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Maori aspirations for self-determination are tied to Article Two of the Treaty ofWaitangi which guarantees the tribes "the full and exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands Forests Fisheries and other properties so long as it is their desire to do so". Article Two provides the base with which to exercise control over economic resources which then provides the means, politically, culturally, economically and socially to determine Maori affairs. To have limited self-determining authority, Maori tribes need not only an economic base, but also an improved standing socio-economically. This paper will assess whether preferential policies based on redistributive justice are an appropriate means to help overcome inequalities between Maori and non-Maori.

Maori Affairs policy has historically proven doubleedged in simultaneously advancing yet diminishing Maori aspirations. Recent emphasis on claims-making as a key policy component is shown to be fraught with contradiction and neo-colonisms, no more so than around the ambiguous benefits of 'throwing money' at a problem rather than working through the differences in a relationship. Proposed instead of a claims-making model of Maori Affairs is a constructive engagement approach that seeks to recalibrate Maori-Crown relations by advancing innovative patterns of belonging. A commitment to constructive engagement not only bolsters the chances of living together with our fundamental differences in a post -colonising Aotearoa. A focus on relations rather than restitution also enhances the principles and practices of tino rangatiratanga rights as a framework for establishing Maori models of self-determination over jurisdictions pertaining to land, identity, and political voice.

This paper explores the theoretical perspective of a Maori world view as it relates to power relations between men and women and the role of women in customary society. It is argued that insights regarding the nature of power relations may be gained from an analysis of the cosmological narratives. Such analysis provide theoretical understandings about the position, status and role of Maori women in customary society. The position of women as powerful, autonomous, independent beings and as bearers of knowledge are recurring themes that continue to have relevance today. Definitions of mana wahine and mana whenua are discussed drawing extensively on an analysis of the cosmological narratives. This provides the basis for a discussion on the development of Maori Women's theories. It is concluded that mana wahine expresses what counts as feminism for Maori women and that western feminisms do not adequately address the needs of Maori women. Finally, some comparative perspectives with indigenous women from Australia and North America are outlined.

The genesis of direct negotiation and the fiscal envelope, for the settlement of Maori land claims under the Treaty of Waitangi, is portended in the aim of the National Party's Manifesto for the 1990 election to settle all claims by the year 2,000. To meet that ten year time-line, the National Government decided to set aside a fixed sum for the settlement of all claims. This fiscal cap was signalled in the (Sealords) Deed of Settlement for the Maori Fisheries Claim as the Treaty of Waitangi Settlement Fund. Under this clause, the signatories to the Deed agreed that the Crown had fiscal constraints which restricted its ability to settle other claims. In a memorandum dated 17 March 1992, Doug Graham, Minister in charge of Treaty Claims, recommended to the Cabinet Strategy Committee the policy direct negotiation to settle Maori claims that were well founded. This policy of 'chiefs talking with chiefs' obviates the need for claimants to go through the drawn out process of hearings with the Waitangi Tribunal. It is a seductive scenario which assumes a level playing field between the Crown and tribal negotiators. But it is hardly that as the Whakatahea negotiators discovered after the settlement of the Tainui Claim in 1995.

The Local Government Act 2002 explicitly requires Māori contributions to local authority decision-making processes. Seven years on, it is timely to review the outcomes of the new statutory provisions and to consider Māori aspirations in relation to local political participation. This paper describes research that was carried out to investigate Māori participation in local elections and other forms of decision-making. Focus groups were conducted with four main types of Māori electors: urban Māori and rural Māori aged 25 years and over, and 18-24 years old Māori engaged in tertiary education or the workforce. The focus groups were part of a wider project on local political participation which explored linkages between what people know about local government and their participation in local government. Focus groups (hui rangahau) proved to be a particularly valuable vehicle for engaging with Māori youth (rangatahi Māori) about their participation in local authority decision-making. The purpose of this paper is to report the findings on the views of rangatahi Māori about local political participation, and offers reflections on the utility of the focus group methodology. The research highlights a number of strategies that local authorities can deploy to reduce the barriers to voting and other forms of participation experienced by Māori youth. Improved engagement with Māori youth is vital to ensure that Māori contributions to decision-making processes do not remain under-developed in future.

"Since colonisation, New Zealand has been mythologised as a 'land of milk and honey' - a promised land of natural abundance and endless opportunity. In the twenty-first century, the country has become literally a land of milk and honey as agricultural exports from such commodities dominate the national economy. But does New Zealand live up to its promise? In this introductory textbook for first year sociology students, some of this country's leading social scientists help us to make sense of contemporary New Zealand. In 21 chapters, the authors examine New Zealand's political identity and constitution; our Māori, Pākehā, Pacific and Asian peoples; problems of class, poverty and inequality; gender and sexualities; and contemporary debates around ageing, incarceration and the environment. The authors find a complex society where thirty years of neoliberal economics and globalising politics have exacerbated inequalities that are differentially experienced by class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and age. These social divides and problems are at the heart of this text. For sociology students and for a wider audience of New Zealanders, A Land of Milk and Honey? is a lively introduction to where we have come from, where we are now, and where New Zealand society might be headed."

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the arrival of imperial ideologies in the 19th century led to devastating land-loss and cultural marginalisation for Māori at the hands of settlers and successive governments. This article examines the damaging effects of a Crown-imposed treaty claims settlement system designed to address injustices inflicted on Māori. Interview data from a Taranaki-based (a West Coast region, central North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand) hapū (sub-tribe) that engaged with this system foreground the adversarial nature of this system and its continuation of trauma. We argue that, while the process provides voice to Māori, it does so within a paradigm that pits kin-groups against each other, unjustly limits redress and fails to resolve tension. A tikanga framing provides insights into how tensions are set up and ways tikanga (underlying values and principles that guide practice) can be used outside the redress system to seek healing and resolution.

In the past two decades, the terms 'kaupapa Maori' and 'matauranga Maori' have come to prominence in Maori education and research circles. They appear in a wide variety of contexts to articulate and advance certain aspects of Maori education and development. The two terms are generally utilised to support activities designed to generate benefits for Maori and to give expression to Maori ways of doing things, aspects of Maori knowledge and the Maori world view. Interestingly, there are a number of perspectives on the two terms and whilst meanings for both overlap, they are not synonymous. In this article, I present my view of the meaning of kaupapa Maori and matauranga Maori. My background is as a researcher of matauranga Maori, hence my views are presented from this perspective.