Kei whea au?
Where am I in relation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Education?
I am in the process of attempting to honour the obligations and commitments of my ancestors, recognise that I am a beneficiary of a system that has oppressed Māori. The education institution I am a part of, contribute to and work within, has aspirations of a Te Tiriti-led future. My role in the university as Kaiārahi Tiriti (Tiriti o Waitangi mentor) has been a privilege, and instrumental to my conscientisation. This role has given me time to gain a solid understanding of Te Tiriti, the context in which it was created and the intentions and aspirations behind its provisions.
As we hope to become treaty partners of equal mana (Tawhai, 2024), I can’t help thinking: where are my fellow Pākehā in this? The hegemony who appear to be at best willing though unsure - a situation I recognise all too well, which can lead to a form of paralysis (Hotere-Barnes, 2015). I see ,my role as a descendant of settlers (I trace my tipuna on both sides of my family back to Scotland, and through exploration of my whakapapa as part of understanding my situated position as part of the Kaiārahi work I came to realise my ancestors have been here longer than I thought, possibly dating back to the late 1800’s; at some level, I have come to understand that thinking my ancestors haven’t been here that long somehow assuaged a sense of colonising guilt).
As a Pākehā I need to reimagine myself in resistance to the hegemony that I am arguably a part of, and to imagine a new construction of both myself within the education system and a newly imagined education system itself. Or at least contribute to reimagining my institution, and my place within that institution.
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