Editing Taonga

{{Short description|Treasured possession in the Māori culture of New Zealand}}
{{For|the New Zealand TV series|Taonga (TV series)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2013}}

'''''Taonga''''' or '''''taoka''''' (in [[Māori language#South Island dialects|South Island Māori]]) is a [[Māori language|Māori-language]] word that refers to a treasured possession in [[Māori culture]]. It lacks a direct translation into English, making its use in the [[Treaty of Waitangi]] significant. The current definition differs from the historical one, noted by [[Hongi Hika]] as "property procured by the spear" [one could understand this as [[Looting|war booty]] or defended property] and is now interpreted to mean a wide range of both tangible and intangible possessions, especially items of historical cultural significance.  It has been changed to suit agendas.{{clarify|reason=whose agendas?|date=March 2025}} The 1820 Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of New Zealand by Cambridge University professor Samuel Lee defined taonga as property procured by the spear.  The second dictionary, was the Dictionary of the New Zealand Language by William Williams, published in 1844 four years after treaty was signed. This simply defined taonga as property.

Tangible examples are all sorts of [[Antique|heirloom]]s and [[Artefact (archaeology)|artefact]]s, [[real property|land]], [[fisheries]], natural resources such as geothermal springs<ref name="KAT">{{cite web| title =Ngawha Geothermal Resource Report 1993 (Wai 304)| publisher=Waitangi Tribunal| year =1993|url= http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/summary.asp?reportid={25C730E6-2C3B-47DC-933E-2549E11ACDA4}| accessdate=3 October 2011}}</ref> and access to natural resources, such as [[riparian water rights]] and access to the [[riparian zone]] of rivers or streams. Intangible examples may include language and spiritual beliefs. The concept of ''taonga'' can also transcend into general [[Culture of New Zealand|New Zealand culture]] and non-Māori items; for example, the [[Ranfurly Shield]] is recognised as a ''taonga'' amongst the New Zealand rugby community.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Julian |first=Adam |date=2023-10-05 |title=Ranfurly Shield: Give it to the Heartland |url=https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/10/05/ranfurly-shield-give-it-to-the-heartland/ |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=Newsroom |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cully |first=Paul |date=18 August 2023 |title=A new Log 'o Wood: Ranfurly Shield undergoes major restoration as old wood is retired |url=https://www.thepost.co.nz/sport/350056475/new-log-o-wood-ranfurly-shield-undergoes-major-restoration-old-wood-retired |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=www.thepost.co.nz}}</ref>

Traditionally ''taonga'' represent the tangible and intangible links between [[Māori people|Māori]] people and their ancestors and land. ''Taonga'' serve to reaffirm these genealogical connections to people and place known as [[whakapapa]]. ''Taonga'' serve as genealogical reference markers that help connect the living with their past. The intangible elements of ''taonga'', such as the stories and genealogy that accompany them, are just as important as the object itself.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Tapsell |first=Paul |title=Taonga : a tribal response to museums |date=1998-01-01 |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q59576785}}</ref> [[Mina McKenzie]] described maintaining the connections between tangible objects, intangible properties, place and descendants as 'keeping the taonga warm.'<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 October 2024 |title="A Bridge Between Worlds: Mina McKenzie and Te Māori – Part 1" |url=https://www.temanawa.co.nz/2024/09/10/a-bridge-between-worlds-mina-mckenzie-temaori-part-1/ |access-date=12 October 2024 |website=Te Manawa}}</ref>

What is deemed to be a ''taonga'' has major political, economic and social consequences in New Zealand and has been the subject of fierce debates as the varying definitions and interpretations have implications for policies regarding such things as intellectual property,<ref>{{cite news | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1362435.stm | title =Lego game irks Maoris | publisher =BBC News | date =31 May 2005 | accessdate =14 August 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first =Kim | last =Griggs | url =https://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,56451,00.html?tw=wn_story_related | title =Lego Site Irks Maori Sympathizer | publisher =Wired News | date =21 November 2002 | accessdate =14 August 2006 }}</ref> genetic engineering<ref>Simon Upton, ''[http://www.arcadia.co.nz/uptononline/2002/december_11_2002.htm upton-on-line]'', 11 December 2002. Accessed 12 January 2008.</ref> and allocation of radio frequency spectrum.

