The Waitangi Tribunal turns 50 on Friday - in that time it has made a huge contribution to Aotearoa's understanding of Te Tiriti and it continues to examine issues from government policy to climate change.
Judges, lawyers and claimants from across the half century Tribunal history gathered at Te Tumu Herenga Waka marae in Wellington for a two-day conference to reminisce on its past and discuss its future.
The first tribunal hearing took place in the ballroom of the Intercontinental Hotel Auckland, the first claimant was Joe Hawke and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
It was a far cry from the marae-based hearings the tribunal would become known for.
Inside the wharenui of Te Tumu Herenga Waka. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Sir Eddie Taihakurei Durie became the chair of the tribunal in 1980 and convened one of the first marae hearings at Manukorihi Pā in Waitara.
He told RNZ claimants should be able to present their evidence on their own terms.
"Our focus from the beginning was that if you're dealing with Māori claims, you must go out and talk to the people in their own environment, according to their laws, not our laws, according to their process, because they're the ones who are making the claim. They should be able to put it in their own terms."
Sir Eddie Taihakurei Durie. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The tribunal has remained very much the same, because the kaupapa had been very clear from the beginning, he said.
"We've had one objective all the way through, is how can you provide a place for both peoples? This is how I've seen it and to do that, we need to hear from Māori people themselves as to what their concerns have been, what are they now, and how can we respect that and accommodate it within a New Zealand infrastructure."
Durie said the anniversary was an emotional occasion as many of the people who had contributed to the tribunal had now passed away.
"What we have achieved in this country is a huge cultural shift over 50 years. You go back 50 years ago and we were talking assimilation, we were talking that there will be just one people and we all had to be the same. What we are thinking of now is that unity and peace comes from respecting difference, not from assuming... that we all must be the same or that one group is dominant over another. We've made a seismic shift in New Zealand. We have redefined our national identity," Durie said.
Waitangi Tribunal chairperson Dr Caren Fox. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Waitangi Tribunal presiding officer and Māori Land Court Judge Alana Thomas said the people present at the conference, among them former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Supreme Court Justice Sir Joe Williams, were a testament to the calibre of people involved in the Waitangi Tribunal in these last 50 years.
"So having the opportunity to celebrate that, to look back on the mahi that the likes of Sir Eddie Durie, Dame Sian Elias have pioneered really in this space is great."
Waitangi Tribunal presiding officer and Māori Land Court Judge Alana Thomas. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Dr Hana O'Regan became a tribunal member in 2021, over 30 years after her father Sir Tipene O'Regan lead the claim for her iwi, Ngāi Tahu.
Even the opportunity to go to the tribunal ignited a new sense of hope in her iwi, she said.
"Even the name of it, the kaupapa, what it stood for, was hugely important and dominated much of the conversations in our family.
"So my reflections of that time were just of a mobilisation of people, of community, of knowledge, and the amassing of that knowledge to be able to build the best case possible."
There had been seven generations of persistence among the iwi to drive the claim forward, she said.
"So it was huge. It was the topic of every dinner conversation, it was the topic of every hui conversation within our iwi and it was momentous in terms of even what was required to get to the door."
Dr Hana O'Regan. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
O'Regan said you could feel quite overwhelmed with the collective intellect, the collective mātauraka that had been drawn together for the conference and to have them in one place thinking about what it meant for the future, but being able to celebrate the past, it's was incredibly powerful.
"It's a good reminder of those that have gone, and what efforts and sacrifices have been made to be a part of this kaupapa on all sides. But it's heartening because you feel a sense of collective inspiration, that you know that you're not doing it yourself."
Thomas said the tribunal had just released its strategic direction for the next decade, with the goal of completing the remaining historical inquiries in the next five years and then completing the remaining "kaupapa" inquiries.
"So those are the inquiries such as Mana Wahine, the health inquiry and so forth, so the direction and the focus of the tribunal is exciting as well. It's having a look at what those claims mean for te iwi Māori whānui, ka mutu, ngāi Pākehā anō hoki, i a tātou i te tiro ana ki ēnei kereme, ka mutu i ēnei kaupapa nui kei mua i a tātou."
The tribunal had 19 of its 20 programmed inquiries under way. Its overarching objective was to complete all of them over the next decade and clear its backlog of unheard claims.
An event to mark 50 years of the Waitangi Tribunal. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
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