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"path": "/news/22022026/new-zealand-indigenous-whale-rights-declaration/",
"publishedAt": "2026-02-22T10:00:00.000Z",
"site": "https://insideclimatenews.org",
"tags": [
"Justice & Health",
"Politics",
"Cetacean Translation Initiative",
"He Whakaputanga Moana",
"Indigenous",
"Indigenous people",
"Indigenous Peoples",
"Maori",
"Māori People",
"marine biology",
"marine life",
"More-Than-Human Life Program",
"Nature",
"New Zealand",
"Ocean",
"Oceans",
"Rights of Nature",
"whales",
"Wildlife"
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"textContent": "In one of his final acts before his death in 2024, Māori King Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero helped galvanize Pacific Indigenous leaders to sign a landmark declaration recognizing whales’ rights. Now that effort could shape national law: New Zealand legislators this month introduced a bill grounded in the declaration, affirming whales’ rights to migrate, maintain […]",
"title": "How a Groundbreaking Indigenous Treaty on Whales’ Rights Could Change National Laws"
}