Hobson’s Pledge and their ilk argue for a culture that treats everyone the same. Anthropologist Haimona Gray looks at what’s actually at stake when we embrace multiculturalism. Go look at a wall! Is it very different to say, dirt? It is, because a wall is not a natural phenomenon. A person made that wall, but … Read more
Toby Morris has illustrated a new publication in the School Journal Story Library that tells the story of the Treaty of Waitangi. Below, a selection of the work, introduced by Ātea editor Leonie Hayden Toby approached me to read a few early drafts of his School Journal, and I was struck by how simple you … Read more
Charter schools are no silver bullet, but the principle behind kura hourua is a form of rangatiratanga (sovereignty) in action. The kōhanga reo example is a reminder that Māori education is too important to fall victim to partisan battles, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira. The Anglican missionaries who arrived in Aotearoa in 1814 came with a mission: convert … Read more
The paths that lead to receiving moko kauae, the tattooed marks worn on the face by Māori women for centuries, vary from person to person. For one Waikato woman, it was a tribute to her mother. Words and pictures by Cornell Tukiri. With thanks to Maxine Te Rongomau, her whānau and community. It is 8am … Read more
The go-to argument for many people spouting anti-Māori sentiment often starts with ‘… but Māori killed all the Moriori’. Researcher Keri Mills is eager for fellow Pākehā to do some reading before reaching for this lazy argument. Firstly, the myth. You’ve heard it before. There were a pre-Māori people in New Zealand, called the Moriori. … Read more
‘Trust the process’ is more than a tagline for self-love or enlightenment. In her first Spinoff column, Hana Tapiata uses the Māori creation story to reveal a blueprint for living well and realising potential. It’s easy to be grateful when life is good, when everything is going the way you want it to. You often … Read more
A lack of consultation with Māori, and less participation in the 2018 Census across the board, shows that indigenous data sovereignty is more important than ever. You might have heard recently that Statistics NZ has conceded the 2018 census response rate may be down by almost 5%. This was acknowledged as “very serious”. The thing … Read more
She’s a producer, promoter, artist, musician, māmā and more. It might seem like a pick’n’mix career but Huia Hamon wouldn’t have it any other way. Today, a decade on from her first solo album, she dons her musician pōtae to release Āio, a te reo Māori EP about peace, knowledge and self-reflection. When Huia Hamon … Read more
With Winston Peters condemning the Smokefree 2025 initiative and calling to lower the excise tax on tobacco, ASH health promoter Boyd Broughton questions whether lower prices would reduce tobacco-related crime and looks at the initiatives that have worked for our most vulnerable, Māori women, in the past. Wāhine Māori are, and always have been, acknowledged as vital … Read more
What Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern actually say and do is more important than an ideological argument about freedom of expression, argues Graham Cameron. There are three aspects of the Free Speech Coalition – currently taking legal action against Auckland Council – that stand out. One, they didn’t Google before they made up their name, … Read more
As winter passes and new life takes hold in New Zealand, indigenous guests from far abroad have arrived to exchange cultural knowledge. It’s more than 12,000 kilometres from Salem, Oregon, to Dunedin, Otago – an epic journey across the Pacific – but for students like Cherokee Miranda Livers, it’s a pilgrimage for a cultural immersion … Read more
Whangārei architect Jade Kake has made a career changing behaviour through design, decolonising Māori thought patterns and outcomes through altering the environment in which they take place. But her next project at Te Rewarewa is by far the most ambitious yet. Don Rowe reports. There are few living arrangements as seemingly distant from te ao … Read more
Nadine Anne Hura (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) is one of six writers who have been selected for Te Papa Tupu 2018, a writing programme developed by the Māori Literature Trust and organised by Huia Publishers. We asked her to write about what it means for her as a Māori writer. In 2013 a friend rang to offer me … Read more
‘Nothing about us without us’ is becoming a popular catch cry of indigenous people the world over. Now the University of Otago is asking for Māori perspectives only on Māori incarceration. Earlier this year, the government announced it will spend $750 million to expand Waikeria prison by 500 beds; build 976 more beds at five different … Read more
