Centering Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand
Māori culture is the soul of Aotearoa New Zealand
Why are we so reluctant to center Indigenous Māori in Aotearoa? What will we lose if we do so? I have lived and grown up in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is my home. It is my son’s home. He was born here. We are Kiwi. I am also an immigrant. So are people of so many other ethnicities. So why do people feel so fragile when it is pointed out that Māori are indigenous and they are not?
Yes, Māori also sailed here but they were the first settlers. As first settlers they are indigenous. BY DEFINITION!!
The term ‘Indigenous’ seems to scare people. I often say to bigots on social media in particular on platforms like X that “We are all immigrants, but only Māori are indigenous”. This sends them into a frenzy.
I have a theory about why this is the case. These deniers of Indigenous identity, I believe, feel like they will lose some level of privilege by admitting that Māori are Indigenous. A perceived privilege they acquired through their ancestry.
This is the sort of bigoted thinking that has brought Aotearoa New Zealand to a place where our government is looking to strip Māori of their Indigenous rights as enshrined in Te Tiriti o Waitangi ( The Treaty of Waitangi).
The reaction to TJ Perenara’s final Haka for the All Blacks is the perfect example of the bigotry, so entrenched in AotearoaNZ. TJ says “Toitū Te Tiriti O Waitangi” in the intro to this fierce haka in the match against Italy, held at Allianz stadium, Italy. Toitū Te Tiriti o Waitangi is to support and honor Te Tiriti, to respect our foundational document as a guide for living together in this land we call home. TJ’s statement resonates with so many of us Kiwi.
However, this statement was instantly condemned by vocal bigots.
Aotearoa has a long way to go to become a truly equitable country. Pākehā guilt of what settler colonialism did to Māori still lingers. It has turned many into cynical bigots.
The way forward for Aotearoa must be forged by centering Māori culture in everything we do. Think about it. Nowhere else in the world other than in Aotearoa did this culture emerge. It is unique to this land. Why are we so reluctant as immigrants to embrace it?