Over the last few years, there’s been an uptick in people wanting to learn Maori. But…
Alison Jones, a Pakeha scholar in indigenous education, notices how the demand by non-Maori to have te reo echoes the colonising demand to have Maori land.
And:
Catherine Delahunty, a Pakeha activist in environmental and social justice, reminds non-Maori to “stay in our lane”, and warns that if we don’t, we effectively co-opt and attempt to control things that don’t belong to us.
Is this the cultural appropriation argument? Fair enough. But the article’s author (a senior lecturer at Massey University) then explains:
For most non-Maori, languages have been commodified and are available on demand. We liken this to having a language supermarket. Customers can buy various products “off the shelf” to allow them to learn any language they like.
These days, the supermarket is virtual and the products are digital apps. We see the dark irony in Maori having to shop for their own language in this supermarket.
In this commodified world, language is understood as a symbolic code that can be learned to express your thoughts. Learning a new language just means learning a new code. This is a distinctly colonising and capitalist view of language which cuts right across whakapapa, treating language as a disembodied entity, fixed through a vocabulary and a set of rules. […]
Non-Maori must figure out how to acquire te reo Maori without possessing it. It might help to return to our idea of two countries overlapping in time and space – New Zealand and Aotearoa. Honouring Te Tiriti then asks those of us who live in New Zealand to honour what happens in another country, Aotearoa.
NZ Herald
The author concludes that while anyone can learn te reo, only tangata whenua can truly speak te reo Maori. Maori preciousness aside, his point is true of any culture. Culture resides in its language and, while anyone can learn any language, it doesn’t make you one with that culture. Did anyone think it did? Those of us who learnt Latin never believed we ‘possessed’ Roman culture. It’s also interesting that Maori have to shop alongside Pakeha to learn their te reo, but after only they can legitimately speak it. Hmm.
How does this fit with the mainstream media’s push to enforce Maori on Kiwis? It’s no surprise that our main media channels have now lost so much of their audience that consolidating the government-owned RNZ and TVNZ is being considered. If people can’t understand the content, they go elsewhere.
On the same day, the same publication released this article on having Te Tiriti inform studies across the board at Massey University.
The Kaiarahi Tiriti [Tiriti Mentors] Project comprises 45 staff members from across both academic and professional areas of the university who have been undergoing an intensive training and induction programme since the second half of 2022.
Massey’s project is headed by deputy vice-chancellor Professor Meihana Durie (Sir Mason Durie’s son). He says:
“The leadership to be provided by our Kaiarahi comes through a collective impact model represented by a critical mass of Kaiarahi Tiriti who are well-supported and resourced to lead out and implement the learning outcomes of the project across their specific areas of work.
“The ability for all of our Kaiarahi to now tailor Te Tiriti planning and programmes of work to each area of the university will lead to transformative impacts.”
NZ Herald
Discuss it on The BFD.
