The concepts of Maori wealth creation

The below concepts are given as a guide only and are written from the perspective of Maori that have retained traditional landholdings.

1. Money is not evil. A few of the people that have some money might be evil but money should not be viewed being evil in itself. Money can be used for good and to help those you love.

2. Charity starts in the home. Before you can help others you must first help yourself. This means that you shouldn't work for your people for nothing unless you can afford to (ie you are wealthy enough so that money is not a problem).

3. don't be afraid to work for government. Many Maori believe that the government is responsible for much of what has happened to Maori. Many of the worlds greatest and most renowned leaders come from and have worked in government positions. Remember you are not a Maori traitor if you work for the government. Working for the government is not essential but it might offer you a stable income, work experience and extensive networks. If you are effective you might be able to make positive change from within. Remember Sir Apirana Ngata was the most qualified politician in New Zealand.

4. don't cross the wrong people in the right places. A valuable lesson learned before it happens to you. Don't learn this one the hard way. Life is hard enough without creating new enemies.

5. Be honorable. A saying the rich have is; if they will steal for you they will steal off you. Keep your integrity even if its for your own sake and piece of mind. You are less likely to be accepted into the right circles if you are suspect. You can tell a man by the people they surround themselves in.

6. Be true to yourself. dont forget the one thing that New Zealand has that other countires in the world does not have is the Maori culture.

Maori success stories

To be fair and even handed, I am looking for success stories particularly regarding the utilisation of maori Land for profit. If anyone has any information on this I look forward to hearing from you.

Self help

there are some great self help books. one of the best places to start is the Louise L Hay you can heal your life. I initialy thought this book was for weak people with weak minds. Its a bit flowery at the beginning but you get the message. Another of her books is the power is within you. These books can be a pick up if you are down, sick, hooked on drugs or in bad relationships.

Another book was feel the fear and do it anyway. I cant remember the Author but I ended up doing a Science degree after reading it.

Other self help series include The rich dad poor dad books. I am interested in hearing from people that have benifited from these books and others like it.

Kiwi emblem

This is a little gem that I got sent from aussie. Possibly the work of expaits I guess. Generally aussies dont give a stuff what happens over here. While I was studying in aussie they couldn't believe that i was coming back to NZ.
to them it is like going backwards.

Maori leadership

Direct negotiation implies a meeting of chiefs. Unfortunately Maori have cast aside their traditional whakapapa chiefs in favor of modern academics (mostly educated in Pakeha mainstream institutions). We tend to select our leaders from people that have worked in government and know the ropes. We are impressed by those that know how to access government grants and funding pools (putea).

Have Maori forgotten how the colonization engine has affected them? Businesses don't select their business managers form the state sector. They select from the private sector. Why is it that Maori select from the state sector?

When the crown and Maori meet to negotiate on one side there is the minister of justice, a bunch of influential CEO's, a chief crown negotiator all backed with the resources of the state. On the Maori side there are often government employees (or ex employees) with little financial backing and little experience in dealing with the crown. If you are a government employee, to go against the government of the day would be financial suicide.

Assistance for Maori in Aquaculture

Poutama trust- This was by far the most helpful organization to me when graduating from university and entering the business arena. This organization helps those that can not get bank loans etc. Even with 50 hectares of land (including three beaches)and a freehold home we were unable to borrow even ten thousand dollars due to our land status (Maori)and bank policy (BNZ - Coromandel) without putting up our whole block as collateral. History tells us not to do this. Thanks Poutama and team.

Technology New Zealand- This organization can be quite useful if you have something unique. In my opinion it is advisable to apply for pakeha putea as they are larger and Maori putea tend to be under resourced and over subscribed. I found that I personally had greater success with pakeha funding opportunities.

Te ohu Kaimoana- I was extremely fortunate to be the recipient of Te ohu Kaimoana's premier scholarship to study at the University of Tasmania. Our family farm benefited through a joint research project in crayfish culture. The project was a joint effort with Maori research company (Konaki), Kennedy Bay Mussels, Waipaua aquafarms with funding and financial assistance from Technology NZ and Te ohu Kaimoana. Further results were achieved after the completion of the project with high stocking densities, survival rates, growth rates and sales of up to $1000/ kg for crayfish. Te ohuKaimoana is designed to help iwi rather then individuals. Dont get into aquaculture expecting them to bail you out. It wont happen.

Te Puni Kokiri- This is the name for the old Maori affairs department. This organization offers advise to Maori. It appears last on the list of government departments and has one of the smallest putea of any government departments. The staff are under resourced, nicely dressed, have nice cars and the buildings appear well adorned with Maori decorations. This department is a token gesture of governments commitment to Maori and the treaty of Waitangi. Do not go in with high expectations. Staff here are confined by low putea, and stringent bureaucratic regulations.

Hauraki Maori trust board- Offered no support to Waipaua. Perhaps there are difficulties in working with 12 tribes as well as individuals. Dont get into aquaculture expecting HMTB to; bail you out, help employ staff, or create employment opportunities or help financially with training assistance programes or subsidies.

Fighting over fish-the art of negotiation.

Recently Sam Morgan negotiated the sale of is internet company (trade me) for $700 million dollars. This is sheer genius considering that the company was started in August 1999 by a thirty year old with $150,000 in shares, and the company has no property portfolio.

Some of the greatest minds Maori have to offer went into negotiation on behalf of iwi (owning %100 of their fisheries, guaranteed under article two of the treaty)with the crown. The resulting document was "the Maori fisheries act 2004", providing the framework for the allocation to iwi, of their share of $750 million dollars worth of assets.

