Media and te Tiriti

Kupu Taea Media Te Tiriti Project Logo

About Kupu Taea

Kupu Taea is an Auckland-based Māori and Pākehā media research group that has studied how the media reports Māori, te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori/Pākehā relations since 2004. We welcome your feedback on these web pages.

Email: Tim McCreanor – [email protected]

Anti-māori themes

The news media is not neutral or objective. Research shows that the news repeats and reinforces negative themes about Māori that date from the earliest days of colonisation.

These negative themes present Māori interests and what Māori do as problems, or as being on the margins. They also help make Pākehā control over institutions, resources, society and culture seem right and natural.

The first three themes – Pākehā as the norm, ‘One People’ and ‘Rights’ – arose originally from struggles in Europe in the 1700s and 1800s. Together these themes represent New Zealand as a modern, liberal, social democracy to New Zealanders, while also closing off alternative ways of looking at our society. Ten of the 11 remaining themes represent Maori as a problem in some way.

These web pages describe these themes, and give other ways of talking about these topics. They list words and phrases that suggest the theme; examples of how news media use it; assumptions behind the theme; the effects it has; and other ways of thinking about the issue.

We welcome your feedback!

Submit your own examples of anti-Māori themes and suggest your alternatives. These suggestions will moderated and uploaded to the site.

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

The news media are not neutral or objective. Studies show that the news repeats and reinforces negative themes about Māori that date from the earliest days of colonisation.

There are no themes in the news about Pākehā as a group because Pākehā are portrayed as if they are the nation. They are shown as the norm or default – the natural, ordinary community against which all other ethnic groups are measured. As a result the media hardly ever refer to or identify Pākehā by ethnicity.

How this is being said in the news?

Pākehā as ‘us’, ‘we’, ‘our’, the public, taxpayers, New Zealanders, Kiwis, the nation, Pacific’s triple star; Māori as ‘they’ or ‘them’.

Examples

  • One News, Our News’.
  • They’re not rugby heroes, not gang members. They’re the fast growing Maori middle class. Prepare to adjust your stereotypes’ North & South cover, June 2008.
  • The tino rangatiratanga flag referred to as ‘their’ flag, One News, February-March, 2007.
  • ‘Hone Harawira and the Maori party: what have we got to fear?’ Metro cover, November 2004.

Other ways to talk about this

  • Acknowledge Pākehā ethnicity when there is a vested interest or criminal behaviour (‘Pākehā MPs’, ‘police are seeking a Pākehā man’)
  • Pākehā are one cultural group among many in Aotearoa.
  • Pākehā benefit from being defined as the norm.

Download theme 1 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

The news media are not neutral or objective. Studies show that the news repeats and reinforces negative themes about Māori that date from the earliest days of colonisation.

This theme arose originally from struggles in Europe in the 1700s and 1800s. Together with Theme 1: Pākehā as the norm  and Theme 3: ‘Rights’, it represents New Zealand as a modern, liberal, social democracy, while also closing off other ways of looking at our society.

The ‘One People’ theme describes ‘New Zealanders’ as a single people who should all be treated the same. This is usually a response to attempts by Maori for recognition as tangata whenua.

How this is being said in the news?

Kiwi, New Zealander, one people, equal treatment, we are all the same; no one group should have preference, we are a multicultural society, we are all immigrants.

Examples

  • “Maori have a special place in New Zealand, but that specialness should not be allowed to undermine the sanctity of the simple equality of all New Zealanders living together.” P. Goldsmith, NZ Herald column, April 2009.
  • “The justification for the Maori seats is now gone. It is a move that will signify one country, one people”. Timaru Herald editorial, Feb 7, 2003.
  • “Beaches for all”. Otago Daily Times front page headline, Aug 19, 2003

What does this assume?

  • Equality means treating everyone the same.
  • Cultural or racial differences are divisive, not real, or do not matter.
  • Indigenous status and the Treaty are irrelevant.
  • Majority rule is the only fair and just way to make decisions.

What does this do?

