MAST 603: Mana Kaitiaki
(Māori Resource Management)
MANA KAITIAKI
Māori Theoretical Frameworks
Hirini Matunga
Week Two : 22 July 2025
Kaupapa Māori Policy,
Planning, Design &
Environmental Management
… scoping out the theoretical territory
and
the theory – praxis nexus
“Fundamental questions?”
…what might flourishing as Māori peoples - iwi,
hapu, whanau in this place, this environment,
mean & look like?
…how might it be achieved
activated/implemented through policy, planning,
design & management ?
… but across a range of spatial, social, economic,
environmental contexts - whether urban,
suburban, peri-urban, rural, regional, remote or
highly remote?
Te whāriki
“A transdisciplinary – overarching shared knowledge framework”
to be Kaupapa Maori, it must be grounded in -
What does it mean to be self Maori Māori
Epistemologies What Māori knowledge, matauranga &
determining, autonomous, have Sovereignties
other knowledges are critical to this
agency, express tino Self determination , (ways of knowing,
autonomy, agency, self Maori knowledge, endeavour ?
rangatiratanga theories, practices,
definition, indigenous “the matauranga requirement”
“ the sovereignty purpose” law/lore, tino methodologies,
Rangatiratanga approaches,
matauranga).
What does it mean to be Māori ? Māori Ontologies Māori Axiologies
…past, present, future in this (Te Ao Māori, ways of (values, norms.
endeavour or practice being, worldviews, standards ethics What Māori values, tikanga Māori,
spiritualities) tikanga Māori)
self definition, positionality Māori axioms are critical to this
“ the te Ao Maori (ontological) endeavour, this practice ?
purpose” “the tikanga requirement”
“A multidisciplinary continuum”
the disciplines are connected
Issue Planning Design Management
Policy
(designing & (implementing
(problems, (response, (spatialising
developing the & managing
concerns) solution) the solution)
solution) the solution)
“An interdisciplinary process/approach”
The disciplines engage/interact with each other
Māori Design
Maori Management
Māori Planning
Whats the
Maori Issues
Māori Policy What do How might it Designing & Managing &
issue/problem Māori want? (i.e the developing implementing
? - as defined Textualised, response) be the solution the solution
by Maori what is an achieved ?
appropriate spatialised
response to across the
the problem desired
context ?
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
…fundamental Questions … restated
How do Māori `do’ policy, planning, design,
environmental management ” etc?
What Māori processes, approaches, values &
knowledges (including matauranga) are critical to
these endeavours?”
How might we engage with these endeavours?
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… by, with & for Māori
policy, planning, design, management,
informed by the Māori pasts,
contextualised to the Maori presents
designed for the desired Maori futures
past present future
Hirini Matunga, MAST 603 - 2025
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… core connections
`People/Place based’ Whakapapa
• … policy & planning in/of this place … its Tipuna,
history etc by the people of this place … (Ancestors)
tangata whenua, iwi, hapu, whanau …
3 key connectors
• Ancestors tangata whenua
• Lands and places (of the ancestors) People & Lands, places,
• People and communities (descendants of Communities environments
the ancestors)) (Descendants of (Of the
Kaiapoi Pa, Canterbury (1891 - ER Williams )
the Ancestors) Ancestors)
(Alexander Turnbull Library)
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… as a process
Māori Land,
Māori people &
places &
communities
resources
Māori Treaty of
Institutions Waitangi
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… as a decision making process
An Approach By Which
Māori
(iwi, hapu, whanau, community)
in a place
(land, environment, resources)
use their knowledge
(traditional & contemporary)
and worldview
(beliefs, values , attitudes)
to make decisions
(process and institutions)
to determine practice
(application, action, activity, approaches, policy, design)
Kaupapa Māori Policy, Planning, Design & Management
…relevant and applicable across multiple spatial contexts
remote periurban metropolitan
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… as an action orientated activity
Matauranga Whakatau Whakaara
Knowledge/s Decisions (Decide) Actions (Activate)
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management …
as an activity … in context
Matauranga Whakatau Whakaara
of the iwi, hapu by the iwi, hapu, by the iwi, hapu,
whanau, kaitiaki whanau, kaitiaki whanau, kaitiaki
Taonga Tikanga
(the values)
(what is valued)
Ritenga Kawa
(the practice) (the protocols)
kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… within a constitutional/institutional framework
Te Tiriti o Waitangi 1840
(Article 2)
Queen, agrees to protect the Chiefs (rangatira) subtribes
(hapu) and all the people (tangata katoa) of NZ (o Nu
Tirani) in unqualified exercise of their highest
chieftainship (te tino rangatiratanga) over all their lands
(o ratou wenua), villages (o ratou kainga)
and all their treasures (o ratou kainga katoa),
a constitutional & institutional framework for
…affirming, maintaining & enhancing
sustainable iwi/hapu, social, cultural, economic `spatial’
land/resource based communities …
Kaupapa Māori Policy, Planning, Design & Environmental Management
… located in history Parihaka Passive Resistance, Taranaki. 1860’s-1880
Māori policy, planning, design &
environmental management,
is not an ahistorical endeavour
– without history
… but must be located in history
Kaiapohia Pa, North Canterbury (1893) J W Stack
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management in history
…an asymmetrical endeavour
“The negative asymmetric impact of settler colonialism on
Māori communities since the signing of Te Tiriti/The Treaty in
the 1840’s has been so profound it requires an equally
differentiated asymmetric policy planning and environmental
management response to counter these impacts … business
as usual (bau) is inadequate & doesn’t cut it”
Parihaka Passive Resistance, Taranaki. 1860’s-1880
Kaiapohia Pa, North Canterbury (1893) J W Stack
kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… cognisant of settler colonialism & its knowledge dimensions
“to be colonised … is to
be defined by someone
else and to believe it “name the word … name the world”
even when confronted “name what they mean … how to do
daily by evidence to the
contrary”
Paulo Freire, 1975
them … their purpose”
Kaupapa Māori policy Kaupapa Māori planning Kaupapa Māori
• Social • Social management
• Cultural • Cultural • Social
• Economic • Economic • Cultural
• Environmental • Environmental • Economic
• other • other • Environmental
• other
eg Kaupapa Maori
Economic
eg Kaupapa Maori eg Kaupapa Maori management
Social Policy Environmental
Planning
Wananga/Tutorial 2 : Decolonising Planning Exercise
Using the Course Reading for Week 1 “Decolonising Planning” (1999) and introductory lectures
Group Discussion in Class
• “What might de-colonising planning , policy and environmental management look like?