Was this a good negotiation in your opinion? Where Maori leaders under duress, or undue influence? Are we Maori our own worst enemies when it comes to gaining a consensus among ourselves?

What qualifies me to talk about Maori economic development?

You might be wondering how it is that I am qualified to talk about Maori economic development so here it is;
First and foremost I am a Maori land owner. Anyone who still has Maori land knows the difficulties in trying to make a buck from it. As a family we have invested approximately 1.5 million dollars in time and in-kind labor, into our aquaculture venture. As a business we have invested approximately $600,000 of cash into our pilot operations.

Since we initiated the operation, there have been a number of government legislative interventions that have affected our success. These include; The fore shore and seabed act. The introduction of seaweed into the quota management system, aquaculture moratoriums and subsequent aquaculture management areas.

However I don't think we can blame the government for the failure of our small business. If our paua farm was viable in its present form I would still be pursuing it. Thats life. I have learned and grown from the experience.

Aquaculture-

Maori groups contempleting using their allocatied fisheries resources and revenue need to research their investments thouroughly. Aquaculture is an expensive business and the New Zealand government and NIWA are not beyond using Maori as guinea pigs for research funding. In many instances if you feel you have the resources (financial and land) get one of your local scientists to have a good look at your site. Contact Te ohu Kaimoana and see if your iwi has any recent graduates. If you would like to do a bit of background research yourself ther are some great aquaculture link sites around. Here is one for starters Ecotao's aquaculture links. If you are beyond this and would like to speak to a consultant familiar with Maori economic development issues contact Aquatic enterprises.

Maori Art

Maori artists have created a label to distinguish traditional Maori artists from impressionists. The label is Te toi Iho. Click on the link to view and or purchase traditional Maori art by traditional artists native to New Zealand. What do you think about this label being created?

I have seen Japanese video games with white male hero characters with full facial mokos. The insignias say that the hero's are merely messengers. Although the mokos are a compliment to Maori art there is clearly no knowledege of the art by the video game creators. Should we care?

Colonization- is might always right?

There are approximately 100 treaty's broken in America alone. What would happen if a treaty was broken with America (think Iraq).

The pakeha are highly successful colonizers and have had plenty of practice. I wonder how long it will be until the British decide it is time to go back into Africa. Africa is rich in seafood, minerals and productive land. With a country so rich in natural resources why are they so poor? With each change in leadership there is a change in politics. Africans are left to sort each other out. A successful colonization strategy seen many times over. Once one people is almost decimated you cry genocide and go in and arm the weaker of the two and step back and watch. Maori also have encountered this type of tribal warfare.

In Pre European New Zealand there was no paramount chief. Successful colonization techniques where put in place to remove Maori leaders. Prices where placed on the tattooed (Moko) faces of Maori chiefs. One cheeky pakeha that had married into high ranking families in the east coast collected tattooed faces from neighboring tribes. This practice continued until his face was tattooed.

Similar practices were employed on the American Indian people and prices placed on the scalps of their chiefs. In old Western movies the native American people are depicted as the savages. Once the head is gone the people are lost. Wild western movies show one pakeha is worth ten or twenty native Americans.

As children growing up we used to play cowboys and Indians. Then after that we used to play Pakehas and Maoris. The pakeha kids would say I shot you. The Maori kids would say yeah but you missed and start wrestling. (See new Zealand Land wars for more info). After the screening of the New Zealand land wars there was a public outcry as "mainstream" New Zealanders did not like the history lesson. You will notice that most of the land wars occured after the treaty was signed in 1840.


The story of Te kooti is one of New Zealands greatest.

Prior to 1840 the Maori could not be beaten on the battle field and so a treaty was struck. Their motto was the bigger the gun the deeper the whole. However the Maori were not prepared for the power of the pen. Our people were not defeated on the battle field but in the courts. The land alienated from Maori can be found in the court records. Taking Maori land is a billion dollar industry and wont stop until it has all been alienated. I would like to hear from native Americans with similar stories.

The last remaining landholdings are blocks that the pakeha didn't want. With time the value has increased and so has pressure to get Maori off it. The rating act is one of the methods Maori land is now being appropriated under. Consecutive governments give public apologies to Maori for wrong doings and then do it all over again (ie create new legislation to disposses the Maori -fore shore and seabed). Reparations are generally paid back to Maori (one hundred years later -about 10 cents in the dollar) and Maori are made to feel like they are handouts to the poor relations. There is no doubt that Pakeha colonization practices are sheer genius. For further information one only has to refer to the legislation and court records.

Whenua- Land

Out of 66 million acres in new Zealand, less then 5% of it is still in Maori hands. Despite Maori not selling their land they are still dispossessed of it. The wastelands act was devastating. This act meant that any land not directly occupied by Maori, was confiscated by the crown.

With each subdivision there are provisions for esplanade reserves, queens chains and recent legislation taking the fore-shore and seabed there seems like little hope for Maori of the future.

I often heard our old people say that a Maori without land is a Maori without Mana. It seems to me the ones without the land are the ones getting on with life. to know how Maori are doing you need to look at them on their ancestral land.

My pakeha cousin asked me why I stay on the land. He tells me "don't you know your going to lose"? Walk away he says. When I look at his blog I often think he is right? He travels from one country to the next from one bar to the other. What do you think? Check out his blog.

Nga Pepa a Ranginui

This is a great educational tool for both Maori and Pakeha. The key to redemption is education and this is a great place to start. The book is a collection of thought provoking papers on issues affecting Maori and Pakeha and is written by Dr Ranginui Walker.