Written and spoken history has two key elements — facts and opinions.
By Roger Childs
Historians do not dispute that the fact that Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed in 1840, however, opinions differ over the significance of the Treaty and how it should be recognized today. It is accepted that mainstream media will publish opinions about our past, but it is incumbent upon them to tell the truth on the indisputable realities of what happened.
Last week I wrote a letter to the editor about a comment made by Ngati Toa CEO Helmut Modlik (pictured) which featured in a recent Dominion Post front page article. (See the text below.) One of the oft repeated lies about our history which many historians and Maori activists promote, supported by the media, is about land confiscated by the colonial government in the late nineteenth centuries. The word “stolen” is often used on this issue. Ngati Toa had lived in the Kawhia area before migrating to Kapiti. Their lands on the west coast of the Waikato were confiscated by other tribes, but no land was stolen from the tribe in Kapiti.
Maipi gets it wrong in Hamilton
Unfortunately, mainstream media (MSM) seem to adopt the attitude that if a tribal leader says something about our history it must be right. Readers will recall that during the “Black Lives Matter” crusade in 2020 statues were being pulled down overseas of people ranging from slave traders to Confederate generals.
A mischief-making kaumatua, Taitimu Maipi, wanted the statue of Captain Hamilton removed from a square in the city that bears his name. He described Hamilton as a murderous arsehole but provided no evidence to support his opinion. The facts of the matter are that Captain John Hamilton was a naval officer who arrived on a ship at Tauranga in April 1864 and a day or two after he landed he was killed in the Battle of Gate Pa. MSM didn’t bother to check the facts.
This letter was sent to the Stuffers, but they didn’t want to know:-
Getting the history right
In the Dom Post article (Tuesday May 10) on Ngati Toa’s recent land purchase it was claimed that there was “… illegal confiscation of the iwi’s land”. Not so. Te Rauparaha did confiscate a great deal of land from other iwi in the inter-tribal wars before 1840, but the only confiscations by the colonial government were in Taranaki, Tauranga, Bay of Plenty and the Waikato in the 1860s. This was only a small proportion of the total Maori land in the country and most was later returned or legally purchased. There is no debate among historians about these facts.
It is an important role of the media to provide accurate information about the country’s history so that there is no misunderstanding about what actually happened.
Stephen said:
“Illegal confiscation” is definitely the wrong phrase to use. Confiscation is the taking or seizing someone’s property with authority, or legal means.
“Compulsory aquisition”, “failing to ensure suitable reserves” or “enacting inequitable laws” are more accurate terms and acknowledged as such in the Ngati Toa Rangatira Claims Settlement Act 2014.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2014/0017/latest/DLM5953613.html
Effectively the Crown breached Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty of Waitangi and its principles by failing to protect the interests of Ngati Toa Rangatira during land purchases, failed to ensure sufficient, suitable reserve lands were maintained for the iwi, compulsorily acquired several hundred acres of land at and around their core settlement at Takapuwahia and by failing to provide sufficient reserves, left Ngati Toa Rangatira virtually landless.
murray said:
we need the media to tell the truth and nothing but the truth we no longer trust the media we need to keep democracy one person one vote