Three decades ago one of the giants of New Zealand thinking and writing, Ranginui Walker, published Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou, Struggle Without End. The book, originally released in 1990 and revised in 2004, is a history of Aotearoa from a Māori perspective had a profound influence and today remains as piercing and illuminating as ever. … Read more
Summer reissue: Photographs of tūpuna Māori are fetching top prices at auction houses, with their descendants often forking out to ‘bring them home’. First published 29 November, 2020 On September 20, 2001, an auction of 300 rare photographic prints and plates was blocked due to protests by Māori activists. The collection, potentially worth at least … Read more
Photographs of tūpuna Māori are fetching top prices at auction houses, with their descendants often forking out to ‘bring them home’. On September 20, 2001, an auction of 300 rare photographic prints and plates was blocked due to protests by Māori activists. The collection, potentially worth at least $150,000, included photographic prints and plates of … Read more
An Auckland iwi whose population and land holdings were decimated during the New Zealand Wars is partnering with the Auckland Council’s development arm to ensure its stories are being heard – and a new playground plays a starring role. Note: This article uses the iwi’s preferred spelling of Takaanini. A new playground for South Auckland … Read more
In her last column, Laura O’Connell Rapira suggested how the government could be a better Treaty partner. This week, she reimagines completely new power structures. Between 2012 and 2015, Margaret Mutu and Moana Jackson convened 252 hui with Māori to imagine the future of Aotearoa in 2040, 200 years after the signing of Te Tiriti … Read more
Whakamā refers to a state of personal or collective embarrassment and shame. Unabated shame can corrode the soul. Tikanga can fix and prevent it, writes Tainui Stephens. This story contains descriptions of racism and racist language. It seems to me some radio talkback hosts suffer from an empathy bypass: a quixotic condition affecting those who … Read more
While Matariki and Pūanga rose last month in Pipiri, they are most visible this month, in Hōngongoi (July). Our celebration of them continues. With thanks to Matua Rereata Mākiha, Sam Rerekura and Rangiānehu Mātāmua for sharing their knowledge. Pūanga and Matariki shine high and bright in Tāmaki (Auckland) this month, bringing with them not only … Read more
As the settler government did in the late 1800s, it’s high time we erected a bunch of new monuments to the great people of this country (and maybe take some of the stink ones down). Ātea editor Leonie Hayden has some suggestions. Hundreds of heroic and revered ancestors proudly adorn walls, lintels, waharoa and pou … Read more
The inspiration for an upcoming Taika Waititi movie, Hemi Pomara was forcefully taken from the Chatham Islands to Sydney, and then to London, where he sat for a French portrait photographer in 1846. That photo was recently discovered in Australia’s national library by two researchers, who write here about their remarkable find. It is little … Read more
A new survey by Stickybeak for The Spinoff shows more than one in four would like to see Hamilton’s name revert to Kirikiriroa. But a Waikato kaumatua says he’ll continue to push for change. As statues come down around the world and long-venerated slave traders and colonialists have their actions put under the microscope for … Read more
While we stand in solidarity with Black and indigenous communities experiencing ongoing violence overseas, we have plenty of work to do here in Aotearoa too. These 10 seminal anti-racism texts by Māori authors are a great place to start. George Floyd’s death as the result of police violence has sparked protests around the world, including … Read more
There was a lot of kōrero at Waitangi this year about women’s speaking rights, both at Waitangi and around the motu. Dr Rawiri Taonui looks at the history. The call for Māori women to speak on marae was reignited this year when Mere Mangu, the chair of Te Rūnanga ā Iwi o Ngāpuhi, welcomed Prime … Read more
A secretive group excavating a cave near Huntly believe it’s filled with a race of pre-Polynesian giants’ skeletons, but iwi and archaeologists have serious concerns, reports RNZ’s Susan Strongman. Archaeologists say a group of people tunnelling into the side of a country road in search of a race of pre-Polynesian giants’ skeletons could be damaging … Read more
They have a storied history, from Waitangi Tribunal triumphs to bitter infighting, but the current NZ Māori Council are reinvigorated and ready to make big changes on behalf of Māori in Aotearoa. However some people are asking questions about its new leader. At the start of the year, after what felt like years of media … Read more
