''Kāwanatanga'' is a word in the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, derived from the English word "governor". ''Kāwanatanga'' was first used in the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, 1835. ''Kāwanatanga'' reappeared in 1840 in Article 1 of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

, where the Māori text "''te Kawanatanga katoa''" corresponds to the English text "''all the rights and powers of Sovereignty''". ''Kāwanatanga'' is often translated today as governance or government.

Origin and etymology

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

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

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'' (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 Captain William Hobson (26 September 1792 – 10 September 1842) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Royal Navy, who served as the first Governor of New Zealand. He was a co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi. Hobson was dispatched f ...

, and understood it as referring to his governorship rather than understanding that they were ceding "governance". Historians Ranginui Walker and Ruth Ross have suggested that the word ''

mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

'' 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 '' rangatiratanga'' 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. Anthropologist Hugh Kawharu has made a contemporary translation of the treaty using the term ‘government’, rather than ‘sovereignty’, for ‘kāwanatanga’. Kawharu noted, ‘There could be no possibility of the Māori signatories having any understanding of government in the sense of “sovereignty”: ie, any understanding on the basis of experience or cultural precedent.’ Māori constitutional lawyer Moana Jackson has stated that, because the

New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

(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 a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

.''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