The Problem with the Term Tangata Tiriti
The phrase Tangata Tiriti ??? often translated as ???people of the Treaty??? ??? is a term for non-M??ori in New Zealand. It???s been attributed to Sir Eddie Durie and has grown in popularity over recent decades. While I understand its intention, I use the term P??keh?? for myself, and I thought I would give an explanation.
I was raised within M??ori education and embraced by my M??ori community from a young age. That was a privilege ??? one my twin (we both grew up this way) and I will always value., I remember the self-loathing inside of me in my younger years at the mere label ???P??keh?????, and our common term for racist or offensive P??keh?? ???ballheads???. I felt so embarrassed since my only parent was an activist and, in my view, didn???t love his P??keh?? culture like he could have. I was known as H??mi mostly at school, which is a translation of James. I reached a point in my life where I wanted a M??ori name, but I have always thought it cringeworthy for P??keh?? to take M??ori names, considering colonization and the fact that many M??ori were not given M??ori names. I made up a joke name with my teacher after beginning to go bald. I took the joke name P??kira, which means bald head but I told my teacher it was a joke for ???ballhead??? and we laughed. This was a sign, perhaps that I was over feeling shame inside for who I was (not that I have ever fully embraced what a ???ballhead??? means, but for being P??keh?? and being able to joke about it).
Oftentimes, when I tell people how we grew up, they are filled with positivity and say I was so lucky. We were lucky to grow up in our community. Still, our family circumstances and really the personal isolation I experienced, I would advise something different from our particular circumstances for other P??keh?? families thinking of placing their child in a Kaupapa M??ori setting.
When I was about eighteen, I began what I now think of as my personal ???help me understand myself??? tour ??? interviewing older relatives about our family history and visiting M??ori kaum??tua for tea and conversation. These experiences deepened both my understanding of M??ori culture and my appreciation for my P??keh?? culture
Over the years, I???ve suggested to managers working in M??ori education that one powerful way to teach M??ori culture and raise people???s analysis of it, would be to use P??keh?? culture as a comparison. Therefore, when exploring, say a M??ori tikanga or ethic, ask what compares or differs here in the P??keh?? world? And do so in an honest and affirming way that may lead to a more refined understanding of what M??ori tikanga is.
One issue I see in some corners of M??ori activism is the tendency to idealise pre-European M??ori life as if it were solely about ???Rangatira??? (nobility) and ora (wellbeing), while we still have so much to learn from M??ori culture, like any society, traditional M??ori culture was not perfect. Colonisation has undeniably caused deep loss, and for many people, an idealising of M??ori culture can serve as like a self-help group that I find sometimes isn???t based in reality.
Colonisation, in my view, dispossesses everyone in different ways. Many non-M??ori in New Zealand grow up with little knowledge of their own history and culture. For some, the first real encounter with New Zealand???s history comes through M??ori perspectives on colonisation and capitalism. This may lead them to adopt the ???Tangata Tiriti??? label as a way of affirming the Treaty???s importance ??? which is understandable, as Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a foundational document that has never been fully honoured.
But for me, my sense of identity includes but reaches beyond Te Tiriti. It includes the stories, values, and ethics of my own family. That???s why I continue to call myself P??keh??. I sometimes see liberal P??keh?? groups struggle with identity ??? borrowing from M??ori culture, such as praying in English while invoking Ranginui and Papat????nuku for example. I find it cringe, but others don???t, and as long as no one is getting hurt or offended, kia kaha to them. I guess my point is, who cares how anyone prays? Each to their own.
I can???t help but wonder if those doing the hybrid of pakeha and M??ori prayers have fully explored their own cultural inheritance before mixing M??ori traditions. It???s something I believe iwould be helpful for our country to do: raise awareness of P??keh?? culture. So many people I work with often have no awareness of what???s right in front of all of us, For its music family history, community, terrible things, local and national stories, values, love, principles and so on. Then we can choose more consciously which of these to maintain, strengthen, or discard. if we P??keh?? saw how everywhere our culture is, then hopefully we can be more humble and careful with it.
I just speak of this as a nerdy P??keh?? i think its way down the list of important things for our country , like adressing material poverty and rebuilding M??oritanga.
Before concluding this article, which is admittedly limited to my identity as P??keh?? and the term Tangata Tiriti, I want to acknowledge that all ethnicities other than M??ori can fit under this term, and no doubt many would embrace it, Which is awesome. Here is a short k??rero on how I think about how P??keh?? fit into the M??ori world in Te Reo M??ori, with a translation.
Ki te marena te P??keh?? ki te iwi M??ori, ka noho hungarei, ki te kore karekau ana ki taku whakaaro ??na t??ranga ki Te Ao M??ori. N??ku ka ako ki te t?? I te marae ki te mihi k??rero, I k??a au me M??ori taku mahi, n?? reira ko taku whakaaro me waiho iti I te P??keh?? ??na tikanga, t??na reo me ana hanga I te ao M??ori, I k??ngia me whakaiti, me manawanui, me tupato . He k??rero an?? pea kua kite, kua rongo au I ng?? tau, he P??keh?? an?? I aroha, i hirinaki te M??ori, he p??manawa, he korou tangata n??whea e wareware, pai m??rire
if a P??keh?? were to marry within a M??ori community, they would be known as a parent-in-law. Without some type of family marriage, in my view, there is no standing for a P??keh?? in the Ma??ri world. When I learnt how to stand and do oratory on the marae, I was told to do such things in the M??ori culture we were raised in. I therefore believe we should carry very humbly our P??keh?? culture into the M??ori world, it is said to be humble to be tolerant and careful. Another thing I have heard in the years is that there are P??keh?? that M??ori have loved and relied upon, and these are human virtues, human spirit, that won???t be forgotten. Good Peace.
