By 1835, Pākehā were steadily moving to Aotearoa and things were getting out of hand.

The rangatira of the North got together that year to sign what Mutu says is this country's overlooked founding document. Five years before The Treaty of Waitangi, they signed He Whakaputanga (known as the Declaration of Independence).

"This is fundamentally important," she says. "If there is one constitutional document for this country it is He Whakaputanga."

The document, signed between 52 Northern rangatira and the British Crown's representative, James Busby, stated that power rested with the leaders of hapū. Those rangatira would meet regularly, He Whakaputanga said, to make general laws. In a way, this established Aotearoa's first parliament.

Mutu and other Treaty experts say the following document, Te Tiriti, should be seen as one of the laws which followed on from the creation of He Whakaputanga and Aotearoa's 'first parliament', the meeting of chiefs which was called Te Whakaminenga.

"Te Tiriti was the immigration laws to allow British to come in here, He Whakaputanga is the base written constitution for this country," Mutu says.

So, what does this mean for us now?

The Waitangi Tribunal found in 2014, and has restated since, that Ngāpuhi (and therefore, likely other iwi as well) did not cede sovereignty to the British Crown.

Mutu and Treaty lawyer Moana Jackson have called for New Zealand to reconsider how government works, to better recognise the sovereignty of hapū over themselves.

Their report to the Iwi Chairs Forum, Matike Mai Aotearoa, calls for constitutional transformation.

"We need to reset everything, Parliament can probably stay where it is but Parliament was only ever meant to be for the incoming settlers. Māori were left under our own mana, but the two groups had to learn how to get on with each other," Mutu says.

The disputed status and force of Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga has led to numerous and ongoing disputes between Māori and Parliament.