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Mai i te tau 1835 i hiahia nga rangatira o te motu ki te whakatū
he runanga Māori. Otirā, i muri i te hainatanga o te Tiriti o
Waitangi i whakatauria e te Kāwanatanga ngā ture me ngā
kaupapa mō te iwi Māori. Ahakoa te pahuretanga o ngā tau, e
pūmau tōnu ana te tumanako mō te tino rangatiratanga o ngā hapū
me ngā iwi. I ēnei rā e rua ngā take e pā ana ki te tino
rangatiratanga. Tuatahi, ko te mana motuhake o ia iwi, o ia iwi.
Tuarua, ko te mana o ngā tāngata Māori, ahakoa te iwi, ahakoa kei
whea e noho ana.
E whakaae ana te nuinga o ngā rangatira me ngā tohunga
Māori, ma te Māori tonu e hanga he kaupapa mo te Māori; ko
tēnei hoki tētahi o ngā pūtake o te tino rangatiratanga. Ēngari,
kāhore he runanga Māori hei hanga ture, kaupapa rānei, ā, i
whakatakaina ngai tātou i raro i te Kāwanatanga. E ai ki ētahi, kua
tae mai te wā me whakatū he huihuinga, he whakaminenga hei
māngai mō ngā iwi, me ngā rōpu Māori, hei whakahaere i ngā
tikanga mō Aotearoa, ā, ki tāwāhi hoki. I te mea he maha atu ngā
tauira mō ngā runanga Māori, me tinō wānanga i te tuatahi kia
mārama ai te huarahi tika kia tae atu ki te tino rangatiratanga.
A muri ake nei, me whakaritea e te Iwi Māori te āhuatanga o
te kaupapa ture mō Aotearoa ki te Kāwanatanga.

Although there is no single meaning of tino rangatiratanga, self
determination is the most frequently used English equivalent.
Even then a variety of meanings can be assumed. Two particular
aspects of tino rangatiratanga, however, are relevant to contemporary
Māori society: mana whenua and mana tangata. The first
acknowledges the rights of hapū and iwi in respect of their own
tribal affairs while the second recognises the right of Māori
people generally to organise according to a range of social and
political groupings.
Tino rangatiratanga is essentially about Māori policy being
developed by Māori and Māori assuming responsibility for
Māori affairs at tribal and national levels. But the absence of a
national Māori body politic which can bring together all elements
is a barrier to the realisation of tino rangatiratanga. There is in
fact a considerable enthusiasm for a representative policy-making
body and a number of models exist. Discussion about the
relative advantages is needed so that a consensus about the most
useful approach can emerge. Negotiation with the Government to
reconsider New Zealand's constitutional arrangements will then
be able to occur on the basis of a unified Maori approach. In that
debate the appropriateness of the dogma of unitary Crown
sovereignty in a post-colonial environment will almost certainly
be challenged.