Perspectives on Waitangi from three ANZ staff

Dame Whina Cooper once said “the seed I would like to plant in your heart is a vision of Aotearoa where all our people can live together in harmony and share the wisdom from each culture”.  Three of our staff from different backgrounds share their kōrero of what Te Tiriti O Waitangi means to them and their hopes for Aotearoa New Zealand.

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Sean Hamilton:

I went on holiday with my family at the end of high school through Te Tai Tokerau (Northland). On the final leg, as part of the drive home to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), my father wanted us to visit Waitangi. We knew of this place from schooling, and that important events took place there a long time ago, but had never been there. We had started a reclamation journey as a family a few years earlier, reconnecting with our whakapapa and gaining a sense of what it meant to Māori. So visiting Waitangi was a part of our journey.

The mauri (spirit) that we experienced on the Treaty Grounds, was special. It was a calm and reassuring place to visit, it felt like something special had occurred here that reached down to me then and now. I took that spirit home with me and have felt a sense of growing confidence ever since, that Te Tiriti is the foundation on which we continue to build. It’s personal, it relates to me as an individual, but also to the places I work and live in. I was fortunate to continue to learn about Te Tiriti o Waitangi at university, but it also became apparent that many others may not know much about it. It prompted me to take my own tamariki to Waitangi at an earlier age, so they could learn its importance, and feel its reach.

I would encourage others to seek out more information about it - to learn for themselves what it means and make a connection to it. Te Tiriti is there for everyone in Aotearoa, it's not exclusive to Māori. Tap into resources online, celebrate it each year and visit Waitangi when you’re able. In that way, we can all come together and be stronger for it.

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Sarda Rupa:

Our family history has it that in 1908 my Dada (grandfather), missed the boat. Stranded in Bombay, India, he boarded the next available boat with no idea where he was heading and eventually ended up on the shores of Aotearoa.

Dada arranged for my Dad and Uncle to come over in the late 1920’s where they continued running the shop and servicing the local community for two decades. Dad served as the local postmaster, taxi driver, grocery delivery man and even undertaker. He embraced his new homeland, eating the local food, learning te reo Māori, as well as learning the culture, developing a mutual bond and respect with Māori.

Dad was very close to the wider local Waikato Māori community and he became aware first-hand of the significance of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the grievances held by Māori - particularly with how the officials carried out the acquisition of their land. Dad could identify with the connection to their land and culture, as at the time the people of India were under the thumb of the British Raj, navigating through their own loss of identity and desire to retain their culture and land ownership.

This experience gave our family a deeper awareness at that time.  And in support of Māori, both Mum and Dad took time out from running their shop to stand on Bastion Point in solidarity alongside the protesters in 1975.

New Zealand has changed - we’ve become a more culturally-diverse country since Dada and Dad arrived here. Some New Zealanders may not have as close of an insight on the Māori viewpoint as Dad imparted on us. We came to understand Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the foundation document of New Zealand, an agreement for peace with the intention of New Zealand being  governed in equal partnership. It’s disheartening to this day that we still have not reached any agreement of what Te Tiriti means, and how this has impacted on Māori and all New Zealanders.

Dada may have missed the boat, but to us, he was a legend. Because of him, us descendants identify as New Zealanders.  Most of us would agree it’s the uniqueness and richness of the Māori culture that gives New Zealand its point of difference from the rest of the world.

Let’s be more curious to know and understand New Zealand’s real history and understand the Māori viewpoint.  Let’s be a nation to show the way how we can work towards reconciliation and a path forward for our future generations.

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Anna Cassie:

I am a direct descendant of Reverand Henry Williams and his wife Marianne. Henry and Marianne arrived in New Zealand in 1823 and established a mission at Paihia. Henry believed in the importance of missionaries being fluent in te reo, and he and his family all became fluent te reo speakers. This meant Henry was able to translate The Treaty of Waitangi into te reo Māori in 1840, (the translation was performed overnight). Henry was also the author of the first te reo/English dictionary. I am also a direct descendant of James Busby, who arrived in the Bay of Islands in 1833, appointed as British Resident. Busby played a significant role in the 1835 Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, which was an important precursor to Te Tiriti. He was involved in the drafting of the English version of The Treaty, and his home is now part of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

Many of my generation of the Williams family grew up through a period of significant re-examination of the role that Henry Williams played in relation to NZ history, Te Ao Māori and the Treaty. From my late teens, I have been aware of the significant issues that the translation caused for Māori, and of concerns regarding the acquisition of land by the Williams family. 

I personally feel the Treaty is not perfect – the contextual circumstances of its creation, its translation to te reo, and the role that Henry Williams and James Busby played in encouraging chiefs to sign Te Tiriti are all problematic. However I also believe that New Zealand is a better society for having a treaty. It gives us a founding document and a promise for what can be.

Its fundamental principles of Kāwanatanga, Rangatiratanga, equality, cooperation and redress are inspirational.

Te Tiriti O Waitangi is not simply a historic document. It is an exceptionally important framework and guide and an essential ongoing part of how we live in New Zealand today. Te Ao Māori is a rich living culture with a deep understanding of how to live in New Zealand and the wider Pacific that far predates the European understanding of this part of the world. Why would we not want to honour, respect and embrace this understanding in partnership?

I have been learning about Te Tiriti and Te Ao Māori for much of my life and still have much to learn. I am embarrassed to share that I am hopeless with te reo. I’m now on my third attempt to learn, and I’m encouraged by the number of people around me who are also learning, including my 2-year-old mokopuna in Australia!

I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to live in our small country, and never more so than in our current time of climate change and global unrest. I want a fair and equitable society that provides opportunity for all New Zealanders, and that recognises and respects Māori, their rights and their taonga.

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.