Why I am joining the hikoi in Wellington on Tuesday:
In 1835 the Chiefs of this land declared their independence and in 1840 in acknowledgement of their independence and tino rangitiratanga (sovereignty) an agreement was entered into between the Chiefs and the British crown. This was overseen by ‘church’ leaders so one could say it was a covenant signed in the ‘sight of God’; a sacred agreement. The crown aka the British citizens who then moved here, the NZ land company and eventually the NZ government have actively not honoured this agreement and have introduced laws that violated the rights of Maori from day one. (And yes I know this is an attempt to describe and summarise decades of harm, trauma, and dishonour in only a few sentences, but really if I began to lay it all out this would be an extremely long blog!)
Fast forward 138 years and my family arrive here from England, due to the ‘invitation’ and openness shown by the Chiefs in 1840, who agreed that we could come live in their land and share it with them. I honestly thought I was coming to live in a whare (‘grass huts’) and I that I would have to learn a new language. Eight year old me was greatly relieved I did not have to learn a new language or live in a traditional whare, and had no idea that we had arrived only a few years after the Waitangi Tribunal had been established! 54 year old me wish I had arrived in the land I imagined; wish I had arrived in a land where the culture, language, mātauranga (knowledge) and wisdom of Māori had been given the place and honour it should have through the agreement of te tiriti in 1840. I know my life has been enriched by living here, and I am thrilled to see the next generation of my whānau, born in this land, being more proficient in te reo Māori than I am (despite 30 years of trying!)
Those who make Aotearoa/New Zealand home are diverse and from a range of cultures (as was also the case in 1840), however this will always be the land where tangata whenua are the whānau, hapu and iwi of the Chiefs who signed their Declaration of Independence in 1835 (those we know as Māori). Those who welcomed us and embraced us and in fact still do on a daily basis if we open our eyes to see. This is part of our strength, part of our uniqueness as a nation, and part of what I wish to embrace.
I do not support the Treaty of Waitangi Bill that changes the meaning of this te tiriti!
I do not support negotiations over the terms of this sacred agreement which only the crown and the Chiefs have the right to do!
I do not believe (or agree with those who say) that te tiriti is a historic document that only has meaning in the past. No! It is a living document that breathes (or could) life into our existence in these lands today!
I do not support this government in its ongoing dishonoring of Māori as treaty partner.
I support te hikoi mo te tiriti and will be in Wellington on Tuesday as a New Zealand/Pākehā/ tangata tiriti, beside my tangata whenua citizens to say it is not too late to honour the treaty and make things right!
What’s your reason for supporting the hikoi?!
Karen