Learning and unlearning some of the things we know about the Treaty of Waitangi will be important in “recovering the truth about our shared history”.
This point was made by Auckland diocese Vicar for Maori Manuel Beazley at a korero on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which he and religious education advisor Brendan Bergin presented on February 3. The event was titled “Me titiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua” (Looking back, Looking forward), and it was facilitated by the Bicultural Committee of Auckland diocese’s Justice and Peace Commission.
Mr Beazley clarified five misconceptions about the treaty, the most prevalent of which is probably the concept of the treaty being an agreement between Maori and Pakeha.
“We often fall into this trap of making Te Tiriti about race or ethnicity,” he said. “In fact, [it is] an agreement between two sovereign nations, two sovereign peoples, two sovereign entities.”
He said the English monarch at the time recognised the confederation of the chiefs who signed the document as sovereigns of this land.
Mr Beazley also debunked the notion that the Maori chiefs had no idea what they were signing. He pointed out that no one would sign anything without having some idea of what it is they are signing.
“What is more likely the case? Maori were misled as to what they were signing. What Maori thought they were signing and what the Crown thought Maori [were] agreeing to were two different things,” he said.
“Was Governor Hobson also misled? Possibly. There was a lot of misunderstanding right at the very beginning. Therein lies one of the great problems of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, [which] is the understanding of what was actually being agreed to and how to reconcile those differences,” he said.
Mr Beazley also said that the view that past injustices have nothing to do with the present – and that we can’t change history – is not entirely true.
“While we, ourselves, don’t have anything to do with the injustices, many of our institutions and many of our systems have [their] basis [in] the past systems that have allowed the injustice to occur. So, to say that the past injustices have nothing to do with us is not completely true. We can’t change them, but we can be responsible for how we go into the future,” he said.
Mr Bergin talked about the traditions in the Catholic Church and how the Church can deepen its commitment to biculturalism.
In discussing the bicultural path, Mr Bergin drew from the statements of Bishop Takuira Mariu, SM, the first Maori bishop, as well as those of St John Paul II and Pope Francis.
“[Bishop Mariu] . . . made a very important statement in relation to knowledge and love of God, and proclaiming God’s kingdom in a way that is deeply Maori and that is unique to Maori,” Mr Bergin said. “It’s important that we keep that in mind in the context of our Christian and Catholic tradition.”
Both St John Paul and Pope Francis also reminded people that there is a rich culture here before the arrival of the Church, and that it is important to restore that on a spiritual level within the Church by entering into a dialogue with an intentional listening to the priorities of indigenous people, the tangata whenua”.
Mr Bergin suggested four principles to deepen this bicultural relationship; firstly, by remembering that Te Tiriti is “a charter for two peoples in one nation based on principles of covenant, partnership and participation”.
“That requires us to empathise, to place ourselves in the shoes of another, and that can be a challenge at times,” he said.
The second is looking at how we can do things better in our institutions that would better reflect that bicultural partnership.
Thirdly, particularly for educators, is having a culturally responsive pedagogy which means knowing the learners and connecting with whanau and allowing them representation.
The fourth principle is “a by Maori for Maori approach, which really encourages us to listen actively, to walk alongside, supporting those initiatives that we know are important for our Maori partners in Te Tiriti, in education and in the Church,” Mr Bergin said.
Mr Beazley said that someone asked him why Te Reo Maori should be included in the liturgy when there are no Maori in that person’s parish.
“My response to that is, the Church is bereft without some acknowledgement of our history, in particular, the history of tangata whenua. And so, including elements of Te Reo Maori in our Masses, in our liturgies, would be an acknowledgement of that, regardless of whether there are Maori in the parishes or not,” he said.
He encouraged everyone to explore the treaty and our shared history in their own context, and find a way to move forward justly and equitably.
“One of the things about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as it was espoused in 1840, is that those who came to sign and those who came to agree to it dreamt of endless possibilities. It’s my opinion that we can reclaim that sense of endless possibilities in our relationship, in our partnership,” he said.
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