A new book has hit the bookshelves today, following the real-life journies of 12 pākehā/tauiwi engaging with Māori language, culture and tikanga in Aotearoa.
Sociologist Avril Bell interviewed these activists, professional, and everyday individuals. Each of them has engaged with te ao Māori and incorporated te Tiriti o Waitangi in their work.
“Their stories really show how engaging with te ao Māori and thinking about ourselves in relationship to the Teaty, in our responsibilities towards the treaty, that it’s really is a win-win.
“All the people I spoke to talked about different ways in how their own lives had become enriched from those relationships they developed and how they felt better about themselves and about being New Zealanders and their place in this country.
“I’m a sociologist and mostly we spend our time being critical and talking about all the things that are wrong in the world, so it was really great to write something that was really celebratory,” Bell told Te Ao Māori News.
Bell said the book isn’t meant to be a how-to guide on becoming tangata tiriti, as there isn’t just one way to do so. Instead, it is m.ore of a starting point.
“The aim of the book is to be a resource for people. Maybe their job may have given them the opportunity to engage with te ao Māori or requires them to and they don’t really know where to start, don’t have a background in working with Māori, so it’s a starting point for people like that [which] is my hope.”
Although she started the book two years ago, its completion coincides with recent changes in government policies regarding Māori initiatives.
“I’m hoping this book can contribute to a bit of a counter-story. We wake up in the morning and think ‘What is it today? What’s the latest bad news?’
“At flaxroots level these people are just 12 people in Aotearoa but there are probably hundreds, maybe thousands of people like them who are just getting on with the mahi and I think that is still continuing.
“This government is a blip.
“I was an adult in the 1970s. Since that time and the establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal I’ve seen massive changes and the placement of te ao Māori in our society and you can’t undo all that in three years.”
The book is available on bookshelves and online from today.