Ki te whaiao, ki te ao Mārama
able to be in relationship with Tangata
Whenua in a way where we can bring
the best of our worldviews, and the
systems, values, and ways of doing
things, together. By being able to let go
of white supremacy in all its forms, we
will be open to the potential richness in
all cultures and all views.
Another person described their ultimate
vision rooted in dominant groups learning
about history:
Aotearoa will be free of racism when
those who were lied to over the last
100 years (specifically Pākehā) are
reconditioned and re-educated to
understand and learn of the true history
of what their ancestors did to Māori and
how entrenched racism actually was in
their minds, hearts and culture which
came with them through colonisation.
For too long Pākehā from that time have
been portrayed as heroes, founders and
discovers of this land. They were given
accolades, monuments and governing
titles to rule the land by the Queen of
England and the Crown. The truth was
they were thieves, rapists, murderers and
liars. Pākehā since their arrival have used
their wealth and privilege to excel their
own fortunes governance and empire
with no regard to their partner. Tangata
Whenua. Racism stops when they stop
being racists and give back what they
stole from us including half ownership
and being able to govern as we see fit
for Māori. Reparation and Reconciliation.
Participants spoke about the need for
schools to teach New Zealand history,
while respecting those Tangata Whenua
and ethnic Tangata Tiriti who have lost
connection with their heritage and those
with multi-identities. One sought:
Korero about race, ethnicity and cultural
identity (including multi-identity) as an
open and safe discussion in schools,
optional in workplaces. People should
be encouraged not to be afraid to talk
openly in these specific spaces.
Te Kāhui Tika Tangata
Some participants noted the importance
of education being intersectional. They
spoke about living in a future society which
embraced different cultural understandings
of gender, and male and female roles,
without the fear of being judged or
discriminated against, which led to people
being “double marginalised in society”.
One participant commented:
The Western understanding of gender
is only one way of understanding what
gender can be. But if you look to the
Pacific, and of course in te ao Māori
as well where historically gender has
been a very differently understood
concept, much more fluid. There is a lot
of mana in that, learning about those
kinds of histories. Fa'afafine is one
example of many in the Pacific that
we can draw from to say there are so
many other ways of expressing gender.
This idea of “either or”, you know either
male or female, as introduced through
colonisation is very unhelpful. I’d like to
see where histories like that are taught
to see we have this bigger whakapapa
with the rest of the Pacific. Our ideas of
gender and our ideas of sexuality are not
confined to just within Te Ao Māori, but
we have cousins within the Pacific region.
Some participants believed the concept of
colonial masculine and feminine roles were
often enforced in conservative New Zealand:
If I think back to primary school, because
I grew up partly in the South Island,
there was lots of heavy conservatism
there. From a young age those ideals
of masculinity, particularly colonial
masculinity in terms of what a man
should do, and what a man should be,
and equally so what a woman should be.
Another participant said “Can I just say, as
a pre-law reform homosexual, you learn to
work around the law. Where there is racism,
you either learn to confront it, or you learn
to work around it.
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