Becoming Tangata Tiriti

And another listener:
Learn the hītori yourself and don’t depend on or expect your Māori mate to teach you about…. I experienced this years back when first getting into study in class. I was only Māori at the time and I felt like I was expected to know everything and even bear the brunt of some people’s problems. I found it overwhelming and quite draining especially because I was still learning about myself being Māori. 

We are humbled by the feedback we have received and we acknowledge there is much more to say and do. Throughout the recording, we had to acknowledge multiple times that we were not giving the history, the stories, the time and depth we would have liked but we also felt like we had to start somewhere to bring more people like us into the kōrero.

And who are we? And why did we do this?
Fi Deehan, is an Irish immigrant. “Over the last few years, I’ve had my eyes opened to the reality of race relations in Aotearoa New Zealand, the colonial history, and the inequitable impacts to this day. When I started to learn, I felt sick to my stomach, I felt tricked. After 8 years here, I had no idea. I now realise that many other immigrants like me have no idea either. And that’s why I’m doing series – because I am happy to ask the naive questions, to be the learner, and to question the mainstream narratives that I now realise are extremely one-sided.”

Gwyn John, originally from Napier, grew up in the 70’s with little knowledge or understanding about colonisation or te Tiriti O Waitangi. “I am constantly amazed at how few people know about the history of this country. What so many don’t realise is that much of what we think to be true is not true. It’s super important that we have an informed conversation as a nation but first, we need to make sure we know our history and understand how we got here if we are going to be able to move toward the future we all hope for.“ Gwyn has been a part of the Pākehā/Tauiwi Te Tiriti education movement since the mid ’90s and is actively seeking to learn how to honor the treaty.

So what, what next?
We know there is so much more to be said and so many directions this series could take and we want you, our listener, to tell us what you think.  Please take a couple of minutes to complete this survey that will help inform the next stage.

Thanks to the PlainsFM team who collaborated with us on this project, our Leadership Lab colleagues and friends for supporting and encouraging and all who have listened and asked questions.

You can listen to the whole Rourou Conversations podcast on your platform of choice here. Start with episode 1 of Becoming Tangata Tiriti.

This is a Leadership Lab Rourou initiative in collaboration with PlainsFM. The Rourou project hosts spaces to listen to contemporary voices, to collaborate with others, and to address gnarly issues. Rourou amplifies marginalised voices for advocacy and to provoke system change.

You can connect with stories of impact from across our Leadership Lab ecosystem by signing up for this monthly pānui (see bottom of www.leadershiplab.co.nz), joining our Leadership Lab LinkedIn page, joining us on Facebook and browsing our website.

Thanks heaps for your interest and support.