Māori Self-Determination: A Case Study Analysis of Indigenising Self-Determination for Tapuika in Aotearoa
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Abstract
This study investigates the views, values, and aspirations of Tapuika iwi (tribe) as a case study to understand if the Western concept of self-determination is compatible with the Māori worldview and how it may be indigenised for Tapuika. Fusing Kaupapa Māori (Māori approach) with Western social science methodologies (phenomenology and grounded theory), this paper investigates the collective right to Indigenous self-determination and its cultural, political and economic forms alongside Māori customary law, including the political aspirations of Tapuika participants collected between 2022 and 2024 in a series of interviews and focus group discussions. The study finds that the Indigenous right to self-determination is compatible with rangatiratanga (Māori self-determination) and tino rangatiratanga (Māori sovereignty) but requires decolonisation so that shared sovereignty is balanced with the State. Indigenous self-determination and rangatiratanga are both vital for Tapuika, but institutionalised racism in the treatment of Indigenous peoples in international and domestic law and the barriers posed by mono-legalistic hierarchies of rights are significant issues that call for political and sociocultural change. The paper concludes that constitutional transformation and reparatory justice are required for Tapuika to fully and effectively enjoy Indigenous self-determination and rangatiratanga.
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