November 18, 2014
Moon ignoring Maori accounts
A Maori legal scholar says AUT University Professor Paul Moon’s criticism of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Te Paparahi o te Raki report shows an unwillingness to listen to Maori perspectives.
Professor Moon has accused the tribunal of rewriting history in its finding that rangatira did not give away their sovereignty when they signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.
He says the tribunal elevated the importance of the 1835 Declaration of Independence, even though it had no international status, and was regarded by British officials at the time as ‘a silly as well as an unauthorised act.’
Moana Jackson says Professor Moon is only prepared to give weight to Pakeha accounts of the period.
" It actually does get a bit tiresome when so called experts like Paul Moon, seem to believe that the received history, is defined by pakeha, as the only valid way of understanding what has happened in this country. And if he accuses the tribunal of distorting history, then I think, he is equally guilty of not just distorting but also ignoring crucial parts of the Maori evidence which was presented to the tribunal " he says.
Moana Jackson says the 1935 Declaration gives a critical insight into what Maori understood when they signed the treaty five years later.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH MOANA JACKSON CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MjQxMTU=
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PAUL MOON CLICK ON THE LINK
http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MjQxMTQ=
Copyright © 2014, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com