Foundation North submission on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill

Foundation North (FN) was established in 1988 as one of twelve regional community trusts. Our purpose is to enhance lives through responsible guardianship of our investments and focused funding, anchored by our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is specified in our Trust Deed:

Ka whakamana a Foundation North i ona takohanga ki te tiriti o Waitangi hei kaitiaki pūtea mo Te Tai Tokerau mo Tāmaki Makaurau.

Foundation North will have regard to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in performing our obligations as the community trust for Te Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki Makaurau.

Ko te ara e whaia nei e Foundation North hei kōkiri i te nohonga pūmau o te tiriti o Waitangi ki roto i ngā mahi whānui, kihai kei te tuku pūtea noiho, kei tua te whakaaronui.

Ko ngā mahi ki a tutuki he taonga whakanui, he wero whakamataara ki tena, ki tena. Ko te tūmanako ka tupu, ka ora, ka tau mai te maramatanga hei oranga mo te katoa.

Hei whakamana i o matou ūara me te whakaaronui ki tenei mea angitu ka:

• whaiaro whakaaro ki te tiriti o Waitangi, a taki tahi, a taki tini mo ngā whāinga o Aotearoa whānui
• ū ki te kaupapa ki a kitea, ki a rongona ia ra ahakoa ki hea, ahakoa ko wai
• whakawhanaunga atu ki te mana whenua o i a rohe, mā te manaaki e ārahi, e tohu i ngā akoranga tuku iho
• tautoko, awhi hoki i ngā tini hāpori, ki te whanake i a ratou me o ratou whāinga, roopu whakahaere anohoki.

Foundation North recognises that, in taking our early steps on the journey to working in a Te Tiriti based manner, there is work for our organisation that goes beyond our approach to granting. This mahi is both a taonga and a wero – something to treasure and respect, wrapped in challenges and opportunities for growth and learning. In accordance with our values, and in accepting this responsibility and opportunity, we will:

• reflect, as a whole organisation, on the intent of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and on how this applies to the needs of Aotearoa New Zealand’s diverse society
• work actively to ensure that our commitment is matched in competent practice, through our everyday mahi and at each interaction with us, now and going forward
• proactively develop our meaningful engagement with the Mana Whenua of our rohe; listening to deepen understanding and learning to inform our actions and behaviours
• be responsive to and support communities to increase their readiness and capacity to engage, to strengthen their practices and develop their organisations.

We wish our submission to be read in the context of our published commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, on our website and in our Trust Deed.

The central recommendation within our submission is to endorse the value and importance of continually listening and learning to understand the relevance of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi within Aotearoa’s diverse society.

Foundation North believes in the importance of:

• supporting and celebrating community-led activities that have regard to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in accordance with our Strategic Plan
• speaking from where we are on our own organisational haerenga | journey with Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• paying homage to those leaders past and present who have guided this haerenga – refer to our film Kia wātea ai te ara | Our journey to be a Te Tiriti led organisation
• seeking and sharing knowledge around our haerenga, and offering avenues of support to others
• using our channels to manaaki the hopes and aspirations of others, and taking a highly relational approach to collaboratively and equitably affirming and amplifying strengths-based narratives that are exemplars of Te Tiriti in action
• using our channels to signpost to educational, effective practice resources that are relevant to our mahi and strategy, and of practical use to stakeholders, for example our Centre for Social Impact’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi resource Funders’ resource on Te Tiriti.

Our own organisational haerenga | journey with Te Tiriti o Waitangi continues as we seek to honour our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Ngā mihi nui

Peter Tynan
Chief Executive, Foundation North