The Treaty of Waitangi currently has a prominent place in legal-economic policy-making in New Zealand. The Treaty of Waitangi and the Control of Language approaches the Treaty in a fresh and important way. It argues that terms like ‘sovereignty’ and ‘tino rangitiratanga’ in the Treaty do not have a plain meaning. Different people will read the same words differently. Meaning is not a hard and fast thing, but is open to the vacissitudes of time, place, culture and personality. Thus, discussion of the Treaty and its meaning is much more complex than analysing mere ‘definitions’ and ‘translations’.

The book seeks to augment the level of policy debate by directing attention to the importance of language in various aspects of the policy process. Numerous statutes and cases as well as the Treaty itself are critically examined. Particular attention is given to the way language (a) has been deployed in the process of determining whose interests count as ‘rights’ in situations of conflict, and (b) shapes perceptions of issues, events and problems. The aim is not to offer solutions for policy but rather to aid clarification of fundamental questions. Those questions involve ethical valuation, and they ultimately involve reconstituting language and culture.