== Relationships ==
Fundamental to taonga are the relationships they exist in, including the people that made or cared for them, the communities they came from, and the ways they are connected to specific aspects of Maori culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaeppler |first=Adrienne L. |title=Taonga Maori and the evolution of the representation of the other |publisher=Department of Internal Affairs |year=1990 |location=Wellington}}</ref>

==Treaty of Waitangi and te Tiriti o Waitangi==
The definition of ''taonga'' has potential constitutional significance in [[New Zealand]] because of the use of the word in the second article of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]] ({{langx  |mi| te Tiriti o Waitangi}}). The English-language version of the treaty guaranteed the Māori signatories "full exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and ''other properties''". The [[Māori-language]] version of the treaty, which the  vast majority of the signing parties endorsed (461 of 500 signatures<ref>{{cite web |title= Signing the Treaty |url= https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/treaty/making-the-treaty/signing-the-treaty |website= NZ History.Gov |publisher= Ministry of Culture and Heritage |accessdate= 24 September 2019}}</ref>), used the word ''taonga'' to translate the English phrase "other properties".<ref>[https://archives.govt.nz/discover-our-stories/the-treaty-of-waitangi Te Tiriti o Waitangi] - ''Ko te Kuini o Ingarani ka wakarite ka wakaae ki nga Rangitira ki nga hapu – ki nga tangata katoa o Nu Tirani te tino rangatiratanga o o ratou wenua o ratou kainga me o ratou taonga katoa''.</ref>

Section 6(e) of the Resource Management Act 1991 mandates decision-makers to "recognise and provide for the relationship of Māori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral lands, water, sites, wāhi tapu [sacred sites], and other taonga" as a matter of national importance.<ref>
[https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1991/0069/latest/DLM231907.html?search=sw_096be8ed81ab112c_wahi+tapu+and+other+taonga_25_se&p=1&sr=5 Resource Management Act 1991 at www.legislation.govt.nz]
</ref>

==Artifacts==
''[[Te Uenuku]]'', or simply ''Uenuku'' is an important early [[Māori carving]] housed at [[Te Awamutu Museum]].<ref name="TAM">{{cite web|url=http://collections.tamuseum.org.nz/search.do?id=671&db=object&page=1&view=detail|title=Uenuku|work=[[Te Awamutu Museum]]|publisher=[[Waipa District Council]]|accessdate=21 September 2013}}</ref>  ''Te Uenuku'' (literally "The rainbow") represents the tribal god [[Uenuku]].

''[[Korotangi]]'' (''bird of sorrow'') is a carving of a bird made in serpentine stone. Some Māori of [[Tainui]] allegiance believe that it was brought to the country from [[Hawaiki]] in their ancestral [[Waka (canoe)|waka]].

==Waitangi Tribunal claims==
A number of claims have been made to the [[Waitangi Tribunal]], relating to the protection of ''taonga''.

===Māori language===

In June 1985 a claim was lodged asking that the Māori language receive official recognition. It was proposed that the language be official for all purposes enabling its use as of right in Parliament, the Courts, Government Departments, local authorities and public bodies.<ref>[http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/viewchapter.asp?reportID=6113B0B0-13B5-400A-AFC7-76F76D3DDD92&chapter=5 "Te Reo Maori Claim"], Waitangi Tribunal</ref>

