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Rangatira

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This article is about the Māori title. For other uses, see Rangatira (disambiguation).

Īhāia Te Kirikūmara (died 1873), a 19th-century rangatira

In Māori culture, rangatira (Māori pronunciation: [ɾaŋatiɾa]) are tribal chiefs, the leaders (often hereditary[1]) of a hapū (subtribe or clan). Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority (mana) on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land (Māori: rohe) and that of other tribes. Changes to land-ownership laws in the 19th century, particularly the individualisation of land title, undermined the power of rangatira, as did the widespread loss of land under the Euro-settler-oriented government of the Colony of New Zealand from 1841 onwards. The concepts of rangatira and rangatiratanga (chieftainship), however, remain strong, and a return to rangatiratanga and the uplifting of Māori by the rangatiratanga system has been widely advocated for since the Māori renaissance began c. 1970. Moana Jackson, Ranginui Walker and Tipene O'Regan figure among the most notable of these advocates.[2][need quotation to verify]

The concept of a rangatira is central to rangatiratanga—a Māori system of governance, self-determination and sovereignty.[3]

Etymology

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The word rangatira means "chief (male or female), wellborn, noble" and derives from Proto-Central Eastern Polynesian *langatila ("chief of secondary status").[4] Cognate words are found in Moriori, Tahitian (i.e. the raʻatira in the name Tāvini Huiraʻatira), Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, Marquesan and Hawaiian.[citation needed]

Interpretations

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A sign explaining the tangata whenua history of The Bricks, Christchurch

Three interpretations of rangatira consider it as a compound of the Māori words "ranga" and "tira". In the first case, "ranga" is devised as a sandbar and the "tira" a shark fin. The allegoric sandbar helps reduce erosion of the dune (or people). The fin reflects both the appearance of the sandbar, and, more importantly, "its physical and intentional dominance as guardian".[5](p195) Rangatira reinforce communities, cease to exist without them ("for what is a sandbar without sand?"), and have a protective capacity.[5](p195)

Ethnographer John White (1826-1891) gave a different viewpoint in one of his lectures on Māori customs.[6] He said Māori had traditionally formed two kahui who came together to discuss history or whakapapa.

"Each chief in the kahui had his place assigned to him, according to the amount of knowledge he possessed; and this place was given to him by the leader of the kahui of which he was a member. This act of the leader was called ranga, or putting in order. The people, as they came to the temple in a body, were called tira, or company; and as the leader had to assign, or ranga, a place to each of his tira, he was called the rangatira, from which we derive our word in Maori for chief, rangatira."[6]

This interpretation fits well with a second translation where "ranga" is an abbreviation of rāranga (or weaving) and "tira" signifies a group.[5](p195)

A third interpretation fits equally well with this translation, interlinking concepts related to the identity of the ‘tira’. In the first instance, the conditional hospitality[7][8][9] presented in the form of weaving created for the ‘tira’ of guests. In the second instance, the collective intentionality[10][11] "enacted in the weaving" of the ‘tira’ of hosts.[5](p196) Together, these concepts highlight the value attached to the "personal relationship" between the leader and their group.[5](p196) This type of relationship is similar to the mahara atawhai (endearment or "benevolent concern") offered in the Treaty of Waitangi’s preamble by Queen Victoria, reflecting the pre-nineteenth century "personal bond between the ruler and subject".[12](p177)

References

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  1. ^ Fagan, Brian M. (26 November 1997) [1984]. "The Maori". Clash of Cultures (2 ed.). Lanham, Maryland: AltaMira Press. p. 273. ISBN 9781461666790. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024. The free people of Maori society were the rangatira, almost a hereditary aristocracy.
  2. ^ Smith, Cherryl; Tinirau, Rāwiri; Rattray-Te Mana, Helena; Moewaka Barnes, Helen; Cormack, Donna; Fitzgerald, Eljon (2021). "Rangatiratanga: Narratives of Racism, Resistance, and Well-being" (PDF). Te Atawhai o Te Ao, Independent Māori Institute for Environment & Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  3. ^ Smith, Cherryl; Tinirau, Rāwiri; Rattray-Te Mana, Helena; Moewaka Barnes, Helen; Cormack, Donna; Fitzgerald, Eljon (2021). "Rangatiratanga: Narratives of Racism, Resistance, and Well-being" (PDF). Te Atawhai o Te Ao, Independent Māori Institute for Environment & Health. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2022. Rangatiratanga is a term that encapsulates the political struggle fought by Māori to uphold sovereignty and self-determination as whānau, hapū, iwi, and as a nation. It is commonly understood as the rights that Māori 'should' have received under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
  4. ^ Adams, T.; Benton, R.; Frame, A.; Meredith, P.; Benton, N.; Karena, T. (2003). "Te matapunenga: A compendium of references to concepts of Maori customary law" (PDF). The University of Waikato. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e Gray-Sharp, K (2011), "Ō rātou kāinga: Tino rangatiratanga and contemporary housing policy", in Tawhai, V MH; Gray-Sharp, K (eds.), Always speaking: The Treaty of Waitangi and public policy, Wellington, New Zealand: Huia, pp. 191–212, ISBN 9781869694814
  6. ^ a b White, J. (1826–1891). An epitome of official documents relative to Native affairs and land purchases in the North Island of New Zealand. Lectures on Maori Customs, &c., by Mr. John White, Part 11. NZETC, retrieved 13 November 2001.
  7. ^ Derrida, J. (2000). Of hospitality (R. Bowlby, Trans.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  8. ^ Bell, A. (2010). "Being 'at home' in the nation: Hospitality and sovereignty in talk about immigration". Ethnicities. 10 (2): 236–256. doi:10.1177/1468796810361653. S2CID 145583138.
  9. ^ Westmoreland, M. W. (2008). "Interruptions: Derrida and hospitality" (PDF). Kritike. 2 (1): 1–10. doi:10.3860/krit.v2i1.566. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  10. ^ Searle. J. R. (1990). Collective intentions and actions. In P. R. Cohen, J. Morgan, & M. E. Pollack (Eds.), Intentions in communication (pp. 401–416). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  11. ^ Tuomela, R. (2003). "Collective acceptance, social institutions, and social reality". American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 62 (1): 123–165. doi:10.1111/1536-7150.t01-1-00005.
  12. ^ McHugh, P. G. (1991). The lawyer’s concept of sovereignty, the Treaty of Waitangi, and a legal history for New Zealand. In W. Renwick (Ed.), Sovereignty & indigenous rights: The Treaty of Waitangi in international contexts (pp. 170–189). Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press.
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