There is a conflict between the claims of Māori sovereignty and the imposition of State legislation on Māori children. This conflict of interest has been given very little consideration in the public sphere. This research-informed article speculates that despite legislation ensuring that education attendance is fixed as a legal obligation for all Primary and Secondary aged children, there is urgency to address if conceivably this is a deeply flawed assumption as it contradicts notions of tribal sovereignty. Cautiously, this article does not romanticise past positioning of Māori peoples, nor makes claims to indigenous righteousness, rather moves to suggest that State-led education belongs part of positive outcomes for Māori, however there must be negotiation to the terms and expectations for education attendance. This paper is a catalyst for future orientated discussion aiming to broaden what education can move to become in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

毛利人主权主张与对毛利儿童实施国家立法之间存在冲突。这种利益冲突在公共领域很少得到考虑。这篇基于研究的文章推测，尽管立法确保将接受教育作为所有小学和中学年龄儿童的法律义务，但如果可以想象这是一个存在严重缺陷的假设，因为它与部落主权的概念相矛盾，因此迫切需要解决这一问题。谨慎地说，本文并没有浪漫化毛利人过去的定位，也没有宣称土著正义，而是建议国家主导的教育属于毛利人积极成果的一部分，但必须就教育入学的条款和期望进行谈判。本文是面向未来的讨论的催化剂，旨在扩大新西兰新西兰教育的发展方向。