Te Kahu o Taonui
The purpose of Te Kahu o Taonui was to create a taumata for our Te Tai Tokerau Iwi Chairs to come together, to wānanga, share ideas and concerns with each other and to utilise the power of our collective Iwi to create more opportunities to benefit all of our whānau, hapū and Marae.
Te Kahu o Taonui was established in 2006/7, as a collective of Iwi in Te Tai Tokerau. Te Kahu o Taonui now includes representation from the following Iwi: Ngāti Kuri, Te Aupouri, Ngai Takoto,Te Rarawa, Ngāti Kahu, Kahukuraariki, Whaingaroa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Te Roroa, Ngāti Wai, and Ngāti Whātua.
The purpose of Te Kahu o Taonui was to create a taumata for our Te Tai Tokerau Iwi Chairs to come together, to wānanga, share ideas and concerns with each other and to utilise the power of our collective Iwi to create more opportunities to benefit all of our whānau, hapū and Marae.
In November 2014, the Waitangi Tribunal found that Northland Māori who were signatories to Te Tiriti o Waitangi did not cede sovereignty and this position has been held by successive northland Māori leaders. The Tribunal has also recognised the articles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the basis for a mutually beneficial relationship between Māori and the Crown.
The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) codifies Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o NuTireni in a global and current context.
Te Kahu o Taonui purpose is:
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To advance the collective aspirations of Te Tai Tokerau Iwi
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To promote and support Whānau/ Māori aspirations for social and economic advancement in Te Tai Tokerau
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To provide a regional link to Government priorities
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To ensure that Māori have a voice and actively participate to ensure equity.
Iwi align to pool their collective mana to advance their interests while at the same time respecting the mana of aligned Iwi to make their own decision to opt in or out of matters as they see fit.
Our Poropiti, Aperahama Taonui
Our Poropiti, Aperahama Taonui 1810-1883, at the signing fo the declaration of Independence 1835 he said:
"He taniwha kei te haere mai - ōna niho he hiriwa me te kōura, ko tōna kai he whenua. Kaua e mataku i te hiriwa me te kōura engari kaua e tuku i te hiriwa me te kōura hei atuatanga mōu."
There is a demon on its way - it is a demon that will arrive with teeth of silver and gold and an insatiable diet for land. Fear not the teeth of silver and gold, just do not allow the silver and gold to become your god."
Te Tīriti o Waitangi is the founding document of this country and the beginning of building a new nation. It was signed in1840 at Waitangi and sets the parameters for a relationship between Māori and the Crown.
At the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840, he threw his kiwi cloak onto the table for where the signing was to happen, when an armed constabulary threw the flag of the Union Jack over the top of the cloak on the table to which Aprehama called out:
"Kaua! Kaua e hainatia te Tiriti ki runga ki tēnā poukara, ina hainatia, ka riro o koutou mana ki raro i ngā panekoti a tētahi wahine kīhae tātou moiho ko wai, no whenua kē!"
Do not sign Te Tiriti on top of that flag for if we do then we would agree to place our mana below the skirts of a woman from another land for which we do not know. (At the time it was Queen Victoria.)
For Te Kahu O Taonui (Tai Tokerau Iwi Chairs Forum), Te Tiriti o Waitangi, together with He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, provides the agreement to allow the beginning of a new nation, and the basis of Māori relationships with all New Zealanders as represented by Government, including local government.
Before his death in 1883, he gave his last prediction:
"He taniwha kei te haere mai - he taniwha tae kuhu, tae huna e kore rawa koutou e kitea, e kore koutou e mohio kua tae mai, kia kitea rano i ngā kanohi a o mokopuna. Ina tae ki tēnā, kaua e patua i o mokopuna - engari hipokingia o koutou mokopuna ki te kahu aroha a te whanau."
There is a demon on its way - it is a demon that will arrive stealthily and deviously and you will not see it coming, you will not even know that it's here until you see it in the eyes of your mokopuna. When you do, do not punish your mokopuna - you must wrap your mokopuna in the cloak of love of the Whānau.