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Taikaha

ContentsIntroduction to Aotearoa, New Zealand .........................................................................3The Treaty of Waitangi and oil exploration .....................................................................5Iwi response .................................................................................................................6Letter to Sami Parliament of Norway ............................................................................7The legal claim and a murky oil history ..........................................................................8Climate change - the real catastrophe ..........................................................................10

Indigenous Maori delegation to Norway from Aotearoa, New Zealand, May 2015

Cover Tihaehae 2 and other artwork ataahua by Theresa Reihana.

Ko Ngatokimatawhaorua te waka

Ko Te Angoango te maunga wairere

Ko Waikeri te awa

Ko nga tai o te Uru te moana

Ko Waikeri te urupa

Ko Te Hauhau te tangata

Te Rarawa te iwi

Te Parewhero te hapu

Ko Pukeroa te whana

Ko Te Wani ahau.

Ngatokimatawhaorua is the waka

Te Angoango is the mountain waterfall

Waikeri is the river

The tides of the West are the waters

Waikeri is the cemetery

Te Hauhau is the ancestor

Te Rarawa is the tribe

Te Parewhero is the subtribe

Pukeroa is the family

I am Te Wani

Ko Aotea te Waka

Ko Taikatu te Moana

Ko Taranaki te Mounga

Ko Te Rere o Kapuni te Punawai

Ko Kaupokonui te awa

Ko Auroa te Papakainga

Ko Ngaa Ruahine te iwi

Aotea is the Canoe

Taikatu is the Sea

Taranaki is the Mountain

Te Rere o Kapuni is the Waterfall

Kaupokonui is the River

Auroa is the Village

Ngaa Ruahine are the People

Ko Maungaemiemi te maunga

Ko Pupuke te awa

Ko Whaingaroa te moana

Ko Te Huia te marae

Ko Tahawai te Hapu

Ko Ngapuhi raua ko Ngti Kahu oku iwi

Maungaemiemi is the mountain

Pupuke is the river

Whaingaroa is the ocean

Te Huia is the ancestral house

Tahawai is the family

Ngapuhi and Ngti Kahu are the people

Sonny Otene

Hinekaa Mako

Mike Smith

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Maori are one branch of the family tree of Pasifika peoples, and our territory encompasses the largest biosphere on earth - the Pacific Ocean.

We live in Te Moana nui a Kiwa, the Polynesian triangle territory extending from Hawaii in the Northern Pacific, Rapanui (Easter Islands) in the East, and Aotearoa (New Zealand) in the South West Pacific.

At the northernmost tip of Aotearoa is Te Rere i nga Wairua. Here lies the departing point of the spirits of our dead. From here, we undertake the return journey to our ancestral homeland, Hawaiki.

It is here, at the bottom of the cliff of Te Rere i nga Wairua, where the freshwater spring Te Waiora o Tane cleanses the spirits of the departed.

It is here that the two oceans Te Moana o Rehua and Te Tai o Whitireia meet, in a great up-swelling of currents that are rich with marine life.

It is here where the tribal home lands and seas of the Ngti Kuri people lies, and they are the guardians of this sacred area.

Te Rere i nga Wairua is recognised as a special place. It is on the tentative list of UNESCO waiting to receive World Heritage Site status.

It is one of the most sacred sites in Aotearoa.

Introduction to Aotearoa, New Zealand

The Polynesian Triangle showing: 1) Hawaii, 2) Aotearoa 3) Rapanui 4) Samoa, 5) Tahiti.

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With the arrival of Norwegian drillships to our shores, your country now poses a threat to everything we value and treasure.

Directly southwest lies Te Oneroa a Tohe, the great sands of Tohe - also known as 90 Mile Beach - where for generations the local tribes have gathered the bountiful food resources of the ocean. This amazing source of nourishment runs south to Te Koanga Bay.

At Te Koanga, you will find Sonny Otene and his tribe Te Parewhero. They are the kaitiaki (guardians) of this part of the land and ocean through their tribal organisation - Te Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana.

Directly southeast of Te Rerenga Wairua are the pristine waters of Parengarenga, which are cleansed by the brilliant white dunes made of the purest silica sands in the world.

