emily’s Reviews > Becoming Tangata Tiriti: Working with Maori, Honouring the Treaty > Status Update

"I think its about an understanding of how far we as settler people have to go. There's a sense in which, when you immerse yourself in the culture, when you learn the language, when you perform the arts, when you do the science within that culture, there's a deep privilege that attaches to that, that bears the risk that you end up being a cog in the colonial wheel...

Start at an aspirations level and ‘How can we improve the lives of tamariki?’, for example, before getting into the nuts and bolts. And acknowledge the space and history. And give time.

this means that māori are repeatedly exposed to the differences between themselves and pākehā, while pākehā are not. they are in some way protected from the knowledge of difference

Brandt found it common for cross-cultural friendships to operate solely within the Pākehā world. despite the high level of contact -- the opportunities for Pākehā to cross into the Māori world are limited or can be difficult to take. so, while Māori are necessarily bicultural, Brandt's data points to the many instances in which Pākehā are not

we are not tangata whenua; our roots are not the same as those of Māori, or as deeply set in time and in the land. it was not our ancestors who first explored, names and learnt how to live in this place. we are not of that unique culture that developed as a result. tangata tiriti will always be people who came later, and hence our being here is, in relation to and shaped by Māori being here before us