Individual Tasks
• What do you consider are/might be - the TOP 3 Planning and environmental issues for Māori in a
contemporary context ?
• Why have you included EACH in the Top 3?
• What is your rationale for ranking your top ranked issues at Number One ?
Instructions
• Using up to a maximum of I typed page , address each of the issues raised above
• Submit your assessment through the MAST 603 Akoraka/Learn site, by Sunday 29 July 9.00 pm
Hirini Matunga, MAST 603 - 2025
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning design & management
…a chronology of
Classic (Pre-colonial, pre 1840 )
Intimate knowledge of environment
Well defined system of rights
Resource management laws/lore's
Resistance (Colonial - Treaty Era : 1840-1987)
Treaty guaranteed iwi authority
Guarantees not met
Minimal to no recognition of Māori Interests
Modern Era (post 1987)
Historical & contemporary Waitangi Tribunal Claims
Treaty Settlements
Resource Management 1991 and many other critical statute
Resurgent Traditions
Iwi authority
Iwi Management Policy and Plans
Post Treaty settlement futures
Tino rangatiratanga asserted
Post Colonial Futures
Are we there yet?
How will we know?
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management …
… traditions in a contemporary context
Strong tradition of resistance
Political strategy
Commitment to political, social, economic, environmental change for Māori
Its own history and whakapapa
Has always existed
Own traditions and sets of practices
* Community, kinship and place based
* Specific peoples (iwi hapu, whanau), in/on
* Specific places, lands and resources
Ref :
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management
… people, place, knowledge, practice nexus
Distinct Group Prescribed Accumulated Culturally
of People Territory Knowledge Distinct
System Practices &
• iwi, hapu, whanau Approaches
• lands, places, • About the place,
• new whanau, areas, environment, • Decision making
• linked by ancestry, • resources, resources, approaches
kinship or environments • its history, how?
common • Generally, the traditions • Implementation
association as group claims as • tikanga/ethics for approaches how?
Māori theirs managing • Institutional
interactions
arrangements
who/what?
Ref :
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & management …
… existed and exists still
independently practiced practiced still today, but
by iwi/hapu/whanau innovating and
since time immemorial responding to changed
circumstances /contexts
Major tools for iwi to:
• manage change major development has
• manage interactions been codification into iwi
• define better social, economic, management
cultural, political and plans/policies
environmental outcomes
• Implement change
Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design, management continuum
… core theoretical assumptions
Māori (iwi & hapu) policy & planning, design & management pre-dates
the Treaty
A contemporary Māori policy/planning/design/management paradigm
exists, grounded in Māori tradition but evolving
Treaty provided basis for a dual policy/planning/design/management
approach
State Based system still doesn’t recognise the primacy of iwi/crown
relationships and need to redistribute power …
Aotearoa/NZ has dual policy, planning, design & environmental
management tradition as a basis for a new paradigm for planning, policy
making & environmental management in Aotearoa/NZ
,
M
A
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Kaupapa Māori policy, planning, design & environmental management
T
6 … `a’ theoretical framework
0
3
-
2
0
Mana Kaitiaki
2
5 “ … for kaitiaki to protect, maintain,
taonga enhance, replenish and rejuvenate the
mauri of the taonga in a manner
consistent with tikanga”
mauri
tikanga kaitiaki
“Good” “Good”
Process Outcome
“flawed” “flawed”
process outcome
What are Māori seeking?:
Māori State
Māori, National,
Iwi, Te tiriti o Regional,
Hapu Waitangi District
Policy, planning, Policy, planning,
design, environmental design, environmental
management management
Fundamental recognition of Te Tiriti .. Te tino
rangatiratanga in policy, planning, design & management
