Post by Kiwi Frontline on Jul 15, 2020 18:09:56 GMT 12
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Hawkes Bay Today, Taranaki Daily News 5/7/20)
Maoris became British people, subject to British Laws. The treaty makes us all British Maoris and Pakeha.
“Some have said that the confiscation of lands were wrong, and that they contravened the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty placed in the hands of the Queen of England the sovereignty and authority to make laws.” Some sections of the Maori people violated that authority”
Here was a solemn treaty which removed the authority of the tribal laws and chiefs who had a united law over their people. The Maori chiefs gave away all authority and vested it in the queen. It was the chiefs who bespoke the land and gave it away. They had the power even for life and death. These were the powers they surrendered to the Queen. This was the understanding of each tribe.
“War arose and blood spilt. This was a terrible war – these were Warriors, well armed, with special knowledge of the country, who terrorised large parts of New Zealand. The British Government despatched many regiments to protect the white settlers and to subdue the rebellion. It was a long hard campaign with much lost of life. These wars were called the “Maori Wars: by the settlers with some justification, yet modern Maoris prefer to call them “Land Wars”.
At the Treaty it was said by officials “we are one people”, but fanatics trying to make us two peoples.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Weekend Sun 27/6/20)
Where now was the one People who were protected by British Law. The land Courts were the place for redress and they have been widely used by Maoris since 1862. People outside the courts waiting for money seventy years ago.
Before considering the question of huge payments to the Maori, (now British people),let us consider what they own to the Pakeha tradition.
The Maori did not have The basis of life which had developed in much of rest of the world. They were as a rule, cold – insufficient warm clothes. They had no transport except for canoes. They had no beds or bedding – hence their great desire for woollen blankets.
They had no pots or cooking utensils, other than calabashes. Maoris had no axes, so they couldn’t clear even patches of forest. The Canterbury Plains were set on fire by Maoris, said to happen accidentally. They had no wheels, although these were invented before the age of the Egyptians. They did not know how to make pottery, yet this one of the ancient arts. They had no roads, only tracks through the bush – no carts, no drays wagons, or even wheelbarrows! The list is endless – they were a primitive people but not ignorant – they were resourceful, but lacked skills. Lets face it, Maoris had very basic living conditions, they were utterly depended upon the chiefs, and were subject to all kinds of fears and superstitions. The only educated class were their young chiefs, who were handed the history of their tribes, by oral learning. Music and art were of the simplest kind, and learned only by a few. Tribes fought tribes and slaves kept by many of them.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers/unpublished-letters
Maoris became British people, subject to British Laws. The treaty makes us all British Maoris and Pakeha.
“Some have said that the confiscation of lands were wrong, and that they contravened the articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty placed in the hands of the Queen of England the sovereignty and authority to make laws.” Some sections of the Maori people violated that authority”
Here was a solemn treaty which removed the authority of the tribal laws and chiefs who had a united law over their people. The Maori chiefs gave away all authority and vested it in the queen. It was the chiefs who bespoke the land and gave it away. They had the power even for life and death. These were the powers they surrendered to the Queen. This was the understanding of each tribe.
“War arose and blood spilt. This was a terrible war – these were Warriors, well armed, with special knowledge of the country, who terrorised large parts of New Zealand. The British Government despatched many regiments to protect the white settlers and to subdue the rebellion. It was a long hard campaign with much lost of life. These wars were called the “Maori Wars: by the settlers with some justification, yet modern Maoris prefer to call them “Land Wars”.
At the Treaty it was said by officials “we are one people”, but fanatics trying to make us two peoples.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
Dear Editor, (Sent to the Weekend Sun 27/6/20)
Where now was the one People who were protected by British Law. The land Courts were the place for redress and they have been widely used by Maoris since 1862. People outside the courts waiting for money seventy years ago.
Before considering the question of huge payments to the Maori, (now British people),let us consider what they own to the Pakeha tradition.
The Maori did not have The basis of life which had developed in much of rest of the world. They were as a rule, cold – insufficient warm clothes. They had no transport except for canoes. They had no beds or bedding – hence their great desire for woollen blankets.
They had no pots or cooking utensils, other than calabashes. Maoris had no axes, so they couldn’t clear even patches of forest. The Canterbury Plains were set on fire by Maoris, said to happen accidentally. They had no wheels, although these were invented before the age of the Egyptians. They did not know how to make pottery, yet this one of the ancient arts. They had no roads, only tracks through the bush – no carts, no drays wagons, or even wheelbarrows! The list is endless – they were a primitive people but not ignorant – they were resourceful, but lacked skills. Lets face it, Maoris had very basic living conditions, they were utterly depended upon the chiefs, and were subject to all kinds of fears and superstitions. The only educated class were their young chiefs, who were handed the history of their tribes, by oral learning. Music and art were of the simplest kind, and learned only by a few. Tribes fought tribes and slaves kept by many of them.
IAN BROUGHAM, Wanganui
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers/unpublished-letters