I'm somewhat puzzled about the author's use of the term "Maori" as a catch-all term for a highly complex community with different identities and interests.

The Maoris in the towns are not the same as those in the rural iwis. The Maoris in the Southern island differ from those in the North. And during the Musket Wars in the XIXth century, a large sector of the Maori population remained neutral or favored n accommodating line.

Interestingly, the article fails to mention to latest kerkuffle over Matauranga Maori. Traditional Maori knowledge is to be taught as "science," which of course is not. This goes beyond land and land use issues and to the core of what a society is.

So, I'm rather at a loss as to what to make of the text.