Once a year, on 6th February, our nation takes a deep breath, and pauses to reflect on our collective heritage. Scratch that. Rewrite.
Once a year, on 6th February, our nation takes a deep breath, and pauses to reflect on how colonisation has shaped our history. Scratch that again. Rewrite.
Once a year, on 6th February, the non-indigenous people of our nation take a deep breath, and pause to acknowledge, reluctantly, the fact that we are colonisers living on indigenous land.
Because let's be honest, despite the media's framing of Waitangi day as a day of national reflection, tāngata whenua don't need to pause to reflect about colonization. The harsh legacy of colonization is present for them daily.
Indigenous and minority people around the world are forced to reflect on their ethnicity every day when they find themselves being the one person in the room with their skin colour, their religion, their language, or their cultural knowledge.
It is us pākeha who need the reminder of our colonial history and, more importantly, our colonial present. And probably more often than once a year.
As an American, Waitangi Day always reminds me how present Māori culture is here in New Zealand, compared to in the United States. I can imagine that for many tāngata whenua the day is a reminder of how much more is possible, and how much they have lost.
Instead of celebrating Waitangi Day once a year by reflecting on Māori culture, seeing it as treasure we need to protect, and revere from afar, we should be engaging in ongoing daily work on what it means to be a visitor to this land.
Which is easier said then done.
Ok, so let's just say I'm your average pākeha, realizing that some very heavy stuff (read: land confiscation, language oppression, and culture suppression) happened in the past, and that has led to some pretty heavy stuff (read: inequity in education, incarceration, landownership, health) happening today.
I'm just left feeling kind of guilty and awkward and honestly, a bit defensive about the whole thing. (I mean gosh, my ancestors weren't actually even in this hemisphere in 1840).
I do want to help make things better, but I'm not entirely sure how. What do I do? Who do I even ask for advice?
Well, I'm not an expert in tikanga māori, but I am pretty well versed on being an awkward well-meaning white person. So, in that light, let me present to you a list of 10 things we can do to keep the treaty present in our every day lives as pākeha.
When this popped up in my facebook feed, I thought it was brilliant. Because it doesn't need to be complicated, or awkward, or guilt-inducing… but at the same time, at times it will be all of those things.
Making reparations on a small individual level when we have wronged someone in our life can be a difficult task. So when we expand that to thinking about repairing relationships at a societal level, we can expect that it will be challenging, and will take work.
I'm not suggesting that we all need to do all of the things on this list daily, and I'm sure that some of these will be more confronting for some pākeha than others, but what a gift we have been given.
My children fight over things that I don't always understand. Last night they were arguing over a highly-coveted spot on a beanbag.
My six-year-old decided they would rock-paper-scissor to solve their problem. In the end she won, perhaps with a bit of manipulation. My 3-year-old son cried. And then, she stuck her tongue out at her brother. The injustice of it all made him cry more.
She was left feeling guilty and unsure sitting in her very comfortable and cozy spot on the beanbag.
She won her spot on the beanbag, but all of a sudden it didn't feel so great. I'm going to skip over the parts of the story where they wrestled and screamed and tried to smother each other with said beanbag, and skip to the good part.
In the end, because my son is loving and kind and wise, he asked her if she would read a book to him on the beanbag together. She recognized the gift he was offering, the gift of reconciliation. She scooted over a bit, made room for him, and she read to him, on his terms.
A group of thoughtful, brave, tāngata whenua from Tū Tama Wahine o Taranaki, have put together advice for us, on how to be better visitors. What a gift they have offered. The least we can do is try to take their advice.
10 ways to honour the Treaty
1. Learn the stories of the land through a Maori lens
2. Show respect to the Maori language
3. Be kind to all people
4. Make a committment with a freind to attend local Maori community events
5. Look after the land, the waterways, the rivers, the air
6. Breathe and take a moment to get comfortable in Maori environments
7. If you are unsure where your own people come from in this world - Kia kaha, do some research
8. Stretch your mouth, tongue, eyes and ears
9. If you have any land you want to gift back to Maori
10. If you have never called out a racist or racism in action, be brave. Dani Lebo has a background in International Relations and Education. She runs The ECO School, an organisation dedicated to accessible sustainability education. She and her husband Nelson have a daughter, a son and a farm full of misfit animals.
Whanganui’s mayor says there is a lack of detail in the claimed benefits for Whanganui.