Activity: From here to there
Identify the big shifts required for a just future in Aotearoa.
Interview members of your wider community about their understanding of hapū and iwi Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
You may like to ask such pātai as:
Who are the hapū and iwi of this area?
Did they sign Te Tiriti or He Whakaputanga? Why or why not?
What is Te Tiriti and why do you think it is so important?
Why have Māori been protesting about Te Tiriti justice for so long?
How is Te Tiriti important to you?
Where do you see Te Tiriti in your life?
Organise the responses according to themes. On a scale of 1–10, what number would you give your community’s understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi? What could be done to improve collective understanding of Te Tiriti?
How would you describe Te Tiriti justice to a five year old? Design with a friend a simple YouTube or TikTok video, comic strip, or skit to explain what you have learnt so far.
The next step in the Treaty journey for me, is how do we actually honour the relationship, how do we … make it work? So that iwi and hapū can make iwi and hapū decisions, the Crown can make Crown decisions, and then.. we can make joint decisions together.
Now that is a daunting challenge, but I don't think it is an insurmountable one.
We must muster up the wit, the wisdom, and maybe even the courage, to take the next step in the Treaty journey. To be courageous, to me, is the deep breath you take before you make a hard decision.
And I am confident, certainly, that our people have the courage, and the Treaty challenge for others that make this land their home is to find that courage as well.
– Matua Moana Jackson, constitutional law expert (Ngāti Kahungunu)
In this quote is a very powerful description of courage. How would you define courage? What else might be required to transform our country and enact the promises of Te Tiriti?
Imagine Aotearoa in 2040 – a land where Te Tiriti is honoured. Some people call this process decolonisation, some people call it indigenisation, others call it Māorification. Matua Moana Jackson referred to it as having ‘an ethic of restoration’.
Discuss:
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