  • Supports Pākehā (ie. majority) control of most important decisions.
  • Tells Māori that they should assimilate.
  • Removes ethnicity from the discussion as irrelevant.
  • Undermines the Treaty.

Other ways to talk about this

  • Acknowledge the place of tangata whenua and the Treaty relationship.
  • Given the imbalances arising fromcolonisation, we may need to treat people differently to get more equal outcomes. This is provided for in New Zealand law anyway, for a range of different groups who are historically disadvantaged.
  • Pākehā are one cultural group among many.

Download theme 2 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

People are portrayed as if they are or should be entitled to do what they want provided they do not infringe on the rights of others.

Cues

Rights, democracy, equality, level playing field, birthright, one law for all, property rights.

Examples

  • “Separate seats based on race are the opposite of equality” P. Goldsmith, New Zealand Herald column, April 2009.
  • “Our laws hold that every New Zealander, irrespective of ethnic or cultural identity, enjoys equality in citizenship.” M. Cabiling, New Zealand Herald column, April 24, 2009.

Assumptions

  • Rights belong only to individuals.
  • Rights always compete or conflict.
  • One person’s rights are limited by the rights of others.
  • Rights are expressed in legal practice and can be enforced by law.

Effects

  • Denies the role of the Treaty in setting out certain rights for Māori and for non-Māori.
  • Denies indigenous frameworks for establishing rights.
  • Undermines the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which New Zealand has signed.

Alternatives

  • Rights can be collective.
  • Rights can be negotiated.
  • Western notions of rights are only one of many models.
  • Māori rights are transmitted through whakapapa and guaranteed in te Tiriti.
  • Treaty rights apply to both Māori and non-Māori in different ways.
  • Article 3 of te Tiriti o Waitangi provides for the rights of non-Māori.

Download theme 3 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Māori are portrayed as having rights or benefits denied to others in a way that is unfair and racist.  Current “New Zealanders” should not be held accountable for the grievances created by the treatment of Māori in the pasts.

Cues

Special treatment, Treaty/grievance industry, the past is the past, taxpayer funds, Māori Parliamentary seats, Māori All Blacks, Māori admission schemes, Māori scholarships.

Examples

  • “Spirituality or special treatment?” New Zealand Herald headline, October 12, 2004.
  • “National’s ETS [Emission Trading Scheme] to include special treatment for Maori” 3 News headline, November 16, 2005.

Assumptions

  • Colonisation was in the past and no longer has a negative impact on Māori.
  • Society’s structures and institutions benefit everyone equally.
  • Fairness is a Kiwi value; Kiwis dislike any group being unfairly privileged.

Effects

  • Masks the unfair and unequal effects of society’s structures and institutions.
  • Deflects attention away from Pākehā control of wealth and politics.
  • Masks the very limited nature of Treaty settlements compared to the real value of resources taken from Māori.
  • Portrays arrangements that ensure Māori participation as being unjust or racist.

Alternatives

  • Explore Pākehā power in the area under discussion.
  • Acknowledge the role of tangata whenua and the Treaty relationship.
  • Describe action to reduce Māori disadvantage in context, acknowledging that past injustices have ongoing effects.

Download theme 4 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Māori who are seen as happy with their lot, “fitting in” or achieving in settler society are described as good, while Māori who resist, seek restitution, demand recognition or do not achieve are bad.

The same person or group can be described as “good” or “bad” depending on the speaker’s needs and the audience. The theme works most flexibly when the user does not specify who or how many are “bad Māori”; they can then dismiss protesters as a minority, estranged from their people.

Cues

  • “Good”: law-abiding, polite, happy, rural, older, hard-working, dignified, co-operative, punctual, clean and tidy, footing it with the rest of us.
  • “Bad”: poor, sick, lazy, urban, young, criminal, aggressive, complaining/protesting, bludgers, stupid/dumb, greedy, dishonest.

