TE MANA MOTUHAKE

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These principles are based on our mātauranga, to set guidelines for how we live, decide, build and care for the world around us.  They direct us to act with integrity, to protect life in all its forms and to ensure that everything we do strengthens the hauora of people, whenua, wai and wairua.  They are carried for our future generations.

Whakapapa

· All life is connected. Whenua, wai, people, all living things, belong to one whānau.

· Good decisions strengthen whanaungatanga.

· Every action must respect tipuna and protect those yet to come.

Mauri Ora

· Measure all actions by one test: Do they strengthen life?

· Safeguard ecosystems, culture and whānau ora.

· If harm happens, repair it before moving forward.

Kaitiakitanga

· Responsibility comes before rights. We care for what supports us.

· Manage resources with humility, balance and long-term thinking.

· Take only what is needed and always give back.

Wai Ora

· Wai must remain pure, flowing and plentiful.

· Any activity that harms wai is unacceptable.

· Awa, roto and puna have their own standing and must be respected.

Whenua Ora

· Heal and restore whenua rather than exploit it.

· Protect tipuna whenua and wāhi tapu.

· All development must fit the whenua. No development shall proceed where it necessitates modification of the essential form, mauri or function of whenua.

Mana Motuhake 

· Culture, reo and tuakiri must lead solutions.

· Local people hold authority over decisions on their own whenua.

· Respect the knowledge, protocols and leadership of rightful kaitiaki.

Oranga Tangata 

· Every person matters and has a purpose.

· Systems must remove injustice, harm and exclusion.

· True wellbeing is seen in belonging, safety and hope.

Tiaki Taonga Taketake 

· Native species are taonga with real standing.

· Protect their homes, breeding places and pathways.

· When they thrive, culture thrives.

Oranga Ōhanga 

· Wealth must never come at the cost of life.

· Invest in local strength, mauri ora practice and Indigenous enterprise.

· True value includes mātauranga, tuakiri, taiao and wairua.

Tikanga

· Share information openly and lead with accountability.

· Speak honestly about impacts of every kind.

· Seek consent, uphold dignity and always act truthfully.

 These goals set the direction for how we move forward together. They are drawn from our hapū and communities and guided by our responsibility to those who come after us. They remind us that our work is not only about progress, but about restoring balance, protecting tapu and strengthening the foundations of life.

Each goal reflects a commitment to care for whenua, wai, people, mātauranga and wairua as one living system. We are called to act with courage, integrity and unity to kaupapa, so that everything we build today leaves the world stronger for the future.

Whenua
We restore our relationship with tipuna whenua to be productive, protected and alive for future generations.

Wai
We protect and heal our wai so that awa, wetlands and moana can always sustain life, culture and identity, guided by kaitiakitanga and intergenerational responsibility.

Taiao
We regenerate ecosystems by working with taiao, restoring balance between people, whenua and all living things.

Whānau
We strengthen whānau by building systems of care, housing, education and opportunities that are grounded in whakapapa, mana and collective hauora.

Te Reo me ona Tikanga
We revitalise te reo Māori and tikanga daily in our kainga, workplaces and communities, ensuring our culture continues to evolve.

Mātauranga
We reclaim, access and grow mātauranga Māori so it remains alive, relevant and managed by our people for our ongoing needs.

Ōhanga
We build an economy that serves life, where wealth is created through mauri ora, shared benefit and long-term kaitiakitanga.

Pakihi Māori
We grow Māori enterprises that reflect our values, create meaningful work and return benefits to whānau and taiao.

Hauora
We restore hauora by addressing the whole person, tinana, hinengaro, wairua and whānau recognising that hauora begins with belonging and balance.

Rangatahi
We invest in rangatahi as leaders and kaitiaki, equipping them with confidence in who they are and capability to shape the future.

Rangatiratanga
We exercise rangatiratanga through collective decision-making, tikanga-led governance and responsibility to place, people and future generations.

Anamata
We shape the future by acting today, building systems that restore life, uphold mana and ensure our mokopuna inherit strength.

THE DECLARATION OF NGĀTI KAHUNGUNU RIGHTS

History and tradition teaches us that the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have always possessed the mana to exercise the authority of sovereign peoples, 

History and tradition also teaches us that the Hapū and lwi of Ngāti Kahungunu always accepted that mana imposed both rights and responsibilities as kaitiaki in relation to the care and protection of ourselves as unique peoples, 

History and tradition also teaches us that the rights and responsibilities of kaitiakitanga have always included the care and protection of Papatūānuku who nurtures all life, 

History and tradition further teaches us that in the discharge of the rights and responsibilities of kaitiakitanga the Hapū always acknowledged and respected the whakapapa they shared one with another by acting together in congress as the Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu, 

History and tradition confirms that the rights and responsibilities of kaitiakitanga are discharged as part of the constitutional right of tino rangatiratanga, 

History and tradition also confirms that tino rangatiratanga was the right and solemn duty which the Hapū and Iwi had to exercise governance according to the tikanga which joined together all those who were descendants of Ngāti Kahungunu, 

History and tradition further confirms that the mana and the right to be sovereign. peoples and to exercise the constitutional authority of tino rangatiratanga could never by abdicated nor given away because they were held in trust by the tipuna for the care and protection of the mokopuna, 

History and tradition emphasises that in the changing times of human affairs the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu reserved the right to develop and devise new ways or institutions within which tino rangatiratanga could be exercised as a constitutional authority while preserving the values and tikanga upon which it was based. 

Accepting the wisdom of our history and tradition and accepting their prevailing truths today, the following Declaration of Ngāti Kahungunu Rights solemnly proclaims:- 

1. That all peoples of the collective Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely preserve their economic, social and cultural development. 

2. That the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right to exercise their individual or collective tino rangatiratanga in order to ensure the welfare, protection and mana of all peoples who are descendants of the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu. 

3. That the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right to exercise their individual or collective tino rangatiratanga according to the values of our tipuna which ensured that power and authority should always be exercised in balance with the obligations all peoples have to the atua, the tipuna, and each other. 

4. That the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right to exercise their individual or collective tino rangatiratanga in order to determine the nature, extent, and obligations inherent in their political, social, cultural, and economic relations with institutions or peoples who are not descendants of the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu. 

5. That the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right to exercise their individual or collective tino rangatiratanga in order to protect, nurture, and sustain all their values, waters, lands and other taonga (tangible and intangible). 

6. That the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right to exercise their individual or collective tino rangatiratanga in relation to the use, application, and benefits of existing and future commercial or technological advances as they may effect their lives, waters and lands. 

7. That the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu have the right to exercise their individual or collective tino rangatiratanga in relation to the protection, enhancement, and control of all knowledge which has been, and will be, part of the intellectual and cultural property of the Hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Kahungunu.

This set of fundamental rights for the descendants of Ngāti Kahungunu is titled the Declaration of Ngāti Kahungunu Rights. 

In 2001: This declaration was adopted at an Annual General Meeting of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated.