Crossing the mountains : negotiating the relationship between the Department of Conservation and Maori in Tongariro National Park, Aotearoa, New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis presents an analysis of the relationship between the New Zealand Department of Conservation and the local Maori groups involved in the management of Tongariro National Park, during a historical Waitangi Tribunal inquiry into the park area. The relationship between Maori and the New Zealand government, as with indigenous groups and governments in other settler societies, is profoundly affected by historical events and the contemporary understandings of those events. I identify key strengths and weaknesses in the relationship at Tongariro National Park, and investigate their historical origins. I argue that the local relationship between the Department of Conservation and Maori is hampered by the different expectations for the relationship each party brings to the negotiating table. These differing expectations stretch back to the establishment of the park in the late nineteenth century, and were enshrined during the early twentieth century in the legislation, policy and public attitudes that structure the national park institution. The relationship's strengths included the goodwill with which both parties usually engaged with each other, the longevity of key relationships, and the political nous of local Maori leaders. These features date back to the 1970s and 1980s when the introduction of public consultation in park decision making led to the development of personal relationships between park management staff and Maori. Claimant and Crown interpretations of the park's history were strongly shaped by the incentive structures of the inquiry process, leading to emphasis on certain events and aspects of the historical relationship that, in my analysis, were not always the most significant. Tribunal inquiries tend to be strongly adversarial, and the inquiry over Tongariro National Park put stress on personal relationships in the area. The usual patterns of interaction between Maori and the Department of Conservation were disrupted during and after the hearings. This may be only a short-term effect, but is noteworthy as one of the goals of the Treaty settlement process is to support ongoing relationships between Maori and the New Zealand government, and little work has been done into the impact of the inquiry process on relationships ""on the ground."" Show more