Further south, and youll find the majestic Tokerau Bay and the traditional fishing grounds and lands of the Ngti Kahu people. These are the tribal homelands of Taketake Toe Toe.

Collectively - from the northernmost tip Te Rere i nga Wairua to Tokerau Bay in the south - this region is called Te Hiku o Te Ika a Maui, or the Tail of the Great Fish of Maui.

Te Hiku o Te Ika a Maui is an integral cultural and spiritual part of our way of life in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and we work hard to keep it that way.

With the arrival of Norwegian drillships to our shores, your country now poses a threat to everything we value and treasure.

This hurts us deeply, but like our forefathers, we will strive to protect the integrity of our lands and continue to fight for its rights.

Te Oneroa a Tohe (the great sands of Tohe) - also known as 90 Mile Beach. Flickr / Easegill

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THE TREATY OF WAITANGIIn 1840 the Maori chiefs of Aotearoa signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), which was the constitutional foundation document of the modern New Zealand state.

Since then, we have held fast to this Treaty, even historically, when the settler government chose to ignore its provisions.

Article 2 of Te Tiriti guaranteed that Maori would retain, full undisturbed possession over their lands, fisheries and sovereignty. It also granted rights to the new British incomers, allowing them to establish governance structures for their people, who were beginning to settle amongst Maori.

Over the last 150 years, a substantial amount of legal jurisprudence has evolved, including the incorporation of Te Tiriti o Waitangi into domestic law.

And then in 1975, the New Zealand Government established the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate the nature of any breaches of the Treaty.

Consequently, in recent times the government has been found guilty of both historical and contemporary breaches.

THE PETROLEUM REPORTThe Petroleum Report is the outcome of a hearing held in Wellington about legal issues surrounding petroleum resource ownership in October, 2000.

In the report by the Waitangi Tribunal, Chief Judge Joe Williams (presiding) found, the Tribunal considered that the claimants in these claims had a subsisting Treaty interest in the petroleum resource and that they were accordingly entitled to redress beyond that to which their historical land loss grievances entitled them.

And more recently, the February 2015 report of The Waitangi Tribunal's inquiry into Te Paparahi o Te Raki (the Great Land of the North) Treaty claims found that: "they did not cede authority to make and enforce law over their people or their territories.

THE STATOIL PERMITOn 5 December 2013, the government announced that it had issued an exploration permit to Statoil in the Te Reinga basin off the northern coast of Northland, encompassing 54,000 square kilometres of sea.

This is considered an ultra-deep prospect and includes depths exceeding 2,500 metres.

In addition, Statoil has now entered into a joint venture agreement with Chevron to explore a further region off the East Coast of the North Island

The area they will explore in the Pegasus and East Coast Basins covers more than 6.26 million acres or 25,300 square kilometres. Chevron will be the operator of the permits, and will share interest 50/50 with Statoil.

Chevron calls the area "frontier" basins, with water depths ranging from 800 metres to 3,000 metres.

The Treaty of Waitangi and oil exploration

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Iwi response

TE RARAWAImmediately after the announcement of the Northland permit to Statoil, local Maori leaders began to express their opposition.

Tribal governance organisation Te Runanga o Te Rarawa immediately resolved to oppose deep sea oil drilling within its iwi area of interest in the Far North.

According to chairman Haami Piripi, "this decision reaffirmed the runanga's policy of supporting the views of its hapu (constituent sub tribes) on deep sea mining.

Despite attempts by Statoil to engage with tribal authorities in the region, many surrounding governance groups have also added their opposition to Statoils exploration.

NGTI KURINgti Kuri is another tribe whose lands and waters are immediately adjacent to the Statoil prospect. In his letter to the New Zealand Prime Minister on 30 June 2014, Ngti Kuri tribal governance chairperson Harry Burkhardt stated that:

Ngti Kuri does not support the Governments current position on Deep Sea Oil Drilling.

