Over the past 20 years, Aotearoa has made a more conscious effort to embrace te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori. Other parts of Aotearoa have made a conscious effort to double down on their racism, and drag the rest of us down with them.
We’ve seen a revitalisation in the use of te reo Māori, and it’s now incorporated into much of our everyday lives. We’ve seen significant progress in Te Tiriti settlements, and acknowledgment of The Crown’s past wrongdoings. The current government has made a commitment to teaching our nation's true, brutally honest history in the school curriculum. We have Māori TV presenters on the 6 o’clock news. This year, we celebrated Matariki as a public holiday. We’ve seen the proposal of Three Waters and the discussion of co-governance between our national government and Māori. However, these major milestones and attempts to right the wrongs of the past are quickly becoming drowned out by rhetoric of misinformation, fear mongering and downright racism.
For some reason, the revitalisation of te reo Māori, the proposal of co-governance and the introduction of mātauranga Māori generally seems to have deeply offended parts of the population. Some people, including students, see these developments as giving Māori ‘special treatment’ or ‘control’ over our institutions and resources. As if we are entering some ‘undemocratic, two-race state’. They don’t want te reo ‘shoved down their throats,’ and refuse to watch the evening news until they ‘speak English’.
The entire rhetoric surrounding co-governance, or repatriation for The Crown’s wrong doings, or Three Waters is entirely rooted in misinformation, racism and insecurity; an insecurity that stems from the subconscious realisation that our western, eurocentric, capitalist system is destroying our environment, and ourselves. But there are two things that those who are so vehemently against co governance or mātauranga Māori don’t realise.
The first is that the incorporation of mātauranga Māori will actually benefit everyone, not just Māori. It will ensure our environment and precious resources, like freshwater and ecosystems, are protected and maintained for future generations in the face of climate change. It will ensure that our communities are rooted in manaakitanga and utu, that we live in a society of hospitality, reciprocity and harmony. That we care for the collective wellbeing of all, not just ourselves as the isolated individual.
The second is that mātauranga Māori, or any indigenous knowledge system for that matter, is perhaps our only way out of this mess. We are in an ecological, economic and political crisis. It is clear the system we live in does not work, and I don’t think I have it in me to watch one more period of neoliberal ‘reform’ take place. Indigenous people existed successfully and collectively in their own societies years prior to the introduction of the coloniser. We have never, and still do not, need the nonconsensual saviour of the western white man to live fulfilling and whole lives. My point is: an indigenous approach is perhaps the only solution left to getting us out of this shitshow.
We cannot let people continue to spread the false rhetoric that the incorporation of mātauranga Māori is some sort of secretive, horrific cover up for us to gain absolute power for whatever reason. It’s not. It is simply a solution to society's problems. The bottom line is: it’s actually our only way out of this mess. And we should embrace it, not fear it.
Whatu ngarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua.
People will perish, but the land is permanent.