Rūnanga Whāiti convened for the first time this year at St Lukes Church, Havelock North on 8 February 2024. A wānanga on the proposed Treaty Principles Bill at Te Rūnanga Whāiti last week will be the
starting point for a statement to the hāhi and fellow Christians.
Venerable Dr Hirini Kaa encouraged committee members to discuss the Act Party’s
proposed bill and the response led by the Kiingitanga. Act had launched its treaty.nz website
with information about the bill the day prior to the meeting.
“Apparently we’re still having to defend Te Tiriti o Waitangi after all these years,” Hirini said.
“Te Rūnanga Whāiti and Te Pīhopatanga o Aotearoa have a long history of addressing
injustice and seeking justice. In particular – and in recent years – we’ve sought to discuss and
seek paths forward and some wisdom on issues of importance to Te Ao Māori. So this
seems unavoidable to us.”
“What we need to think about is something to say about this kaupapa to ourselves as a hāhi
and also to other Christians.”
Before members broke off into focus groups to discuss three topics – peace, resource
sharing within the church, and mana wahine – Archbishop Don Tamihere said the church
had an integrity problem when speaking on Treaty issues. He used the example of tikanga
Māori holding less than 3% of the church’s land wealth.
“We haven’t realised the Treaty of Waitangi within our own structure. I think we should
speak with moral force and spiritual force around the Treaty but we have an integrity
problem. And as a church it won’t take too many questions to find out that we don’t
practise what we preach,” the Archbishop said. Within the discussion groups, it was noted that original voices needed to speak loudly when talks of resource use were happening around the table.
There continues to be an issue with marginalizing us within the church either through ignorance or lack of education when tikanga Pakeha “skip” a conversation with their tikanga Māori partners and deal directly with iwi.
The group that had been discussing mana wahine spoke strongly saying that mana wahine (is not feminism) is derived from whakapapa, it resides and grows within individuals based on their contribution to whanau, hapū and iwi. Archdeacon Ruihana said “Mana wahine has a unique and necessary contribution to make to the church, like many of our concepts it can be watered down when in the hands of pakeha.” Pakeha need to remember we are the Kaitiaki of our tikanga and our matauranga both through Te Pihopatanga o Aotearoa and Ngā Hui Amorangi.
The lack of women in senior positions continues to be an issue for some, however in Te Pihopatanga we are doing quite well. We have a wahine Bishop and other wahine in senior roles we are prioritizing wahine expertise into roles. What we need to do better is support those wahine and ensure their are mechanisms and training in place to help them develop and feel supported. The Archbishop said he was in favour of an “uneven approach” when electing bishops going forward, and telling Electoral Colleges of the desire to have more women selected for the role.
The group that had discussed peace shared a quote from Martin Luther King – “True peace
is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” The churches failing to live into the treaty should be the starting point for discussions on peace and justice. Furthermore that resource sharing and equity are fundamental to justice and that the process for those discussions needs to be one that enhances mana wahine.
Meetings of Rūnanga Whāiti are scheduled for 9 May, 1 August, 5 November.