When the n-word slipped out of former National MP Tau Henare’s mouth on national television last Sunday, Ātea editor Leonie Hayden realised she’d been harbouring a guilty secret. I saw a video on Twitter a couple of weeks ago where Kendrick Lamar, who is playing here this week, stopped a white fan from rapping along … Read more
Dr Lance O’Sullivan has issued a challenge to Phil Twyford after concluding state housing is a direct cause of kids becoming chronically ill. I recently moved from Northland to Auckland and coming from there I thought I knew what poverty was. On my second day of working as a GP here in Auckland I was … Read more
A new film following five courageous families healing in the wake of suicide premieres at the NZ International Film Festival this month. Kayne Peters meets the Albert whānau of Maui’s Hook. Content warning: suicide. Suicide is a topic many Kiwis shy away from but the reality is, every three days a young New Zealander takes … Read more
As part of RNZ’s sexuality podcast, Bang!, Melody Thomas looks at Māori sexuality and gender expression prior to colonisation. Despite spending more than a year learning about sex, sexuality and relationships in Aotearoa – until recently, I knew very little about pre-colonial Māori perspectives on these things. I’d have more easily defined the indigenous North … Read more
They’re young, they’re hungry, and they’re not taking any crap. Waves of rangatahi activists are using the UN to share kaupapa Māori values with the world. In 2017 Te Ara Whatu became the first all-rangatahi Māori delegation to attend a UN Conference, and played a significant role in advancing indigenous rights at the COP23 Climate … Read more
Chef Luke Adams shares three delicious Māori dishes. As he whipped up an on-trend beetroot and farro concoction in the kitchen of a cafe in Auckland’s Newmarket, Luke Adams talked us through how to make something very different — the kai he was raised with. Adams (Te-Uri-o-Tai hapū, Te Aupōuri iwi) is head chef at … Read more
On Saturday, the widow of the late Tauranga Moana leader Awanui Black posted a video to Facebook about child sexual abuse and her husband. Their whanaunga Graham Cameron says her brave stand is a chance to break the cycle of silence and shame. Content warning: sexual abuse of children. If you’ve had the opportunity to … Read more
A series of Māori Futurist events take place this weekend (July 6-8) at Ellen Melville Centre in Auckland’s CDB. Self-identified ‘Space Māori’ Dan Taipua picks out some highlights from the schedule. In a few hundred years time the world will be washed into a new shape. Today’s islands will have disappeared from the the light … Read more
Medical student Kera Sherwood-O’Regan on what the student loan extension means for Māori studying medicine. “Have you seen the news?!” There’s nothing like waking up to dozens of messages and tweets to jolt you out of bed with a deep sense of dread. I tried to keep a lid on the panic as I wondered … Read more
Everybody Cool Lives Here is one of Wellington’s most exciting theatre companies, and their work Big J Stylez comes to Auckland’s Herald Theatre this week as part of Matariki Season. Sam Brooks interviews artistic director Rose Kirkup. “The award-winning theatre company Everybody Cool Lives Here produces art that reflects and celebrates Aotearoa’s unique and diverse identity,” reads … Read more
With the debut of Disney’s Moana in the Hawaiian language, Simon Perris looks at at pan-Pacific representations of Maui, and the atua wahine Disney conveniently ignored. I’m guessing Hawaiian Disney superfans are pretty excited about the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi version of Moana, hot on the heels of last year’s reo Māori version. Moana and the demigod … Read more
Kaitāia’s Te Ahu centre is a lot of things to a lot of people – a taonga, a service, a symbol of progress, a happy distraction. Te Ahu looms large in the relatively small Kaitāia township, but it does so with its arms flung open wide, welcomning you inside. The 2300-square metre complex is a … Read more
Ka puta Matariki ka rare whānui, ko te tohu tēnā o te tau e! Matariki reappears, Vega starts its flight. The new year begins! Matariki is a period of reflection and renewal. An opportunity to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future. As we move into the new year, it … Read more
Alice Neville went along to The Creation Dinner, a pop-up restaurant by MasterChef winners Karena and Kasey Bird, and it was bloody good. Ko tēnei te tīmatatanga. This is the beginning. In the darkness, sky father Ranginui and earth mother Papatūānuku are locked together in a never-ending embrace, their many children crushed between them. After … Read more
Māui Street editor Morgan Godfery chats to ‘minister for everything’ Andrew Little about nation building and resolving Treaty settlements on ‘marae time’. Old timers will tell you the words “former Labour leader” are a curse. Former Labour leader Phil Goff. Former Labour leader David Shearer. Former Labour leader David Cunliffe. Former Labour leader is the … Read more