King Charles III has officially been crowned but not everyone is celebrating his coronation, writes Te Matahiapo Safari Hynes in this opinion piece.

My people never agreed for Charles to be our King.

That might seem a bold statement, but hear me out.

While many are celebrating the elevation of another person to head one of the largest colonial machines in the world, I’m lamenting the usurping of my people’s traditional leadership structures - and calling for their return.

My people came from Hawaiki and migrated eventually to establish Rangitāne in Te Waipounamu with their own tikanga (laws), social organisation, and leaders, including ariki, tohunga and rangatira. 

We developed our own concepts, like mana and rangatiratanga, which our leaders used to defend and advance our hapū and iwi. 

We had our own unique ways of doing things that suited our worldview and way of living.

Then Pākehā, in the name of Charles’ ancestors, began to bring their own tikanga and imposed this on my people. 

The result was the deterioration and attack of all the things we brought from Hawaiki and developed here - our traditional leadership structures, our social organisation, and our entire way of living and being. 

Although my people kept protesting, they were eventually forced to assimilate and depart from their traditional structures and institutions. 

My people never agreed to Victoria being their Queen. Similarly, we have never agreed for Charles to be our King.

Instead of having what was promised to my hapū and iwi through Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

• Our ariki institutions were supplanted by the British monarchy
  
  
• Our rangatira were supplanted by Members of Parliament and local Government
  
  
• Our tohunga were supplanted by Pākehā school teachers and lecturers
  
  
• Our rūnanga were supplanted by Parliament and local Councils
  
  
• And the tino rangatiratanga of my hapū and iwi was supplanted by the power and authority of the New Zealand Government, that continues to this day.

The ultimate symbol of colonisation

Decolonisation, the process of dismantling the colonial institutions still being imposed on my people, will continue. The influence of the British monarch will be one of those dismantled. 

The issue is not simply with Charles. He’s probably a nice guy. The issue is with the entire institution. 

Charles is not just an individual, he is a symbol. He is the ultimate symbol of British imperialism and colonisation. 

Regardless of the British monarch’s apparent lack of proximity to our Government, all of the Government’s actions are done in their name and on their behalf.

Charles has inherited the oppressive institutions setup by his forebears. Everything in his life has prepared him to maintain them. 

When you inherit intergenerational wealth and power at the expense of others like Charles has, your life’s duty should be to right those wrongs. 

He is now responsible for actions that will determine the future of these institutions. 

He gets to choose whether he wants to be brave and advocate for mass decolonisation across the world or whether he wants the suffering of Indigenous peoples to continue for another British monarch’s reign.

For my people, the revitalisation and recentering of Rangitāne ways of living and being will still take place. 

A necessary part of this is re-establishing our own leadership institutions, guided by our traditional concepts like ariki, tohunga and rangatira. 

These institutions must also be based solely off of tikanga and distinct from Pākehā institutions like post-settlement governance entities. This must and will happen.

We need a declaration of support for decolonisation

In 2019, Charles came to Aotearoa and said: “The Treaty settlements do not, and cannot, right all the wrongs of the past. They can only go so far in easing the pain that has been felt by so many people." 

He is right but it doesn’t mean his job is finished. 

Although Charles doesn’t have much practical power in Aotearoa, he has influence. He could send a signal to the Reserve Bank that he doesn’t want to be printed on our money and would prefer to step aside and be replaced by people and symbols that represent Aotearoa.

But what if he made a public declaration that he supports nations seeking independence from the British monarchy? 

My people would definitely benefit from him publicly declaring he supports decolonisation efforts and the reinstatement of hapū and iwi tino rangatiratanga, as was promised to my ancestors in 1840. 

Our authority over our people, lands and waters rests with us, not with some British monarch living on the other side of the world, even if that is merely symbolic. 

It’s not something they’re going to voluntarily give back to us if we ask nicely. 

The ‘Land Back’ kaupapa that we’re all familiar with must include the return of our leadership and authority institutions, too. Return our land and return the institutions and laws that our people brought from Hawaiki and developed here.

We need to be intentional about revitalising these traditional leadership structures according to our tikanga, so that we can truly be in charge of ourselves and our own futures.  

Te Matahiapo Safari Hynes is principally from Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu and is a tauira at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington.

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