. Drilling at depths of 2,000 meters or more is at the limits of safe practice for current technology

. Benefits to New Zealand and local communities will be marginal when foreign companies such as Statoil have been provided permits to drill

. New Zealand carries 100% of the risk in the event of a major oil spill. New Zealand is currently underprepared to deal with any oil spill. The ecological and economic damage to our coastline in such an event will be catastrophic. As kaitiaki (guardians), Ngti Kuri has a responsibility to protect this taonga (treasure).

NGTI KAHUThrough its chairperson, Professor Dr Makere Mutu, the Ngti Kahu tribal governance organisation Te Runanga o Ngti Kahu sent a letter to the President of the Sami Parliament of Norway in April 2015, making their position clear:

"Fly a Flag III" by Andrea Hopkins - AEH'10 Parehauraki / Marutuahu / Maniapoto. Collection of Arana Horncy & Mandy Sunlight"

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Te Rnanga--Iwi o Ngti Kahu is the body mandated and

authorised to represent the Ngti Kahu nation of the Far North

region of Aotearoa / New Zealand. It is Ngti Kahus parliament.

Ngti Kahu are mana whenua, that is, the ultimate power and

authority for all lands, seas and other natural resources within our

territories. Sovereignty over our territories remains with us and

not with the New Zealand government. Our territories include Te

Reinga basin, the area off our coast for which Statoil has been issued

petroleum exploration licenses by the New Zealand government.

We need to be very clear that the New Zealand government does not

have the constitutional authority to issue any licenses within Ngti

Kahus territories without Ngti Kahus consent. The British Crown,

whom the New Zealand government represents, entered into a treaty

in 1840 which confirmed that sovereignty within our territories

remains with us and that the Crowns only role is to control British

immigrants entering our territories. The New Zealand government

has misrepresented itself as holding authority to issue licenses to

conduct petroleum exploration when it does not hold that authority.

Furthermore Ngti Kahu, along with our neighbouring nations of

Ngti Kur and Te Rarawa, own the seabed in Te Reinga basin and

are the only ones who can authorise petroleum exploration there.

Ngti Kahu are vehemently opposed to anyone conducting petroleum

exploration anywhere in our territories and particularly in our seas.

We are ultimately responsible for the well-being of Papatnuku, our

mother earth, throughout our territories. The amount of damage that

has been done to her by people forcibly extracting resources from

her for capital gain is not only unsustainable environmentally, it has

resulted in permanent damage in many places, severely threatening

Papatnukus ability to sustain life. We have seen the evidence

both here and overseas of the damage done by people extracting

petroleum. We have begun to see the signs of that damage occurring

in our own territories as dead sea mammals are increasingly coming

up on our beaches.

Letter to Sami Parliament of Norway

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THE LEGAL CLAIMAs a result of this opposition and ongoing discussions amongst northern tribal groups, it has been agreed that an immediate legal claim will be made to the Waitangi Tribunal about the issue of deep sea oil drilling. The legal action is being taken by the Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana, which is the tribal organisation mandated to manage all issue concerning the marine environment.

Broadly, the claim alleges breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in respect of the governments failure to actively seek prior and informed consent of Maori tribes in relation to the issuing of deep sea oil drilling permits, as well as failing in the duty of the correct consultation process with Maori rights holders.

REMEDIESThat we the aforementioned tribal authorities of the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand are therefore requiring that Statoil surrender their permits at the earliest exit point in their contracts.

OILS MURKY HISTORY IN NEW ZEALAND

Our people do not get employed, we cannot train in the technical areas required.

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, member at the Maori Economic Development Panel

New Zealands first onshore oil well was drilled in 1865 in the Taranaki region, on land recently confiscated from local Maori. Offshore drilling began in the same region 100 years later in 1969.

Until now, the oil industry has had little activity beyond this region, a region of almost entirely stolen Maori lands. These are the tribal homelands of Hinekaa Mako.

Thus, the oil industry has grown in a context that began during the early days of Maori land theft, and has failed to demonstrate many benefits to iwi.

Alongside massive historic land confiscations, the new offshore drilling activity was also facilitated by controversial but unbridled government theft of customary waters from Maori.

The Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 served to extinguish indigenous customary title to the seabed.

The legal claim and a murky oil history

Stop Statoil hikoi, Cape Reinga, September 2014. Dan McGrath

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This Act is a vital tool used by the Government to issue permits of vast tracts of New Zealand's territorial waters to foreign oil companies for exploration and drilling.

It legally cuts Maori out of the permitting process by minimising our involvement in seabed issues, leaving us only one option to partake in a toothless consultation process.

[The Foreshore and Seabed Act was] the largest confiscation of land since the early colonial period.

Annette Sykes, Maori activist and lawyer

The Foreshore and Seabed Act sparked the largest uprising of Maori across the nation, as well as a transformative rift within the governments then-ruling Labour Party, which split the Maori caucus, and led to formation of the Maori Party.

A large number of non-Maori New Zealanders also supported the protest movement against this Act, which has been described by lawyer and activist Annette Sykes as, the largest confiscation of land since the early colonial period.

Offshore drilling now involves huge areas of New Zealands territorial waters being offered for foreign exploration its also the centrepiece of the incumbent National Party governments economic strategy.

In 2010, the John Key led government enthusiastically embarked on a mining and drilling programme, starting with a proposal to offer our conservation estate to mining companies.

In response, 40,000-people protested in Auckland, forcing the government to reconsider the plan. Then, later that same year, the government issued deep sea drilling permits to Brazilian oil giant Petrobras.

But the Petrobras exploration program was also met with staunch opposition - led by the local iwi, Te Whanau a Apanui. The oil giant eventually chose to abandon their permits.

This is the climate which Statoil has entered New Zealand.

It is coming to a country with strong antipathy, both historical and recent, to activities that jeopardise our natural environment. The connections to land and sea that Maori people and many non-Maori New Zealanders have, is part of the collective national identity.

Many times the force of that public sentiment has successfully overthrown threats to New Zealands unspoiled shores.

Stop Deep Sea Oil march, Auckland, 30 September 2014. Jos Wheeler

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Believing that, given expert climate change predictions and advice, any further unnecessary release of carbon into our atmosphere is not only irresponsible, but will directly lead to unprecedented human suffering exploration makes no sense.

Patau Tepania, Chairperson, Ahipara Komiti Takutaimoana

Statoils arguments for drilling are based primarily on a belief that we need to feed the worlds dependence on oil, as well as a desire to maintain Norways oil revenues.

Many iwi are unimpressed by these motives.

In a meeting with iwi Statoils vice-president of exploration Pal Haremo stated that, If our company is to grow, then we must expand. He further said that, If we stopped oil production thered be unemployment, economic shut down, catastrophe. Producing oil is the only way we can get through this.

Iwi feel these statements amount to a fear tactic which overstates the risks of not drilling for new oil, while minimising the real catastrophe that we face if climate change is not dealt with.

It must be difficult for oil companies to accept the unequivocal scientific data, which tells us that the world cannot afford to burn existing fossil fuel reserves let alone search for more. But this is the reality that informs our belief that clean renewable energy should be vigorously pursued.

Stopping exploration for oil is imperative if we are to provide a better, more secure and fairer future for ours and future generations.

Statoil may be a unique operator at home - some may call it a national hero because of the large percentage of royalty it pays to the Norwegian Sovereign Fund.

But in Aotearoa, New Zealand, no such sovereign fund exists. Statoil is here to take any oil they find, and take the lionshare of any income back to Norway.

On the other side of the world, its just another oil company intent on exploiting our pristine sea areas to maximise their returns and minimise their expenses.

We see them in a different light.

For us, the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, Statoil is no hero.

We want Statoil to go home.

Climate change - the real catastrophe

Boy on horse, Matai Bay. Hinekaa Mako

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Ko Aperahama Taonui he poropiti no NgapuhiI whakaohorere ai te iwi i ana matakite

Ka haere mai he taniwha!Ka mohio te iwi i tenei morikarika

Na te ahua o ana niho He koura! He hiriwa!

Na reira, kua tae te wa, kua tae tera taniwha.Kia oho! Kia mataara!

Kia tu tahi tatou!

Introduction to Aotearoa, New ZealandThe Treaty of Waitangi and oil explorationIwi responseLetter to Sami Parliament of NorwayThe legal claim and a murky oil historyClimate change - the real catastrophe