Reflections this Waitangi Day

Fellows Group Iti Rearea at Waiwhetu Marae during a pōhiri by Te Āti Awa as part of the October 2022 Welcome Experience

When I began my role as CEO for the Edmund Hillary Fellowship, I was approached by a group of Fellows with a question: how might the Fellowship become Tangata Tiriti - good Treaty partners with Māori? 

It did not begin well: I had never heard the phrase ‘Tangata Tiriti’, had never undertaken Treaty training, and, frankly, I didn’t know where to start. I had good intentions, but began with the mindset of aspirations and action plans – what did we need to do?

The Fellows gently brought it back to relationships: who we are as human beings (not human doings) and how we might connect and interweave our whakapapa into something new.

It was the first stumbling, baby step for me into a journey of vibrant and overdue discovery. As a second-generation Kiwi, I have come to realise that I held embedded beliefs about our identity as a nation and the place of the Treaty, largely shaped by the media and anecdotes. After living in Australia, I was proud of the way Aotearoa NZ had embarked on the Treaty settlement process, and the progress made. However I went on to realise that I held a very one-sided perspective of the system at play. 

My mindset change has come through relationships. I have been met with extraordinary grace and generosity from the people of Te Āti Awa Taranaki Whānui, EHF’s iwi partners, along with Māori Fellows and cultural supporters.

I heard  first-hand the stories of Māori and the losses they have faced; their land, their culture, their language, and their families and connections. I began to see the inequality and marginalisation that still exists in our nation (and other nations), and my own, very real privilege. This is  not about shaming or blaming people, but recognising an embedded colonial system that we all have the potential to change.

From that first step, we have made progress - although we acknowledge we have far to go. Our Fellows now have the opportunity to hear about Te Tiriti o Waitangi from Rangatira, to understand the impact of colonisation, and are offered an open invitation to learn more. Providing us with guide rails, Fellow Faumuina Felolini Maria Tafuna’i developed 17 Habits of a Valued Treaty Partner with input from the Kāhui Māori, which can be viewed on the Flying Geese website. 

To quote one of our Fellows, most inequality in society is based on the marginalisation of people and cultures based on race, religion, or colonisation. The very fact that we are having debate (often heated) and discussion about the Treaty, and what partnership might mean today is much more than is occurring in most nations.  

So we have an opportunity. If we can discuss with openness and a willingness to sit with the discomfort it can create: if we can step into being Tangata Tiriti with the courage to try, to stumble, to get some things right – and wrong – but learn and unlearn; If we can open ourselves to a Māori worldview that reimagines how we care for land and people, flora and fauna, across multiple generations with values that resonate across cultures; If we each seek to empower, not impose; then we can demonstrate something new for the world.

2023 is the year for me, and the EHF team, to actively engage in cultural upskilling, and take joy in the journey of learning. We will seek to be better partners in a spirit of reciprocity and willingness to learn. I am still unlearning and revising, and I know I am still at the very beginning of this journey, but this Waitangi Day I will be reflecting on what I’ve learnt over the last two years, and what being Tangata Tiriti could and should look like.

-Rosalie Nelson, Chief Executive of Edmund Hillary Fellowship and Hillary Institute.