Author(s): Giselle Byrnes

Maori Books

"The Waitangi Tribunal and New Zealand History" is about the writing of history in Aotearoa New Zealand: specifically, the historical narratives that have been published under the auspices if the Waitangi Tribunal. The book has two main arguments. The first is that the Tribunal is engaged in writing history that is ddply political and overwhelmingly focused on the present. The second argument is that the historical narratives produced by the Waitangi Tribunal have strong post-colonial tendencies. Yet the book is not a history of the Waitangi Tribunal or the modern Treaty claims process, rather, it is concerned with the various conceptual and methodological issues that have shaped Tribunal narratives over the past two decades.