Examples

  • “Two protestors who tried to make their point were quickly escorted out of the Whare by Maori wardens…” Hawkes Bay Today, February 6 2007.
  • “The average colonist regards a Mongolian with repulsion, a Negro with contempt, and looks on an Australian Black as very near to a wild beast; but he likes the Maori, and is sorry that they are dying out.” William Pember Reeves, The Long White Cloud, 1899, p 57.
  • “It’s time to knuckle down, Hone. Go look at your colleague, Te Ururoa Flavell, as an example of someone who does the hard yards and is mightily respected for it.” John Armstrong, column New Zealand Herald, 23 October 2010.
  • “No longer is Harawira the fire-wielding, foul-mouthed attack-dog, but the considered, studious critic seeking cross-party support.” Otago Daily Times Online News, July 31 2010

Assumptions

  • Pākehā have the right to judge Māori.
  • Good Māori don’t make a fuss.
  • There are always “bad” Māori; Māori don’t have occasional bad apples as Pākehā do.
  • Good Māori fit quietly into Pākehā society.
  • Bad Māori make poor decisions that reduce their life chances and outcomes.
  • Good Māori don’t require ‘special treatment’.

Effects

  • Makes it normal for Pākehā to judge Māori in a way Pākehā do not apply to themselves.
  • The existence of “good” Māori means it is possible for all Māori to “fit in”.
  • Blames Māori for experiencing negative outcomes.
  • Represents problems and protest as arising from a minority of Māori.
  • Encourages Māori to discipline and judge each other.

Alternatives

  • Māori are diverse, like any group, with a range of opinions.
  • Judge Pākehā by the same criteria as Māori are judged.
  • Passing judgements on indigenous and minority groups is a privilege taken by the dominant group.
  • “Good” and “bad” are defined by Pākehā and serve their interests.
  • Is being Māori relevant to telling this particular story?

Download theme 5 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Anyone who challenges the status quo, whether Māori or non-Māori, is portrayed as a troublemaker who misleads others and causes tension for their own political ends.

Cues

Stirrer, radical, activist, protestor, malcontents, terrorists, bleeding heart liberals, mountains out of molehills, ‘haters and wreckers’.

Examples

  • “…shouting and insults from a bunch of parasitical, snouts-deep-in-the-public-trough, Maori malcontents..” Bob Jones, Straight Talking about the Race Crisis, North & South, February 1988

Assumptions

  • Race relations are good and it is stirrers who disturb things.
  • Stirrers are a tiny minority whose opinions are not widely held even within Māoridom.
  • Stirrers are not really interested in the issues they raise but use them as vehicles for their own power and control.

Effects

  • Distracts attention from the substance of the grievance by focusing on supposed disruption or aggression of the protestors
  • Portrays the issues the stirrers raise as extreme, unacceptable or trivial.
  • Hides the support and respect Māori have for tino rangatiratanga leadership.
  • Attempts to divide Māori from each other.
  • Sidelines and suppresses any Pākehā support for tino rangatiratanga.

Alternatives

  • Acknowledge the historical context and range of Māori voices on the issue or grievance.
  • Explore the foundations and Māori accounts of history on the issue.
  • Focus on those who advocate for racism, such as talkback and TV shock jocks, politicians and others.
  • “Stirrers” have been behind every advance in social justice, including the 40-hour week, the minimum wage, advocacy for te reo Māori, women’s suffrage (right to vote).
  • Tino rangatiratanga and Treaty-based processes work in many organisations and are legitimate viewpoints.

Download theme 6 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Pākehā actions that offend Māori are portrayed as not their fault and Māori are depicted as just over-reacting.

Cues

I didn’t know, Māori don’t tell us, hyper-sensitive, unreasonable, take offence too easily and need to lighten up, build a bridge and get over it, no sense of humour, its just P.C.

Examples

  • ”At the time, none of us kids thought we were disrespecting anyone’s culture.” The Haka Party incident of 1979, when Maori disrupted an annual mockery of the haka by University of Auckland engineering students, who had ignored years of polite requests to stop, is revisited by the New Zealand Herald, May 2009.
  • Don Brash has criticised the use of powhiri at official functions, saying a “half-naked man poking his tongue out” is not a particularly civilised way to greet foreign dignitaries. New Zealand Herald, September 4, 2005.

