By Patrick Gower
There is no doubt Tuhoe suffered at the hands of the Crown, who unleashed a "scorched earth campaign" against them in the 1800s; their homes were destroyed, their people jailed and killed. They were run off their land and have spent the time since trying to get it back.
Now they are close; very close.
As 3 News revealed this week, the Government is on the verge of a Treaty deal that the Tribe is hopeful will go some way towards righting those wrongs.
Negotiations are incredibly delicate, involving issues like the ownership and control of the Urewera National Park and Tuhoe's desire for self-rule. It's a combustible combination, especially when thrown on the race relations fire that is always burning away in the background of middle New Zealand. Put simply, this is about the weight of history coming up hard against the pressure of day-to-day politics.
I've looked closely at the negotiations, including again here, and talked to sources on both sides - and if this ends up getting signed, it’s going to be unique. The key aspects are:
1. Ownership of the Ureweras
The Ureweras are Tuhoe's home, no doubt about that. At the moment all 212,672 hectares are in the hands of the Crown and controlled by the Department of Conservation. Government sources tell me ownership would go back to Tuhoe under the proposed deal.
This would be the biggest deal of its kind - the Government has never gone this far before. Ngai Tahu received Mt Cook's title - but gave it back to the Crown. Tainui got co-management of the Waikato River - but not ownership. My understanding is Tuhoe could get ownership of the Ureweras, on the grounds that public access is guaranteed and all environmental values are upheld. But the Government would like DOC's role to continue in "co-management" with Tuhoe. This is the sticking point.
Tuhoe would prefer a five or ten year transition period, where they co-manage it with DOC before taking it over completely. The central issue to all this is public access.
Tuhoe's leaders are up for this: they say they have no problem with Joe Pakeha coming down to go trout fishing or tramping and are willing to give guarantees. Behind the scenes Tuhoe have been working with Fish and Game on this - and they are actually quite relaxed. Under Tuhoe's proposal, the taxpayer would no longer have to pay for the park's upkeep (I'm told this is about $6 million a year). Tuhoe would pick up this tab. How would they pay for the park? User-charges are a possibility.
2. "Mana Motuhake"
Mana Motuhake means self-rule or self-government. This is Tuhoe's dream. It had it once before and never signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Now the Government has quite predictably ruled out Tuhoe becoming a separate nation - or as Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson put it the ridiculous notion of "a Liechtenstein in the Ureweras".
But Finlayson has also referred to "complexities" in the negotiations. Enter, Mana Motuhake. Mana Motuhake is on the table on the form of some devolution of public functions. Tuhoe would like to see this recognised by it getting separate control over its social services - schools, health and welfare. This could work a bit like Whanau Ora - Tuhoe gets the money and delivers the services to its people in its own way. This could work quite easily in some ways - Tuhoe could take control of a 10 student Kura Kaupapa school up the Matahi Valley for instance, and administer its budget and set its mandate.
What about roading? You need a tank to get around parts of the Ureweras. With the small population, there's no value-for-money case for fixing them. But what if Tuhoe had the roading budget and could spend it if it sees fit?
The problem with Mana Motuhake is the same as Whanau Ora. It’s hard to get concrete details on how the concept would work. Who would pay for it? My Tuhoe sources have raised ideas like them paying for it themselves, but that would raise questions about whether they pay tax. And that's way out there - a long way from governing a primary school.
There is a lot of loaded language around this. My view is that Tuhoe sees Mana Motuhake as the beginning of a pathway towards its dream of self-rule. But the Government sees it as bending as far as it can, and devolution is the end of the road. Talk of self-rule seems to be a big no-no on the Government side. But there are examples of devolution all around the world - Scotland for instance. And as an aside, Tuhoe's negotiators don't see Mana Motuhake happening overnight - but over decades.
3. Compensation
All Treaty deals involve compensation. Tainui and Ngai Tahu got $170 million. This is what Tuhoe want. (My understanding is the Government is more likely to offer a sum somewhere lower than that, but still around $100 million). Yvonne Tahana at the Herald has a much better summary here. (Yvonne's also been looking at the ownership of the park here). Tuhoe sources tell me the money doesn’t matter as much as ownership of the park and moves towards devolution/Mana Motuhake. Will they take a cut if they could make big gains on those non-negotiables?
So where to from here?
Chris Finlayson has an offer for Tuhoe ready to go. He took it to Cabinet for sign-off on Monday, but it got bumped for some reason. If he gets it through, it will go to Tuhoe for sign-off. Negotiations are quite advanced - Prime Minister John Key has had face-to-face meetings with Tuhoe and so have other senior ministers like Bill English.
Finlayson has a sense of justice and I think he would love to be the man who bought some peace between the Crown and Tuhoe. A lot of this is going to be a sales job - starting with his colleagues in Cabinet, then the public. Rather than Tuhoe getting ownership of the park, the Government would want it to be about partnership. Rather than steps towards self-rule, the Government would like it to be called devolution. But Tuhoe wants clear wins - not minced words.
The Government will probably end up getting around this implying one thing to Pakeha New Zealand, and another to Tuhoe Maori... They are getting good at this - look at the Declaration of Indigenous Rights, portrayed as meaningless on the one hand, but the most significant piece of paper since the Treaty of Waitangi on the other.
Tuhoe need to think about their options here. They've been going for an "all or nothing" approach - should they eventually take something? Then there's the issue of timing. The Government is giving Maori huge gains on the Foreshore and Seabed, Whanau Ora and the Declaration. These are all to keep the Maori Party sweet.
The Tuhoe deal is completely separate - it’s not a political necessity. Will the Government see the "optics" as wrong and put it on the backburner because the timing isn't right.
But maybe the timing is perfect.
National's public image is seemingly bullet proof right now, and there may be no better time for it to put on its big boy pants and brave the rednecks. Does National have the courage to take one for the team and sort the Tuhoe deal out and try and close a sorry chapter of New Zealand history?
Click here to watch Patrick Gower's news item from tonight's bulletin.