February 03, 2022
Tino rangatiratanga means get vaxed says Green
A Green MP says thinking about Waitangi Day is always a good way to start the year on the right note.
While politicians have been told to stay clear of Waitangi and the Treaty Grounds this year because of the Covid Omicron threat, Teanau Tuiono says they still need to be reminded the Treaty’s promise of tino rangatiratanga is about Māori control of Māori land and resources – and how to achieve that today.
It’s also relevant to the Covid pandemic.
“Indigenous rights are collective rights so sometimes you get people saying ‘these people making me get the vaccination is compromising my tino rangatiratanga.’ Actually, tino rangatiratanga is about hapū, it’s about the whānau, it’s about us as a collective. It’s really important to acknowledge bodily autonomy and that sort of thing but it is really a different thing,” Mr Tuiono says.