Assumptions

  • Māori culture, language and values are inferior; therefore Pākehā need not respect them.
  • Pākehā culture and language is dominant and universal; therefore anything Māori must “fit in” or adjust.
  • It’s the responsibility of Māori to tell Pākehā about their culture.
  • Māori are secretive about their culture; therefore, it’s their fault if Pākehā don’t know what could cause offense.

Effects

  • Blames Māori for Pākehā transgressions.
  • Excuses persistent and deliberate breaches of commonly understood Māori values and practices, such as mispronouncing te reo Māori, or not bothering to learn appropriate protocols for Māori environments.
  • Marginalises Māori cultural practices and maintains the dominance of Pākehā practices.
  • Respecting Māori language and culture is criticised as being “PC”.
  • Māori cultural practices outside Māori environments, such as marae, are seen as political impositions on others.
  • People speaking Māori or practising tikanga Māori in everyday situations are often told to stop.

Alternatives

  • Māori culture, language and practices are extremely important to identity in Aotearoa and should be respected as such.
  • Māori are unique to Aotearoa and contribute to New Zealand’s distinctiveness internationally.
  • Pākehā make active decisions about whether or not to respect Māori.
  • New Zealand is one of the most monolingual countries in the world; in many countries being multilingual is ordinary.
  • Learning te reo and developing cultural competence in tikanga Māori and other cultures enriches national life.

Download theme 7 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Māori are affected by violence more than others, either as perpetrators or victims.

Cues

Warriors, ’warrior gene’, primitive, Jake the Muss, gangs, ‘bro’ type language, thugs, staunch, Māori child abuse.

Examples

  • Widespread and repeated use of images of haka and wero to represent Māori.
  • “Gang rampage at university – Students at haka practice bashed” Auckland Star, May 1979
  • “A New Zealand researcher claims there is an over-representation of the ’warrior gene’, which has been linked to aggressive behaviour, in Maori men.” New Zealand Herald audio clip (website), August 9, 2006.
  • Repetitive use of Māori children as illustrations of child abuse.

Assumptions

  • Māori and Māori men in particular, are inherently violent.
  • Non-Māori violence is the action of “bad apples”, Māori violence is cultural or genetic.
  • Non-Māori don’t abuse their children, or do so less than Māori.
  • Māori accept and cover up violence.
  • Māori are generally unconcerned about using crime to support themselves.

Effects

  • Creates fear of Māori.
  • Makes Pākehā family violence and child abuse invisible.
  • Sensationalising Māori crime sells.
  • Masks how Māori are victims of state violence (eg Land Wars, beaten for speaking Māori at school, Ruatoki raids).
  • The stigma of violence is focused on Māori families.
  • Reinforces stereotypes of Māori as violent.
  • Increases Māori belief in these negative stereotypes.

Alternatives

  • Unmask white crime.
  • Be aware that Māori child-rearing practices are often subject to the (changing) whims of the dominant culture. Pākehā researchers in the 1950s commented that Māori spoilt their children and didn’t hit them enough and that Māori thought corporal punishment in school was abhorrent and cruel.
  • Don’t sensationalise crime unnecessarily.
  • Sixty-six percent of children killed by family members between 1996 and 2000 were non-Māori.  [Connelly, M. & Doolan, M. (2007) Lives cut short — Child death by maltreatment. Dunmore Publishing, Wellington, p. 41.]
  • Child abuse and family violence happens in all cultures and reporting should reflect this accurately.
  • Well-off families are more able to keep family violence from coming to police attention.

Download theme 8 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Māori culture and language are presented as primitive, irrelevant and inadequate for the modern world.  On the other hand, Pākehā will often use non-threatening aspects of Māori culture to mark their own identity as New Zealanders.

Cues

Time-wasting, PC, sexist, without Pākehā Māori wouldn’t have…, property values will dip because of Māori language/practices/people/activity.

Examples

  • “Education Minister Trevor Mallard has sparked a race relations row by suggesting Maori culture sometimes cuts across the tradition of equality in schools.” NZPA, September 25, 2004.
  • “Josie Bullock described Department of Corrections Maori ceremonies as ’sexist’”. NZPA, September 25, 2004.
  • “Dannemora property investor Sherrie Jacobs said she was worried that had the area [Howick] been [re]named Te Irirangi, house prices could dip.” New Zealand Herald, September 14, 2010.

