This article was first published on RNZ.
Perhaps no single person has had as much impact across the 50-year history of the Waitangi Tribunal as Sir Eddie Taihakurei Durie.
Durie became chair of the tribunal in 1980, replacing its first chair Chief Judge Kenneth Gillanders Scott. He remained as chair for nearly 20 years, hearing claims under a bicultural process that took hearings to claimants’ marae and allowed those who wished to to give evidence in te reo.
When asked about his hopes for the next 50 years of the tribunal, Durie replied: “I don’t think I’ll be around for the next 50 years. How the process must go, well, that’s for the new generation to make their own decision.”
He told RNZ each generation had a different take on what is important in life, and they would have a different view of how things should be managed.
Durie said despite the “seismic shift” it had caused in New Zealand, the tribunal had remained very much the same, because the kaupapa had been very clear from the beginning.
“We’ve had one objective all the way through, is how can you provide a place for both peoples? This is how I’ve seen it and to do that, we need to hear from Māori people themselves as to what their concerns have been, what are they now, and how can we respect that and accommodate it within a New Zealand infrastructure.”
Tribunal member Derek Fox, who flatted with Durie at one point, said his influence over the tribunal had been very powerful yet quiet.
“He’s not a noisy chap. And his very quiet influence of getting things working in a more Māori way, just not in a sort of, you know, legal way.”
Durie was one of many people from the tribunal’s 50-year history attending a two day conference at Te Tumu Herenga Waka marae in Wellington this week.
Among them were the likes of former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer, former Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, Chris Finlayson KC and Supreme Court Justice Sir Joe Williams, along with many of the tribunal’s judges and members past and present.
Waitangi Tribunal presiding officer and Māori Land Court Judge Alana Thomas said that was a testament to the calibre of people that have been involved in the Waitangi Tribunal in these last 50 years.
“So having the opportunity to celebrate that, to look back on the mahi that the likes of Sir Eddie Durie, Dame Sian Elias have pioneered really in this space, is great.
“When I see Dame Sian Elias and Sir Eddie see each other for the first time, probably in a few years, it really is history making.”
Waitangi Tribunal member Dr Hana O’Regan said you could feel quite overwhelmed with the collective intellect that had been drawn together for the conference.
“It’s an incredible time to celebrate and recognise not just the milestones, but also all the effort and literally the blood, sweat and tears that have happened on all sides to be able to achieve what it’s achieved.
“It’s a good reminder of those that have gone, and what efforts and sacrifices have been made to be a part of this kaupapa on all sides. But it’s heartening because you feel a sense of collective inspiration, that you know that you’re not doing it yourself.”
Tribunal member Dr Ruakere Hond opened the conference on Thursday with a tribute to the many people who had contributed to the Waitangi Tribunal across its five-decade history and who had since died.
By RNZ.
