The primary barrier to the realisation of tino rangatiratanga is systemic. Crown institutions are reluctant to relinquish power, and do not recognise existing powers that reside outside the state or Crown structure. Government should draw on initiatives such as Matike Mai Aotearoa, which provide guidance for designing a process to achieve constitutional transformation.96 Move from an individual focus to a focus on whānau, hapū, iwi and communities Improving whānau connection in solutions to violence and abuse is integral to improving the overall well-being of tāngata whaikaha Māori. The issues tāngata whaikaha Māori face affect not only the individual but also their wider whānau, hapū, iwi and communities. Moko Mead has described whānau as the concept “which underpins the whole social system.”97 Inherent in Māori culture is the idea of the centrality of relationships, underpinned by the Tikanga principle of whanaungatanga. This includes ideas of collective responsibility. For Māori, relationships are at the centre of all decision-making. A Te Ao Māori approach to preventing violence and abuse requires strengthening collective relationships and creating solutions that can provide for this. Strategies to prevent violence and abuse against tāngata whaikaha Māori must not focus solely on the individual, but also the individual’s relationships with their whānau, hapū and iwi. There is an inherent incompatibility between Western worldviews where people are viewed as individuals with distinct issues, and a Te Ao Māori view, which emphasises whānau and collectivist responses to harm. While individual issues still need to be solved, they are part of a bigger picture, which is the degradation of whānau and Tikanga values within the system. Focusing on strengthening whānau links back to the bigger picture of the transformational change that is necessary to prevent violence and abuse in the long term. Government practices with an individualistic focus that do not align with a Māori worldview are less effective at reducing harm for Māori. The absence of violence within whānau prior to colonisation can be partially attributed to the traditional collectivist nature of Māori society where responsibilities and obligations for care and protection fell on the whole whānau, not just the individual.98 The intergenerational trauma of colonisation continues to affect tāngata whaikaha Māori and whānau. Between 1840 and the 1990s Crown policies attacked the collectivist nature of Māori society, causing immeasurable damage as tāngata whaikaha Māori became disconnected from their whānau, hapū, iwi and cultural practices. Restoring and strengthening whānau, hapū and iwi links is thus crucial to deliver solutions for tāngata whaikaha Māori affected by violence. Aotearoa New Zealand’s institutions are based on colonial, mono-cultural structures that fail to properly incorporate whānau values. Tāngata whaikaha Māori and the issues they face are viewed in isolation, as service delivery is orientated towards the individual in response to a discrete issue.99 This is a detrimental Western assumption that leaves little room to recognise whānau, hapū iwi, and communities that are central to Māori well-being. Solutions to preventing violence and abuse must change to recognise the wider kin group and communities as having a critical support role for tāngata whaikaha Māori. Institutional racism within state institutions will never change while they continue to operate on colonial assumptions and values. Supporting tāngata whaikaha Māori and whānau according to Te Ao Māori will never work in an environment that does not understand their worldview. Institutions should be restructured to incorporate the guarantees of tino rangatiratanga and Tikanga values such as whanaungatanga. Empowering whānau within state institutions and policies will contribute to improving violence and abuse outcomes for tāngata whaikaha Māori. Whakamanahia Te Tiriti, Whakahaumarutia te Tangata - Honour the Treaty, Protect the person 19