Assumptions

  • Some cultures are simply superior.
  • There is a progression in cultures from backward and primitive (tribal) to sophisticated (industrial).
  • Authentic Māori culture is static, as at the time of colonisation.
  • Māori culture and Māori people are either authentic or lost.
  • All Māori are experts about customary Māori culture.
  • Pākehā culture is modern and universal.
  • Pākehā have a right to make judgements about Māori culture irrespective of their knowledge.
  • Māori culture is being imposed on non-Māori.

Effects

  • Justifies Pākehā dominance and ongoing colonisation.
  • Undercuts Treaty rights for Māori taonga.
  • Constructs Māori culture as peripheral or purely ceremonial.
  • Supports ongoing assimilation of Māori.
  • Encourages Māori to believe their culture is inferior.
  • Divides Māori culture into either authentic or fake practices.
  • Makes it more difficult for Māori to validate their own cultural diversity and innovation.

Alternatives

  • Pākehā engagement with Māori culture is a privilege; Māori engagement with Māori culture is a right.
  • Māori culture is expansive and cannot be simply explained in terms of its difference to Pākehā culture.
  • Māori cultural concepts are legitimate and complex e.g. Powhiri embraces the Māori concept of manaakitanga – welcoming and hosting other people – as tangata whenua.
  • Pākehā culture is influenced by Māori culture e.g. kaitiakitanga (guardianship and environmental protection); tangihanga (mourning and funeral processes).
  • All cultures are diverse and fluid and have their own measures of what is valuable.

Download theme 9 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Because of intermarriage there are few “real Māori” left; so they are no longer a distinct people and shouldn’t claim any benefits.

Cues

Māori blood, blood fractions (half-Māori, quarter-Māori, half-caste, part-Māori), intermarriage, pure, genes, drop of Māori blood, born-again Māori, plastic Māori, fingernail of Māori blood, waka-blonde, biculturalism  in the bedroom.

Examples

  • “Where could we be in 100 year’s time when, because of further intermarriage, an ever larger share of the population, say 30 percent, has a drop of Maori blood.” Paul Goldsmith column, New Zealand Herald, April 2009.
  • “Everyone who was born here is a New Zealander…four of my eight grandparents were Irish so by this silly racist Maori identity yardstick I am still half Irish.” Frank Haden, Dominion Sunday Times, September 20 1992.

Assumptions

  • A valid Māori identity is purely genetic or biological.
  • Racial purity is linked to cultural validity; mixed ancestry dilutes cultural identity.
  • Fifty percent Māori “blood” is a magical dividing line between authentic and fake.
  • Māori and European can be mutually exclusive categories.
  • Māori identity is claimed falsely by individuals wanting ‘special’ benefits.
  • Only Māori have to prove their identity; Pākehā do not face the same requirement.

Effects

  • Challenges Māori right to self identify as Māori.
  • Undermines legitimate claims by tangata whenua.
  • Validates assimilation of Māori as inevitable.
  • Māori are continually required to define who they are.
  • Pākehā often get defensive about identifying as a group.
  • Confuses race, ethnicity and culture.
  • Reduces the size of the Māori population and hence any claims on public resources.
  • Creates a fear that Māori identity fraud is rampant.
  • Reinforces certain cultural markers as valid indicators of Māori identity, and therefore excludes many people with Māori ancestry.
  • Only Pākehā identity can’t be faked.
  • Maintains the invisibility of Pākehā culture.

Alternatives

  • Self identification is valid.
  • Whakapapa expresses an integrated relationship between Māori ancestry, ethnicity, culture and identity.
  • Ethnicity, Culture, Race:  be clear about using the terms appropriately.

Download theme 10 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Potential or actual Māori control of significant resources – for example, land, fisheries or money – is portrayed as a threat to non-Māori.

Cues

Threat, fear, rich iwi, reverse racism, Māori land ‘gifted’ back, fisheries, compensation, customary rights, public access, iwi tax, Pākehā missing out, give Māori an inch and they’ll take a mile.

