KÃÂwanatanga is a word in the MÃÂori language of New Zealand, derived from the English word "governor". KÃÂwanatanga was first used in the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, 1835. KÃÂwanatanga reappeared in 1840 in Article 1 of the Treaty of Waitangi, where the MÃÂori text "te Kawanatanga katoa" corresponds to the English text "all the rights and powers of Sovereignty".
KÃÂwanatanga is often translated today as governance or government.
The first part of the word, KÃÂwana, is a transliteration into MÃÂori of the English word governor. The suffix -tanga is very similar in meaning and use to the English suffix -ship, for example rangatiratanga (chieftainship) and këngitanga (kingship). So a literal translation of the word would be governorship. This word had little meaning to the chiefs signing the treaty, since the concept of being governed by an overseeing authority was alien to MÃÂori. What understanding MÃÂori may have had of the term was derived principally from the Bible and in particular Herod's Governorship. At the time the Bible was one of few long printed texts in MÃÂori enjoying wide distribution.
Judith Binney has suggested that the chiefs may have assumed the term referred to the governor, William Hobson, and understood it as referring to his governorship rather than understanding that they were ceding "governance".
Historians Ranginui Walker and Ruth Ross have suggested that the word mana may have been a more appropriate meaning, and note that if mana had been used instead of kÃÂwanatanga, the treaty may never have been signed by MÃÂori.
The meaning attached to this word, and in particular how it relates to rangatiratanga is important to discussion of the Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty is still important in contemporary New Zealand, and remains the topic of controversy and political debate.
Anthropologist Hugh Kawharu has made a contemporary translation of the treaty using the term âÂÂgovernmentâÂÂ, rather than âÂÂsovereigntyâÂÂ, for âÂÂkÃÂwanatangaâÂÂ. Kawharu noted, âÂÂThere could be no possibility of the MÃÂori signatories having any understanding of government in the sense of âÂÂsovereigntyâÂÂ: ie, any understanding on the basis of experience or cultural precedent.âÂÂ
MÃÂori constitutional lawyer Moana Jackson has stated that, because the New Zealand Government (identified as "Kawanatanga" in the Treaty text) is the body politic enforcing the Treaty and making settlements, "Kawanatanga" is the actual party to the Treaty, not the Crown.