* Ok, maybe not Everything but it’s a start.
I wrote this post in 2017 in response to some of the misinformation and ignorance that I’ve seen online and in the papers. Updating in 2023 I can’t help but feel that although there have been massive leaps forward, we are on the precipice of tumbling very far backwards indeed. This is a concern that should prompt us all to action. Hence I’ve updated this post to include discussion of co-governance, specifically address the use of Te Reo Māori, and my thoughts on the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum and mātauranga Māori in education.
If you’ve come through the New Zealand education system in the last 10 years you would definitely have learned something about the Treaty, but what and how you learned is sadly dependent on where you learned it and who taught it. If you came through the education system last century or are new to New Zealand, you might not have ever encountered the Treaty of Waitangi in an academic setting, and what you know (or think you know) is therefore shaped by the media and politicians.
I would like for that to change.
I believe everyone in New Zealand should know about, and engage in discussion around, the Treaty.
It’s interesting, it’s necessary, it’s ours. Continue reading “Everything* you ever wanted to know about the Treaty of Waitangi but were too scared/angry/oh-god-make-it-go-away to ask.”
Clementine Fraser - Author 