The options in the treaty of Waitangi.
"The Treaty envisaged a place in New Zealand for two peoples with their own laws and cus*toms, in which the interface was governed by partnership and mutual respect. Inherent in the Treaty relationship was that Māori, whose laws and autonomy were guaranteed and protected, would have options when settlement and the new society developed. They could choose to continue their tikanga and way of life largely as it was, to assimilate to the new society and economy, or to combine elements of both and walk in two worlds. Their choices were to be free and unconstrained."
I think the main difference between Maori and Aboriginal , with the European experience , is that the Aboriginal clans lost their identity. In the most part , clan groups were forced off their land, to be placed in missions, or enclaves, with other groups of different language and skin groups. The clans stopped being independent, Government , probably with a guilty conscience threw money at the problem, and created a welfare state. And Australia blamed the Aborigines ! They lost their identity. The young grew up with a definite lack of leadership, unlike Maori . Having said that, during the Maori wars, some tribes linked with the British , and fought against their Kin. We were lucky that Australia is such a large place, and tribal groups had not evolved to band together, in times of War.