Examples

  • “TV3 implied that Ngai Tahu were to blame for David and Morgan Saxton being imprisoned for stealing the pounamu.” Press, April 11, 2008.
  • “Tribe: Pay us for air rights” New Zealand Herald, October 7, 2004
  • “Maori want to charge for use of airspace above Lake Taupo…” Prime News, October 7, 2004.
  • “‘Iwi tax’ Tribe sets lakebed fishing levy” headline, The Dominion Post, March 6 2009.
  • “Mining proposed for Maori land” headline, 3News, November 9 2010.

Assumptions

  • The audience is non-Māori.
  • A Pākehā audience should feel threatened by Māori control.
  • Māori control of resources is offensive because they don’t deserve it.
  • Māori should be grateful for any recompense.
  • Limits economic opportunities for non-Māori by iwi unfairly “locking up” resources  
  • The resource is wasted on Māori.

Effects

  • Makes Pākehā control of wealth in Aotearoa invisible; for example, by focussing on Māori-controlled land and ignoring the approximately 80% of land owned by non-Māori.
  • Obscures the sales of major assets from non-Māori to foreign interests.
  • Demonises Māori who want to develop their own economic base in line with Māori values.
  • Undermines Māori efforts toward economic self-determination.
  • Justifies state scrutiny of Māori controlled resources.

Alternatives

  • Māori concepts of resource management are legitimate and sustaining e.g.  wairua and kaitiakitanga promote conservation and sustainable development.
  • It is in Pākehā interests for resources to be in Māori control, because they will be managed with a long term view.
  • Treaty settlements and the return of resources are a significant and positive achievement that everyone can be proud of.
  • Māori resources are less likely to be sold overseas.
  • Māori control and use of resources generates taxes, jobs and services.

Download theme 11 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Māori are represented as financially inexperienced, incompetent or corrupt.

Cues

Fraud, forgery, inappropriate use of money, allegations, incompetence, mismanagement, nepotism, financial disarray, fake, Treaty settlement, audit (of Māori organisation), conflict (within Māori organisation).

Examples

  • “Iwi Services investigated by police” Northern News, Page 1, February 7, 2007.
  • “Senior officials of the Kohanga Reo National Trust have been accused of failing to act on serious complaints about misuse of a preschool’s money.” New Zealand Herald, March 1, 2007.
  • “Maori drug and alcohol service Te Rito Arahi faces a torrid time after a devastating audit and a staff rebellion” Press, March 17, 2007.
  • “There’s more drama at Maori Television Service following the sudden announcement that its third chief executive in less than two and a half years is quitting” One News, August 27, 2004.

Assumptions

  • Māori are not accountable in the same way as Pākehā for money they receive.
  • Māori handling money is a new thing; accounting is not part of Māori culture.
  • Māori will often employ their family members – nepotism.
  • Māori shouldn’t have this money in the first place.
  • Māori don’t generate wealth.

Effects

  • Māori groups feel under constant scrutiny by the state and public about how they deal with their money.
  • Māori have difficulty getting loans and development finance.
  • Undermines Māori Treaty claims and Māori provision of health and social services.
  • Provides ammunition for those opposing Māori initiatives.
  • Stigmatises Māori as a people.

Alternatives

  • Māori ethical values are built into Māori business.
  • Māori have a long history of being entrepreneurial.  By the time of the Treaty, Māori were supplying Auckland and Sydney with food transported in their own ships.
  • Māori do a lot with little.

Download theme 12 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

This theme depicts the Treaty as a historical document that is irrelevant to the present and which blocks development. It links strongly with themes 4: ‘Māori privilege’; 5: ‘Good Māori/Bad Māori’; and 11: ‘Māori resources’.

Cues

Treaty/grievance industry, grievance mode, gravy train, divisive, never-ending, Treatyism, the past is the past, undermine democracy; and any calls to dispense with the Treaty.