===Radio frequencies===
In June 1986, the Waitangi Tribunal received the Wai 26 claim that the [[Treaty of Waitangi]] was breached by the Crown proceeding to introduce legislation related to Māori language before the delivery of the Tribunal's "Report on the Te Reo Maori Claim", and as a consequence, the Māori people would be denied their claims for radio frequencies and a television channel.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010715203845/http://www.knowledge-basket.co.nz/waitangi/reports/wai26.html Report of the Waitangi Tribunal on Claims Concerning the Allocation of Radio Frequencies]</ref> In June 1990 claim Wai 150 was lodged by Sir [[Graham Latimer]] on behalf of the [[New Zealand Maori Council]]. The claim was in respect of their [[rangatiratanga]] over the allocation of radio frequencies; the claim being that in the absence of an agreement with the Māori, the sale of frequency management licences under the Radiocommunications Act 1989 would be in breach of the [[Treaty of Waitangi]].<ref>{{cite book |title= The Maori Broadcasting Claim: A Pakeha Economist's Perspective|publisher=Brian Easton|year=1990|url= http://www.eastonbh.ac.nz/?p=293|accessdate=1 September 2011}}</ref> The Waitangi Tribunal amalgamated the Wai 26 with the Wai 150 claim,<ref>{{cite book |title= Report of the Waitangi Tribunal on Claims Concerning the Allocation of Radio Frequencies (Wai 26)|publisher=Waitangi Tribunal |year=1990|url=http://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/reports/summary.asp?reportid={079F3543-0DDE-48E5-81B5-827FDFD73F12} |accessdate=1 September 2011}}</ref> with the final report of the Tribunal recommending that the Crown suspend the radio frequency tender process and proceed to negotiate with the iwi.<ref>{{cite book |title= Radio Spectrum Management and Development Final Report (Wai 776)|publisher=Waitangi Tribunal |year=1999|url= http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/view.asp?reportID=9b5ed50e-e089-4d64-8961-aea664b9a08d|accessdate=1 September 2011}}</ref>

===Spiritual places and burial sites===
In November 1996, various members of Te Roroa filed a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal concerning the Maunganui block, the Waipoua Forest, Lake Taharoa and surroundings, and the Waimamaku Valley in Northland. A part of the Wai 38 claim related to ''taonga'', in particular: wahi tapu "spiritual places of special significance to tangata whenua", and wakatupapaku (burial chests deposited in ana (caves and crevices)).

The Tribunal report delivered on 3 April 1992 found that the Crown had allowed Te Roroa's ''taonga'' to be violated.<ref name="Wai38">{{cite web|title= The Te Roroa Report 1992 (Wai 38) Chapter 6, Taonga (Sacred Treasures)| publisher= Waitangi Tribunal|year = 1992|url= http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/scripts/reports/reports/38/F731EC47-BB76-4D0D-8D41-A4F7A709E763.pdf| accessdate=3 Oct 2011}}</ref>

===Māori knowledge of flora and fauna===
The Wai 262 claim in the Waitangi Tribunal is a claim of rights in respect of [[Mātauranga Māori]] or Māori knowledge in respect of indigenous flora and fauna. The claimants commissioned a report from Professor D. Williams on [[traditional ecological knowledge]], ethnobotany and international and New Zealand law on intellectual property and conservation.<ref name="DW 1997">{{cite web| last =  Williams| first = David| title= Mātauranga Māori and Taonga. The Nature and Extent of Treaty Rights Held by Iwi and Hapū in Indigenous Flora and Fauna Cultural Heritage Objects and valued Traditional Knowledge | publisher=Waitangi Tribunal| year = 1997|url= http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/inquiries/genericinquiries2/florafauna/mtaurangamoriandtaonga.asp | accessdate=11 Sep 2011}}</ref>

On 2 July 2011 the Tribunal released its report into the Wai 262 claim: "Ko Aotearoa Tēnei" (‘This is Aotearoa’ or ‘This is New Zealand’).<ref name="WT">{{cite web| title = Time to Move beyond Grievance in Treaty Relationship | date =2 July 2011 |url= http://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/news/media/wai262.asp| accessdate=14 Sep 2011}}</ref> "Ko Aotearoa Tēnei" considers more than 20 Government departments and agencies and makes recommendations as to reforms of "laws, policies or practices relating to health, education, science, intellectual property, indigenous flora and fauna, resource management, conservation, the Māori language, arts and culture, heritage, and the involvement of Māori in the development of New Zealand’s positions on international instruments affecting indigenous rights."<ref name="KAT2011">{{cite web| title = Ko Aotearoa Tēnei | publisher=Waitangi Tribunal| date = July 2011|url= http://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/reports/downloadpdf.asp?reportid={BF981901-5B55-441C-A93E-8E84B67B76E9}.pdf| accessdate=11 September 2011}}</ref> The First Chapter of volume 1 (of the full 2 volume report) considers the relationship between ''taonga'' works and intellectual property. The Tribunal provides a working definition of a ‘taonga work’ as being that:

:"A taonga work is a work, whether or not it has been fixed, that is in its entirety an expression of mātauranga Māori; it will relate to or invoke ancestral connections, and contain or reflect traditional narratives or stories. A taonga work will possess mauri and have living kaitiaki in accordance with [[tikanga Māori]]." (Vol 1, 1.7.3 p. 96)<ref name="KATKC">{{cite book |title= Ko Aotearoa Tēnei |url=http://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/reports/downloadpdf.asp?reportid={BF981901-5B55-441C-A93E-8E84B67B76E9}.pdf |date=July 2011 |publisher= Waitangi Tribunal |chapter= Key Concepts, Vol. 1, Introduction 5.2}}</ref>

These working definitions involve concepts which are described by the Tribunal as being: Mauri is having a living essence or spirit.<ref name="KATKC"/> Kaitiaki can be spiritual guardians that exist in non-human form; kaitiaki obligations also exist in the human realm. The related concept is that "Kaitiakitanga is the obligation, arising from the kin relationship, to nurture or care for a person or thing it has a spiritual aspect, encompassing not only an obligation to care for and nurture not only physical well-being but also mauri."<ref name="KATKC"/> Kaitiaki obligations are described by the Tribunal as being that, “those who have mana (or, to use treaty terminology, [[rangatiratanga]]) must exercise it in accordance with the values of kaitiakitanga – to act unselfishly, with right mind and heart, and with proper Mana and kaitiakitanga go together as right and responsibility, and that kaitiakitanga responsibility can be understood not only as a cultural principle but as a system of law”.<ref name="KATKC"/>  The Tribunal also provide a working definition of a ‘taonga-derived work’ as being that:

:"A taonga-derived work is a work that derives its inspiration from mātauranga Māori or a taonga work, but does not relate to or invoke ancestral connections, nor contain or reflect traditional narratives or stories, in any direct way. A taonga-derived work is identifiably Māori in nature or contains identifiably Māori elements, but has neither mauri nor living kaitiaki in accordance with [[tikanga Māori]]."(Vol 1, 1.7.3 p. 96)<ref name="KATKC"/>

The Tribunal considered which principles applied to whether consent to its use, rather than mere consultation, was necessary where the work was a taonga work, or where the knowledge or information was mātauranga Māori.<ref name="KATKC"/>

==Modern usage==
The word ''taonga'' is often used in the Māori names of institutions and organisations that manage historical collections. Many New Zealand museums contain the term ''Whare taonga'' ("treasure house") in the name. Here are some examples:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English name
! Māori name
|-
| [[Hocken Collections]], Dunedin
| ''Uare Taoka o Hākena'' (the [[Southern Māori language|Southern Māori dialect]] form of ''Whare Taonga'')
|-
| [[Ministry for Culture and Heritage (New Zealand)|Ministry for Culture and Heritage]]
| ''Te Manatū Taonga''
|-
| [[New Zealand Historic Places Trust]]
| ''Pouhere Taonga''
|-
| [[New Zealand Film Archive]]
| ''Ngā Kaitiaki O Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua''
|-
| [[Radio New Zealand]] Sound Archives
| ''Ngā Taonga Kōrero ''
|-
| [[Rotorua Museum]]
| ''Te Whare Taonga O Te Arawa''
|-
| [[Waikato Museum]]
| ''Te Whare Taonga o Waikato''
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Māori words and phrases]]
[[Category:Māori culture]]
[[Category:Award items]]
[[Category:Treasure]]