Rangatira are the hereditary Māori leaders of hapū

Hapu

A hapū is sometimes described as "the basic political unit within Maori society".A named division of a Māori iwi , membership is determined by genealogical descent; a hapū is made up of a number of whānau groups. Generally hapū range in size from 150-200 although there is no upper limit...

, and were described by ethnologists such as Elsdon Best

Elsdon Best

Elsdon Best was an ethnographer who made important contributions to the study of the Māori of New Zealand.-Early life and career:...

 as chieftains

Tribal chief

A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...

 (p. 88). Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that of other tribes. Changes to land ownership laws in the 19th century, particularly the individualisation of land title, undermined the position of rangatira, as did the widespread loss of land under the colonial government.

Etymology

The word "rangatira' means "chief (male or female), wellborn, noble" and derives from Proto-Central Eastern Polynesian *langatila ("chief of secondary status"). Cognate words are found in Moriori, Tahitian, Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, Marquesan and Hawaiian.

Interpretations

Three interpretations of rangatira consider it as a compound of the Māori words "ranga" and "tira". In the first case, "ranga" is devised as a sandbar and the "tira" a shark fin. The allegoric sandbar helps reduce erosion of the dune (or people). The fin reflects both the appearance of the sandbar, and, more importantly, "its physical and intentional dominance as guardian"(Gray-Sharp, 2011, p. 195). Rangatira reinforce communities, cease to exist without them (“for what is a sandbar without sand?”), and have a protective capacity.

Ethnographer John White (1826-1891) gave a different viewpoint in one of his lectures on Māori customs. He said Māori had traditionally formed two kahui who came together to discuss history or whakapapa.

"Each chief in the kahui had his place assigned to him, according to the amount of knowledge he possessed; and this place was given to him by the leader of the kahui of which he was a member. This act of the leader was called ranga, or putting in order. The people, as they came to the temple in a body, were called tira, or company; and as the leader had to assign, or ranga, a place to each of his tira, he was called the rangatira, from which we derive our word in Maori for chief, rangatira."

This interpretation fits well with a second translation where "ranga" is an abbreviation of rāranga (or weaving) and "tira" signifies a group.

A third interpretation fits equally well with this translation, interlinking concepts related to the identity of the ‘tira’. In the first instance, the conditional hospitality presented in the form of weaving created for the ‘tira’ of guests. In the second instance, the collective intentionality “enacted in the weaving” of the ‘tira’ of hosts. Together, these concepts highlight the value attached to the “personal relationship” between the leader and their group. This type of relationship is similar to the mahara atawhai (endearment or “benevolent concern” ) offered in the Treaty of Waitangi

Treaty of Waitangi

The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....

’s preamble by Queen Victoria, reflecting the pre-nineteenth century “personal bond between the ruler and subject” (McHugh, 1991, p. 177).