Spurred by a piece on The Spinoff calling for people to amplify indigenous voices around the climate emergency, Nadine Hura asked an indigenous activist what that means in practice. ‘Amplify indigenous voices’ is a sentiment I’ve been hearing more and more, but I’m left wondering what it means in a practical sense to those saying … Read more
Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa) has been looking to Māori stories and storytellers to learn more about our gender identities before colonisation. There’s a lot to be read between the lines, she writes. Te ao Māori can be a very gendered place to be. In some settings, your gender can tell you where you stand, what … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Ian Taylor, founder of of Animation Research Ltd. This week on Business is Boring we have Ian Taylor, … Read more
Finally, New Zealand history will become a compulsory school subject. So what’s so good about that? New Zealand history will be a compulsory primary and secondary school subject within the next three years, Jacinda Ardern announced today. The decision has proved popular to campaigners and academics like Vincent O’Malley who have battled for years to … Read more
Whaea Kaa Williams is a lecturer in te reo Māori at Te Wānanga Takiura o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa. She remembers a time when she wasn’t allowed to speak te reo Māori “past the front gate.” Cornell Tukiri: Mōrena, could you tell me a little about yourself? Kaa Williams: I am now at … Read more
The prime minister has some news about the place of New Zealand history in the school curriculum. Recent events show us how crucial it is that it’s given the prominence it deserves. Today, during the unveiling of a New Zealand Wars memorial plaque, Jacinda Ardern will make an announcement concerning the teaching of history in … Read more
A movement to boycott this year’s Tuia – Encounters 250 commemorations of the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s landing at Tūranganui-a-Kiwa is gaining strength, writes RNZ’s Leigh-Marama McLachlan. More than $20 million is being spent on events and resources to mark the anniversary of Cook’s landing in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, later named Gisborne, in 1769. Indigenous … Read more
For decades she stood up for urban Māori and provided services to a community that was often overlooked. Close friends and family celebrate the life of Dame Temuranga “June” Batley-Jackson. A lot is made of understanding the Treaty of Waitangi as a living document. The Waitangi Tribunal explains the concept by outlining how Te Tiriti … Read more
When even the ‘woke’ are ignorant about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it’s clear we need to make teaching its history compulsory in schools, writes Liam Hehir. Sometimes something happens in the news that shakes you out of a bubble. I thought that making New Zealand history a compulsory part of the curriculum was more heavy-handed … Read more
A new petition is calling for changes to address New Zealand students’ ‘shameful’ ignorance of their country’s history, writes RNZ’s John Gerritsen. In the lead-up to Waitangi Day, history teachers are calling for compulsory teaching of New Zealand’s Māori and colonial history in schools, but government representatives are rejecting the idea. The chairperson of the … Read more
All week this week we feature tangata whenua writings to mark Waitangi Day. Today: Vincent O’Malley reviews a new history of the battle of Gate Pā. Head up Cameron Road, one of Tauranga’s main arterial routes, a few kilometres out of the city centre and you drive over one of New Zealand’s most important historical sites. … Read more
Summer reissue: There was a lot of confusion from media and commentators earlier in the year about the cultural identity of then-newly minted National Party leader Simon Bridges and deputy Paula Bennett. Here’s a handy guide to tell if you, or someone you know, might have a touch of the Māori. This post was first … Read more
Aren’t Can’t Don’t: 125 years after New Zealand women won the right to vote, we take a look at what the first polling day looked like for Māori women… sort of. Today is the 125th anniversary of women taking to the polls to vote in the general election for the first time, 10 weeks after … Read more
Philip McKibbin remembers a man who dedicated his life to realising our Treaty partnership. Sir Pita Sharples remembers his old friend Harry Dansey well. He was teaching taiaha classes for prisoners – a new concept back in the ’70s – when Dansey said to him, “I used to do a bit of taiaha.” Sharples was sceptical, “’Cos … Read more
Author Bruce Ansley follows in the footsteps of Te Puoho, who set off on an epic, 1500-kilometre march with his war party in 1836, intent on destroying an entire people – Ngāi Tahu. I once read a piece by archaeologist Atholl Anderson (Ngāi Tahu), who was then just a budding academic. It was like discovering … Read more