The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on Feb. 6, 1840 by Great Britain and the Maori tribes in New Zealand. Students and community members were able to learn about the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi from Dr. Frank Hippolite at the legal studies forum held in the HGB on Sept. 10, which helps “students in legal studies to have appreciation of legal issues from other jurisdictions, because equality and justice are cross cultural concerns,” according to Dr. Hippolite.
The Treaty of Waitangi was signed so settlers could use the land and the two peoples could live together in peace. Most of the tribes signed the treaty, except for a few such as the Tuhoe. This kind of treaty was not new to the Pacific, as other places such as Tahiti had treaties like this with other settlers. However, the Treaty of Waitangi did not work like similar treaties did in other countries, and there have been legal struggles over acts following it.
“That's the big question, why didn’t it work?” asked Dr. Hippolite. “No one really knows the reasoning, but what people do know is the results.”
During the forum several statistics were presented showing that the amount of land belonging to the Maori people was dwindling. Elijah Wanoa, a freshman from New Zealand studying business finance, said, “I just couldn’t believe the graph. It got smaller and smaller, and I couldn't get over the fact that we couldn’t do anything about it anymore.”
One of the issues pointed out was a miscommunication in the treaty. Being written in English, which few Maori chiefs could read, the treaty was translated. Some words, however had different meanings, or simply did not exist in Maori. Maori people had a different understanding of the word ‘sovereignty’ than the English did.
Having learned English from the Bible, to the Maori, sovereign was a position similar to the position Pontius Pilate held in the Bible, in that the Jews were relatively free to follow their own traditions and laws, but still reported to Pilate as a Roman ruler. The English, however, saw the queen as ruler who was in ultimate command of all.
This miscommunication lead to different understandings and problems, with the treaty actually stating that the Maori people would cede all their power to the sovereign. “It has different meanings from Maori to English, so they weren’t signing for the same rights,” said Marisella Hippolite, a junior from New Zealand studying Pacific Island studies.
Now Maori people have to protect their sacred sites, “wahi tapu” in Maori, from development. “We are forced into a situation where we have to protect our sacred sites, because with all the land laws, there are very few that offer protection of Iwi land,” said Dr. Hippolite.
Throughout the years, indigenous groups have done everything to fight the Treaty of Waitangi and prevent unfair laws from being passed in the future. Dr. Hippolite said, “There were court cases, visits to the Queen of England, there were appeals to the highest court of the land to have the treaty recognized. Every avenue that was pursued was pursued.”
The legal studies program helped provide for this forum. Students in it will most likely continue on to another law school. “I would love to see a law school here at BYU–Hawaii,” said Dr. Hippolite. “There were some pretty important and historical issues throughout the whole Pacific. BYU Hawaii could be the cutting edge for indigenous legal studies.”