The 186th Waitangi Day, since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi on the 6th February 1840, came and went today. Unlike 2025, at the Treaty Grounds in Waitangi, the government actually fronted up. This is the government that one prominent Māori referred to as the most anti-Māori government of all time. When you consider the racist policies of the mid to late 19th century, including massive land thefts numbering the millions of acres, that is a massive accusation. As an imported New Zealand pākehā citizen, Waitangi is also a great opportunity to reflect on the state of Aotearoa and how far we have come, but also how far we need to go.
“Colonialism has been a net good”
That gem was uttered by the leader of a coalition partner to the governing party, David Seymour, himself a Māori. His point is, at best, debatable. James Cook, in 1769, estimated the Māori population to be about 100,000. In 1841, it was around 80,000. By 1896, Māori had been decimated to 42,000 through disease and conflict. It is true the population has bounced back to nearly a million, some of that growth has been driven by increased numbers of people identifying as Māori, as well as actual birthrates.
The New Zealand Settlement Act (1863) allowed the government to seize lands from Māori iwi (tribes) they thought were in rebellion against the crown. Waikato Māori and those in the Taranaki were especially effected by massive confiscations of tribal land to make way for pākehā settlers. Even those iwi who were considered “loyal” to the crown suffered significant losses of land. The loss of land led to inevitable impacts on Māori livelihood and well-being.
By the 1960’s, Te Reo Māori (the Māori language) was severely endangered. Without rapid and significant intervention, the language was in real danger of being lost forever, like so many other indigenous tongues. Only recognised as an official tongue in 1987, the original language of Aotearoa has made a major comeback, yet it is still not in a position of robust health. And the current government has introduced measures to prioritise English, still not an official language here, over Te Reo Māori.
Māori and Pasifika are also over-represented in nearly every negative measure. In Aotearoa prisons, 49% of inmates are Māori, even though Māori make up less than 18% of the overall population. Māori have significantly shorter life expectancy, as well as being more likely to live in poverty.
I would argue that Seymour is entirely wrong. The main benefits Māori have gained have been won through long and arduous protest, lobbying, and resistance, often in partnership with Pasifika activism. The gains Māori have experienced have been due solely to Māori efforts, despite the Crown, not because of the Crown. Therefore, colonialism has brought nothing the Māori themselves would not have gained without it in the longer term, and probably with far fewer negative results.
Personal Acts of Resistance
Even a pākehā fossil like me can make some contribution through to Māori causes through personal acts of resistance. More people should be doing just that, including those who are not Māori. If we wish to live in a place where the traditions of the land and its Tāngata Whenua (People of the Land) are respected and inform our futures, we need to take a moment and consider how this will impact our own actions. For example, I refuse to refer to Aotearoa by its colonially imposed name, and the same goes for places within Aotearoa. Ingoa Māori have beautiful meanings rooted in Tikanga Māori, and I see no reason to retain the names of old dead people who were racist gits. Ko Aotearoa tēnei whenua!
There is a long way to go, and the traditional political parties are not longer the vehicles of Māori change through which Māori can realistically pin their hopes. One participant at Waitangi said Māori had been stabbed in the front by Luxon’s Nationals, and stabbed in the back by the opposition, Labour. Perhaps Māori will take their fate into their own hands, as many of their tūpuna have, and forge their own paths through the complex landscape of Aotearoa’s future.
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