''Kāwanatanga'' is a word in the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, derived from the English word "governor". ''Kāwanatanga'' was first used in the

Declaration of Independence of New Zealand The Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand ( mi, He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni), signed by a number of Māori people, Māori chiefs in 1835, proclaimed the Sovereignty, sovereign independence of New Zealand prior to th ...

, 1835. ''Kāwanatanga'' reappeared in 1840 in Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi, where the Māori text "''te Kawanatanga katoa''" corresponds to the English text "''all the rights and powers of Sovereignty''".

Origin and etymology

The first part of the word, ''Kāwana'', is a

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...

into Māori of the English word ''governor''. The suffix ''-tanga'' is very similar in meaning and use to the English suffix ''-ship'', for example ''

rangatiratanga ' is a Māori language term that translates literally to 'highest chieftainship' or 'unqualified chieftainship', but is also translated as "self-determination", "sovereignty" and "absolute sovereignty". The very translation of is important to ...

'' (chieftainship) and '' kīngitanga'' (kingship). So a literal translation of the word would be ''governorship''. This word had little meaning to the chiefs signing the treaty, since the concept of being governed by an overseeing authority was alien to Māori. What understanding Māori may have had of the term was derived principally from the Bible and in particular Herod's Governorship. At the time the Bible was one of few long printed texts in Māori enjoying wide distribution.

Judith Binney Dame Judith Mary Caroline Binney (née Musgrove, 1 July 1940 – 15 February 2011) was a New Zealand historian, writer and Emerita Professor of History at the University of Auckland. Her work focussed on religion in New Zealand, especially ...

has suggested that the chiefs may have assumed the term referred to the governor, William Hobson, and understood it as referring to his governorship rather than understanding that they were ceding "governance". Historians

Ranginui Walker Ranginui Joseph Isaac Walker (1 March 1932 – 29 February 2016) was an influential New Zealand academic, author, and activist of Māori and Lebanese descent. "I think he was ''the'' Māori commentator for a very long period," his biographer, ...

and

Ruth Ross Ruth Miriam Ross (née Guscott; 1 January 1920 – 30 August 1982) was a New Zealand historian. She was part of the 1970s movement that sought to revise academic understandings of the Treaty of Waitangi and educate the public on its translat ...

have suggested that the word '' mana'' may have been a more appropriate meaning, and note that if ''mana'' had been used instead of ''kāwanatanga'', the treaty may never have been signed by Māori.

Use in the Treaty of Waitangi

The meaning attached to this word, and in particular how it relates to ''

'' is important to discussion of the Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty is still important in contemporary New Zealand, and remains the topic of controversy and political debate. Māori constitutional lawyer

Moana Jackson Moana Jackson (10 October 1945 – 31 March 2022) was a New Zealand lawyer specialising in constitutional law, the Treaty of Waitangi and international indigenous issues. Jackson was of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou descent. He was an adv ...

has stated that, because the

New Zealand Government , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg , image_size=250px , date_established = , country = New Zealand , leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern , appointed = Governor-General , main_organ = , ...

(identified as "Kawanatanga" in the Treaty text) is the body politic enforcing the Treaty and making settlements, "Kawanatanga" is the actual party to the Treaty, not

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

.''Republicanism in New Zealand'', Dunmore Press, 1996: page 119

References

{{reflist Constitution of New Zealand Māori politics Treaty of Waitangi Māori words and phrases mi:Kāwanatanga

Origin and etymology

Use in the Treaty of Waitangi

See also

References