Te Tiriti justice

As Christians, we witness to the sacred covenant, the promise of mutual flourishing, that Te Tiriti o Waitangi represents.

For tangata Tiriti, it gives us all a place in this land, and responsibility to honour what it promised.

Christians were central to brokering and forming the Treaty at the time, and since its signing the Church sadly participated in and enabled much of the breaches, land loss and structural oppression that tangata whenua faced.

For a flourishing Aotearoa, the institutions of the Crown must properly honour Te Tiriti and collectively we must address the legacy and ongoing practices of colonisation.

In the bible, a covenant relationship is a sacred promise of relationship. A succession of esteemed rangatira have variously described our Treaty as a covenant, a sacred oath, a taonga. Professor Margaret Mutu (Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua) has called Te Tiriti “the sacred covenant between Māori and the Queen of England.” Others have used similar sacred language to describe the compact. To look at the Treaty as a covenant, is to see it as not merely historical, but a relationship that continues through each generation, motivating us to honour our covenant responsibilities.

This provides a challenge to Christians and the Church today - how are we growing in knowledge of our history, participating in the redress of past harms, and supporting the vision of a future Aotearoa where Te Tiriti o Waitangi is honoured in our governmental and constitutional arrangements.

We are inspired by and grateful for the work of Matike Mai Aotearoa, the vision for constitutional transformation by 2040 that sees the promise of Te Tiriti embodied 200 years after the document was signed, and we commit to working towards that vision.

As a tangata Tiriti organisation, we want to serve and empower Christians of all backgrounds across Aotearoa to reform the ‘te kāwanatanga sphere’, those areas of the current government systems and structures that serve the whole population in these lands. At the same time, we want to find ways to support the growth of the ‘rangatiratanga sphere’, the spaces where Māori have full political authority over their own affairs, and the joint/relational sphere where we make decisions together.

We will not be silent: Toitū Te Tiriti

Efforts to recognise and uplift Māori rights to tino rangatiratanga over lands, waters and taonga are under attack.

We want to live in an Aotearoa where all have their rights realised, and the promise of right relationship between tangata whenua and tangata tiriti can become a reality.

As Christians, we organised in 2023 to affirm and protect existing co-governance arrangements and oppose the message of the “Stop co-governance” movement.

Though not perfect, co-governance is an expression of negotiating shared interests case by case and goes some way to meeting the historically neglected obligations and promises made in Te Tiriti. There are many examples of co-governance arrangements that have been in place over natural resources, areas of land and institutions for years. The three tikanga Anglican church is one such arrangement. You can learn more about co-governance and its relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi here.

We are now organising in response to the government's plans to undermine and redefine Te Tiriti, and to undo steps that we taken collectively towards reconciliation.

Our Tiriti justice campaign teams are active in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) to organise tangata Tiriti Christians (non-Māori) in support of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

We are gathering the voices of Tangata Tiriti Christians who commit to uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and oppose any attempts to rewrite or replace it. Add your name to the pledge from Tangata Tiriti Christians today.