Analysis: Waitangi Day belongs to Māori first, as mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga take centre stage.

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Walking around the treaty grounds, te reo Māori flows freely. Moko kauae and mataora are a common sight. Kuia and kaumātua skip to the front of queues and get driven around on golf carts. People greet each other kindly and strike up conversation effortlessly. 

Out on the deep blue, recreational boaters and sailors explore the surrounding moana and its many motu. Back on land, karakia and takutaku ring out around the grounds as people carry flags, take photos, or enjoy a meal consisting of frybread-and-something. 

Historically, there has only been one forum on the lower Treaty Grounds, at Te Tii Marae, where the rangatira who signed te Tiriti o Waitangi met to wānanga in 1840. 

This year was different. There were two forums running in parallel alongside the main programme at Te Whare Rūnanga, or the upper Treaty Grounds – one at Te Tii Marae and one at Te Korowai ō Maikuku (the boat house).

The Waitangi forum tent near the boat house was organised by Eru Kapa-Kingi and other key members of the Toitū Te Tiriti group, who led the recent hīkoi to parliament. Kapa-Kingi’s brother and Te Rūnanga Nui o Te Aupōuri chief executive Tipene Kapa-Kingi also played a key role in the forum, which focussed predominantly on Te Tai Tokerau specific kaupapa and bringing together the descendants of several signatories of te Tiriti – many of whom would have been original members of Te Whakaminenga, the confederation of rangatira that signed He Whakaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni.

Meanwhile, the regular forum at Te Tii was facilitated by local hapū. The Spinoff understands the Waitangi National Trust – who just had their funding threatened by minister Shane Jones – provides annual funding to one group to facilitate a forum that operates in tandem with the official programme. It is believed the money for this year’s forum went to those at Te Tii. It was unclear who was funding the Waitangi forum tent facilitated by Kapa-Kingi.

At around 11am on Thursday, a group who had been on a hīkoi from Rerenga Wairua, arrived at Te Whare Rūnanga. Since 1985, an annual hīkoi from Cape Reinga to Waitangi has been a key part of Waitangi Day commemorations, serving as a platform for Māori to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi and protest political issues affecting their rights. This year’s hīkoi was organised by longtime activist Rueben Taipari and the group was welcomed by reporter Tumamao Harawira.

Lyric – A political respite, but not quite a revolution

The most famous Māori at Waitangi this year was David Seymour. Despite having his own hapū warn him to stay away, the Act Party leader drew crowds – though very few well-wishers and mostly media and hōha haukāinga – wherever he went on the Treaty Grounds, and indulged reporters (and himself) by giving a few impromptu stand ups to face the same questions and give the same answers. The most famous tauiwi around? John Campbell, easily.

The politics of Waitangi is often the most hyped aspect of the holiday, though the time given for politicians to hold their forums and speak their piece is minuscule and, in many ways, insignificant in comparison to the six days of celebrations. At Te Whare Rūnanga on Thursday morning, there was a clear distinction between the public and the dignitaries, the latter of whom were hosted within a roped off area while the public watched proceedings from a big screen in front of the Waitangi Flagstaff, or elsewhere on the lower Treaty Grounds.

Maybe that’s why the much mythologised protest presence expected to show up on the grounds never really revealed itself — with so much separation from the politicians and the people they serve, especially those in Te Tai Tokerau, there was a general apathy around giving too much of a shit about people who haven’t yet shown good faith to you. Sure, there were plenty of demonstrations, but they weren’t the focal point.

The politics on the ground looked a lot different to the politics you see being debated between suits in parliament. Inside the Waitangi forum tent, hours of panel discussions focused on tino rangatiratanga, activism, mana motuhake and other tangata whenua-specific issues, providing a by Māori, for Māori approach to hashing out the hard stuff and encouraging those listening in the plastic seats to engage with the kaupapa. Many of these talks included politicians — mostly from Te Pāti Māori and the Greens — who referenced their own policies and parties, for a bit of casual radicalisation. One belief was virtually universal within the tent: existing as Māori is inherently political.

And like parliament, the marae has its own rules and expectations as to how someone’s kōrero is delivered and challenged. It was only last year that the Greens’ Julie Anne Genter was in the political hot seat for walking across the House and yelling in National MP Matt Doocey’s face. She was reprimanded for “inappropriate behaviour”. On the marae, the expectation of decorum looks a lot different. If you’re someone like Seymour who has spent the last year butting heads with iwi leaders and Māori authorities left, right and centre, expect your microphone to be taken off you, and be prepared to rise to the challenge.

If the government leaders failed to flex its own influence or presence, a different political group rose to the occasion: Toitū te Tiriti, whose leader Eru Kapa-Kingi seemed to be everywhere on the grounds with hands in all the kete. He was most noticeable while leading the counter demonstration to the parliamentary pōwhiri on Wednesday, but had also overseen political activations around the Treaty Grounds and held some involvement in organising the panel discussions in the Waitangi Forum Tent. In a departure from the last few Waitangi days, the Toitū te Tiriti t-shirts being worn greatly outnumbered the tino rangatiratanga flags flying.