This article is a response to a paper presented to the New Zealand Historical Association in 1991 by J. G. A. Pocock, who suggests that Pakeha (European) settlers are now becoming tangata whenua (people of the land) in the same way that Maori did. The principal idea examined is what an 'indigenous' identity means once historical claims have been settled by Maori against the Crown, and whether there is any merit in the term 'indigenous'. The article then examines the logic behind the idea of 'original occupation' and the assumed rights associated with this concept.

This essay utilises the concept of the “Māori economy” to explore the story of Māori poverty following colonisation and enrichment after settlement. It merges settler colonisation and institutional economics theories into an analytical framework. Using this framework, it examines the role of settler institutions in Māori impoverishment and makes the case that there is no contemporary Māori economy, arguing a true Māori economy requires culturally-matched political, legal and economic institutions and that without these institutions Māori risk their Treaty settlement funds leaking back into the settler economy.

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