Implementing Treaty Settlements via Indigenous Institutions: Social Justice and Detribalization in New Zealand

This study examines treaty settlement as a mechanism for providing social justice and incorporating Maori people into mainstream New Zealand society by improving economic and social well-being. Articles II and III of the Treaty of Waitangi (respectively, collectively held private assets and citizenship benefits and privileges) are described and discussed, along with settlement of claims of breached treaty rights, social policy targeted to Maori, and changes in economic and social well-being from 1976 to 1998. The fundamental proposition is that all Maori are harmed by the legacy of dispossession and marginalization and, therefore, all Maori are entitled to social justice. The central question addresses the role of the state in providing redress to all indigenous New Zealanders, collectives and individuals, for breaches of both Article II and Article III treaty rights. However, urbanization and detribalization limit access to social justice, and the benefits of treaty settlements have yet to trickle down to individual Maori households. Changes in aggregate indicators of well-being indicate modest improvement in the first decade, and thereafter Maori people experience greater and increasing income inequality, unemployment, and poverty than other population subgroups. To explain these findings, the following questions are addressed: What is the relationship between detribalization and access to treaty settlement assets? What strategies should the government undertake to provide redress (to individual Maori as well as tribal collectives) for breaches of Article III treaty rights?