Zealand the health of Māori is also a right guaranteed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, The Treaty of Waitangi. Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori leaders from the North Island of New Zealand. The Treaty principles are enacted through the NZ Public Health and Disability Act 2000, and implemented through the Ministry of Health’s Māori Health Strategy, He Korowai Oranga. Its underpinning principles are:

• Partnership involves working together with iwi, hapū, whānau and Māori communities to develop strategies for Māori health gain and appropriate health and disability services
• Participation requires Māori to be involved at all levels of the health and disability sector, including in decision-making, planning, development and delivery of health and disability services
• Protection involves the Government working to ensure Māori have at least the same level of health as non-Māori, and safeguarding Māori cultural concepts, values and practices

The RACP supports the moral and ethical responsibilities enshrined in Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and is committed to incorporating them into this Framework and its ongoing work.

Themes of Ko Aotearoa Tēnei

The Wai 262 claim concerns the place of Māori intellectual property in New Zealand’s laws, policies and practices. It covers the certain claims of six iwi (tribal groups) Ngāti Wai (Whangarei) Ngāti Kurī (Parengarenga and Rerenga Wairua); Te Rawara (North Hokianga); Ngāti Kahungunu (Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa); and Ngāti Koata (northern South Island). Wai 262 does not concern territorial claims, but who owns or controls the following:

1. Mātauranga Māori – the Māori world view, including traditional culture and knowledge
2. The tangible properties of mātauranga Māori – artistic and cultural expressions often referred to as taonga works (treasures)
3. Things which are important to mātauranga Māori, including the unique characteristics of indigenous flora and fauna (taonga species) and the New Zealand environment.

While the claim was bought by six iwi, all iwi have an interest in the claim’s outcome. The claim is broadly about the ownership and rights of control of Māori intellectual and cultural property, as well as the physical and spiritual wellbeing of the environment in their traditional territories.

Ko Aotearoa Tēnei

(This is Aotearoa/This is New Zealand) – a 2011 report from the Waitangi Tribunal – considers a post-settlement Aotearoa/New Zealand, where the country is poised to move beyond grievance and transition to a unique identity and culture. The Māori Health Committee notes that beyond the legal responsibilities and obligations, there are ethical and moral responsibilities that can encourage rethinking and inform new approaches.

Health (hauora) is a taonga (treasure) that must be protected. Health is multidimensional and is considered in terms of whare tapa wha – the house with four cornerstones. Total health and wellbeing is only possible where all four elements are in balance: taha tinana (physical health), taha hinengaro (mental health), taha whānau (family health) and taha wairua (spiritual health).

Ko Aotearoa Tēnei identifies rongoā Māori as a system of knowledge which needs the protection of the Crown under te Tiriti ō Waitangi. The Crown recognises that rongoā Māori has significant potential as a weapon in the fight to improve Māori health. This will require the Crown to see the philosophical importance of holism in Māori health, and to be willing to draw on both of this country’s two founding systems of knowledge.

One of the key impacts of an Indigenous strategy is achieving health equity and positive wellbeing for Indigenous peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia. While one pathway to achieve this outcome is training more Indigenous physicians and paediatricians, Wai 262 would require the incorporation of traditional practices drawing from Indigenous traditions in Aotearoa NZ and Australia, particularly in terms of taha wairua (spiritual wellbeing) which has “not simply been replaced by clinical, Western biomedical practices”¹.

Māori ethical principles (as part of Mātauranga Māori) including manaakitanga (kindness), whanaungatanga (sense of belonging), rangatiratanga (self-determination) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship, reciprocity) would also inform connections between the organisation, Māori, te Tiriti and Wai 262.

There are parallels between the reasons and rationale for the WAI 262 claim and the development of an Indigenous strategy for the RACP, which have led the Māori Health Committee to begin to explore the opportunity for the Strategy to be informed by the findings in Ko Aotearoa Tēnei.

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