Exploring Te Tiriti in Supervision in 2025

Many of us are currently thinking about what Te Tiriti o Waitangi means for us as a nation. Irrespective of any political positions, Te Tiriti has an undeniable presence in the spaces we call ‘supervision’ and ‘kaitiakitanga’. As Waitangi Day approaches this week, I’ve attempted to capture a few of my thoughts in this blog.

Firstly, I must acknowledge I write this from a Pākehā and Tangata Tiriti perspective. My ancestors mostly arrived following the signing of The Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, as far as I’m aware. I live on land originally known as Tarikākā, now Ngaio, and mana whenua have told me tīpuna had a positive and warm relationship with the first Pākehā who wanted to build houses here. I am grateful for that manaakitanga and feel a responsibility to maintain positive bicultural relationships, especially since my supervision practice happens on this whenua and in one of those historic whare.

In terms of supervision, it’s also important I name the similarity and distinction between what we commonly call ‘supervision’, with Western roots and relative global awareness, and ‘kaitiakitanga’ as a kaupapa Māori expression with pre-colonial roots and cultural resonance. Ngā Iwi Māori are not one homogenous group, and the same could be said for the rapidly increasing iwi voices exploring kaitiakitanga as a reflective professional function. Emma Webber-Dreadon’s article in 2020 offers an inspiring reinterpretation of the supervision relationship and suggests kaitiakitanga is a helpful whakaaro we could embrace.

There may be some challenges in directly aligning ‘supervision’ and ‘kaitiakitanga’ as translations, much like the differences between Te Tiriti (Te Reo Māori) and The Treaty (English). It’s important we carefully navigate this, especially in the following dynamics:

1. A Māori supervisor and a Māori practitioner
2. A Māori supervisor and a Pākeha practitioner
3. A Pākehā supervisor and a Māori practitioner
4. A Pākehā supervisor and a Pākehā practitioner
5. Group supervision arrangements with all and/or mixed members.

The dynamics are further complicated when we consider the cultures of the people (sometimes labelled ‘clients’) whom the practitioner serves. Even moreso when we get more specific about hapū and iwi levels. Brent Swann suggests “that a Māori client does not enter the counselling room alone but it accompanied by their tīpuna. […] This is a useful way to think about supervision, too” (Rewita, Swann, Swann & Crocket, 2017, p216). Let’s apply this to the four dynamics above:

1. Two kaimahi Māori may consciously choose to engage in kaitiakitanga and/or supervision, depending on their connections to their respective whakapapa, taha Māori and mahi with whānau
2. A Māori supervisor/kaitiaki may follow Swann’s pathway when working with Pākehā practitioners who inevitably support whānau Māori, and together consider whether the relationship is constructed as kaitiakitanga and/or supervision
3. A Pākehā supervisor might do well to explore a holistic and collective view of relationships with Māori practitioners/kaimahi, learning about whanaungatanga, hononga, whakapapa, and more.
4. Two Pākehā working together will need to acknowledge their limitations and seek wider advice from mana whenua if possible. It might be that the voices of the rangatahi and whānau served by the practitioner find a way to be more visible in supervision.

Essentially, I’m wondering if a Pākehā practitioner is meeting with a Pākehā supervisor and talking about rangatahi Māori they’re supporting, how might the tīpuna dimension be appropriately honoured? And how do the Pākehā working together avoid cultural appropriation or breaches of tikanga? This is a dilemma I often think about in my supervision practice.

The greatest resource we have to work through these dynamics and dilemmas must surely be Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

One of the first books I read this year was Becoming Tangata Tiriti: Working with Māori, honouring the Treaty by Avril Bell (2024). As I read the book, I was often thinking specifically about supervision, and here are three of those thoughts:

1. How might supervision move beyond decolonisation and towards restoration, as suggested by the late Moana Jackson (2020, p149), (see also: Bell, 2020, p2). Resistant and racist views might be healed by remembering many tīpuna who first encountered English settlers, invited Pākehā to belong here, with a fresh new identity in relation to Māori, as Pākehātanga is a specific identity and culture from this place. To assist proceses of reconciliation and restoration, “Tangata Tiriti need to […] learn what to hold on to and what to let go of, and how to let go (Bell, 2020, p13).
2. How might supervision and kaitiakitanga form a bridge to explore each other? Three years ago feels quite recent, yet it is also an eternity ago in politics. During Waitangi Day celebrations in 2022, Kelvin Davis described Te Tiriti as a bridge – te arawhiti – between Te Ao Māori and the Pākehā world. Davis acknowledged the traffic on this bridge has largely been unidirectional, as tangata whenua have engaged in the Pākehā world, but very few Pākehā have journeyed over to learn the tikanga and reo of Te Ao Māori (cited in Bell, 2020, p73).
3. How might supervision be comfortable with the difference that kaitiakitanga offers? Extending the bridge metaphor, Alison Jones and Kuni Jenkins emphasise the significance of the humble hyphen in ‘Māori–Pākehā relations’, specifically how the hyphen simultaneously joins and separates. “For Jones and Jenkins, ‘working in the hyphen’ in non-colonising ways requires awareness of and attention to relationships with Māori colleagues and communities, but also awareness of, care for and attention to relationships with difference itself (Bell, 2020, p85).

So, in summary, this Waitangi Day, I’m daydreaming about a reality where Māori and Pākehā work collaboratively and restoratively, journeying over te arawhiti to appreciate the differences of our practices, and celebrate the common responsibility that arises from living in this place called Aotearoa.

Ngā mihi nui,

Rod

P.S. there’s one more special element happening on Waitangi Day for me this year – my husband and I are finally committing to studying Te Reo Māori, and we have our first wānanga. To say I’m excited is an understatement.

References

Bell, A. (2024). Becoming Tangata Tiriti: Working with Māori, honouring the Treaty. Auckland University Press.

Jackson, M. (2020). Where to Next? Decolonisation and the Stories of the Land. In B. Elkington et. al. (Eds.), Imagining Decolonisation. Bridget Williams Books.

Rewita, T., Swann, H., Swann, B., & Crocket, K. (2017). Where supervision and culture meet: Kawenga whakarurutanga. In K. Crocket, E. Davis, E. Kotzé, B. Swann, & H. Swann (Eds.), Moemoeā: Māori counselling journeys (pp. 215-227). Dunmore Publishing.

Webber-Dreadon, W. (2020). Kaitiakitanga: A transformation of supervision. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work 32(3), 68-79.