Waitangi Day a chance to make better choices

Metiria Stanton Turei invites all to enjoy Waitangi Day as a genuine celebration of a te Tiriti nation.

Kia ora koutou whānau, he mihi ki a koutou i te rā o Waitangi.

I come to Waitangi Day this year with some trepidation after a year of intense political attacks on its integrity, its substance and its wairua (spirit, soul).

Too much time has been spent defending te Tiriti o Waitangi from misrepresentation and racism, making it difficult to celebrate even if the weather is amazing for the long weekend.

Waitangi Day is always a day of commemoration, where we remind ourselves that there is an agreement on which this country is founded — and which has been honoured more in the breach than the observance.

We can move on from those past failures. We can turn the day into a celebration of a te Tiriti nation that upholds the rangatiratanga (chieftainship) of Māori and shows manaaki (respect) to everyone who makes a home here.

Those things are not mutually exclusive, in fact the latter relies on the former.

And neither are they difficult to achieve.

It is just a matter of basic respect.

Those who denigrate the political agreement in te Tiriti do so on the back of racist tropes about whether Māori could enter into political deals.

Yes, they could and yes, they did is the answer, and the British knew that.

Why the big drama about respecting that agreement?

Other political agreements are respected. Respect is key to good governance after all.

It will be lovely to gather with our families and friends, to maybe spend the weekend camping or by the ocean.

We share a gorgeous country and we love it to bits.

We do not have to smear it with mistrust and racism.

We get to make better choices for our children and Waitangi Day is a great day to do just that.

— Metiria Stanton Turei (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Ātiawa, Āti Haunui a Pāpārangi) is a pukenga matua at Te Kaupeka Tātai Ture, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, Faculty of Law senior lecturer at the University of Otago.