A conflict between culture and technology a case study of a major industrial company and a Māori subtribe
This thesis is about the conflicts of interest that arise when particular attitudes, beliefs and cultures of indigenous people concerning their heritage, their land, and their perceived inalienable obligations, confront those of resource developers with a different perspective. It is about the resultant tensions and about the different forms that their resolution took with regard to one specific project - the Government authorised utilisation of the ironsand in the Waikato region by New Zealand Steel Company Limited. It describes both the Māori tribal systems and the evolution of the company and its management philosophy. It details the major conflict that emerged, backgrounds the rise of the Māori protest movement and focuses upon the strategies employed by the Tainui Māori Trust Board in response to the New Zealand Steel Company’s expansion plans. In any industrial development the relations between developers and various stakeholders is a matter of crucial concern. In the presented case one of the protagonists was a newly formed organisation that was sponsored by the Government and initially partly owned by the Government. At first the Company proceeded cautiously to mine the ironsand on the Crown land at Maioro on the north side of the Waikato River, having secured the appropriate permits to do so which included drawing water from the Waikato River and discharging processed water and stormwater into the Manukau Harbour. Initially the local Māori subtribe was silent about its feelings but that silence did not betoken full acquiescence. Its people were employed and housed if necessary by the Company as were other local people, and enjoyed the benefits of an improved local economy. The Company’s venture to mine and export ironsand from Taharoa, located on the coast some one hundred and ninety kilometres south of the Waikato River mouth, was successful and in the absence of indications to the contrary it assumed that it was not acting in any offensive manner with regard to cultural values. However, the Company was surprised when at the 1978 Water Rights hearing relationships between the parties became acrimonious, and again when Māori protests emerged following the issue of the Environmental Impact Report in 1980. But even then the Management did not foresee the trouble that was brewing. This thesis explores the issues from both sides as it developed from a single concern to one that became highly complex. The thesis shows that inspite of the Company’s willingness to find solutions to the problems, it did not at any stage publicise its concerns for the people it dealt with. The Company hoped that by its actions it would be fairly judged. At the present time the issues of land ownership and mining rights have still to be satisfactorily resolved. But from reference to similar conflicts between developers and indigenous peoples in other parts of the world the hope is that a satisfactory settlement is not far off. Although having said this, it should be noted that the latest development in the continuing saga was a ‘sit-in’ by members of the Ngati Te Ata sub-tribe at the Maioro mine site. (Manukau Courier 30.1.90) There has also been a conciliatory meeting between the parties at the Tahuna Marae. The claim here is that all parties in future technological and anthropological disputes were better to try to learn lessons from the past if they are to reach any satisfactory settlement.
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