Examples

  • ‘Treaty of Waitangi claims are continuing to delay the sale of Masterton’s abandoned schools’ (Dominion Post, 19 Feb, 2008).
  • ‘…when the orchestrated grievance display that is Waitangi Day passes…’ (Manawatu Standard editorial, 7 Feb, 2007)

Assumptions

  • Pākehā are entitled to determine the worth and meaning of the Treaty on their own.
  • Any decision or process that treats the views of Māori and non-Māori equally is undemocratic.
  • A treaty signed more than 170 years ago is no longer relevant.

Effects

  • Undermines any consideration of the Treaty in debates or conflicts between Māori and Pākehā
  • Ensures that Pākehā institutions such as the police, courts and Parliament settle issues, which will usually benefit Pākehā at the expense of Māori.

Alternatives

  • Explain the Crown’s breaches of te Tiriti at issue.
  • Te Tiriti is a contract enabling Pākehā to live justly in Aotearoa, by according Māori rights as tangata whenua
  • Te Tiriti was an agreement between two sovereign peoples, with Māori having an equal say in any interpretation
  • Te Tiriti should be a foundation for a new constitution enabling a just, Treaty-based future.
  • The Magna Carta was signed in 1215 but current laws banning arbitrary arrest and justice for sale are still based on it.
  • The inadequacies of media reporting about the Treaty undermine the ability of Pākehā and other non-Māori to consider their Tiriti obligations.
  • Pākehā anxiety about their place in Aotearoa will be resolved only through honouring the Tiriti and acknowledging Māori as tangata whenua.
  • For the government to determine on its own how claims about Treaty breaches will be settled is unjust – the process should be agreed by both parties.

Download theme 13 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Particular forms of Māori economic activity in the arts, business and education are celebrated, especially those using aspects of Māori culture for branding. This is the only positive theme about Māori; however, it still ties in with other negative themes.

Cues

Young Māori, starting business, exhibition, show, first, world stage.

Examples

  • A new “cybertribe” of Maori artists is harnessing the web to take paintings, sculpture, mixed media, weaving and glassworks to the world art market.” New Zealand Herald, Business page 12, September 10, 2004.
  • “Seven marae in the Feilding and Halcombe area are banding together to jointly develop their resources and open future business opportunities.” Manawatu Standard, page 4, February 7, 2007.
  • “Papatoetoe business testing the waters in the global economy” Manukau Courier profiles a florist whose flax weaving gained a Canadian order, December 4, 2007.

Assumptions

  • Māori success is rare but can occur.
  • Success is defined in Pākehā terms.
  • Māori can be successful when they align to Pākehā structures and values.
  • Māori success is positive as long as it doesn’t threaten Pākehā wealth or power.

Effects

  • Divides Māori from one another.
  • Māori have to be super-stars, amazing and outstanding to be successful.
  • Supports the good Māori/bad Māori theme that good Māori just try harder.
  • Reinforces that everyone has equal opportunities.
  • Limits Māori success to pre-determined areas.

Alternatives

  • Māori are often successful in spite of stereotypes and racism.
  • What defines Māori success?  How do Māori themselves understand success?
  • Kahore te kumara e korero mo tona reka – The kumara does not say how sweet it is; self-promotion is discouraged.

Download theme 14 as an A4 PDF

Download all 14 themes in a booklet (landscape A4 pages)

Headline exercises

Submitted media examples

“Hocus Pocus” – Stuff article about Maramataka – 18/1/2019

Media themes:
Theme 1: Pākehā as the norm
Theme 9: Māori culture

Media source:
Facebook

Date of Appearance:
21/01/2020

Author:
Stuff Article

Quote from media news item:
The article itself does not use the term but the link to the article reads “Hocus pocus – stuff.co.nz ” and leads to a piece by Carmen Parahi entitled “The ancient Maori healing system that is making waves” The introductory paragraph reads: “An ancient system that aligns daily activities with the natural world, moon, sun, stars and planets could help improve Māori health inequities. Carmen Parahi explores how Maramataka is being revived across Aotearoa, and why the Ministry of Health is helping pay for it.”

Name of submitter:
Wikitoria Tane

Alternative:
An ancient system that helps to improve Māori health.