Opinion: Why it’s time for radicals to step up and make a change

OPINION: In elementary school, someone once asked me, “Are you Meowri – because you definitely look like one?” When I asked my mom, she replied, a bit hastily, “No, honey, you’re not Meowri.”
Maori. You are Italian.” (Perhaps she thought of this because my father was in Italy during World War II.)

It wasn’t until I was in my mid-teens that I found out that my genealogy included Maori, as well as British, Irish, French and German ancestry. Not Italian. My mother thought she was protecting me from the stigma of being a “tar” because of her own experiences as a child and young woman raised in a Maori household.

She endured snide comments and the humiliation of being treated like a second-class citizen in the country she was born in. When she left school, it was suggested that she get a job as a cleaner in the home of a local doctor, which was considered a “promotion.” Wanting nothing to do with her background, she left for the anonymity of the city.

Colonization is the reason why Maori began to be treated as second-class citizens in their own country. A common definition of colonization is “the process of establishing control over foreign territories or peoples for the purpose of exploitation and eventual settlement.” Its impact can be vast and pervasive, and according to Wikipedia, “include the spread of malignant diseases, unequal social relationships, detribalization, exploitation, and slavery…” In other words, Maori were marginalized, oppressed, and subjugated.

In the case of the Treaty of Waitangi, how could the signatories understand the “full spirit and meaning” of the treaty they were signing when they were presented with a Māori text that differed in essential detail and spirit from the English version?

Stats NZ estimates that 19.6% of the population is of Maori descent. It is difficult to say whether this figure includes the many families who preferred to claim other, more so-called ‘socially acceptable’ European nationalities in their ancestry.

A few years ago I attended a family reunion, my first contact with my tribe. I learned that many people were related to me or connected in some way. Of particular importance was my mother’s close cousin and through her iwi, relatives and a large and diverse whānau. I discovered how much I had missed out on by not being in touch with the rich culture, traditions and connections of being Māori.

Thousands of Maori fought in World War II; Maori founded marae, schools and universities; they revived mana te reo; they are famous for their craft of boat building and bone carving, to name just a few of their achievements. But it has taken many years, if not a lifetime, to change attitudes, and progress has been slow. Unfortunately, some in the coalition government seem determined to whitewash Maori and erase their memory under the pretext that we should all be equal. Maori have never been treated as equals; whitewashing is like painting over the cracks.

Until governments learn to honour and accept the indigenous people – the tangata whenua of this country – with all their diversity, language, culture and traditions, we will continue to face conflict.

I am not a radical. I wish I was. But radicals are needed. I am old and cowardly, and I am not steeped in Maori culture and tradition. But my heart sings when I watch the news and see Maori uniting and mobilizing to oppose policies that are designed to dismantle and whitewash the Maori race. I have nothing but admiration and respect for those who resist oppression.

Barbara Macdonald (Ngāi Tahu) lives on the Kāpiti Coast and has worked in service sector administration, health, radio and environmental services.