Kia ora from Jess,
Today I'm sharing our new guidance on framing te Tiriti | the Treaty for Pākehā.
I'm currently down with another bout of COVID. Some of you will know that I have also had long COVID, so getting another infection has not left me best pleased I can tell you! But my team and my family have been amazing as ever, supporting me as they did during the worst, because they are set up to do so. It's a reminder that while all of us face rubbish times in life, having a society where everything is set up to look out for each other is one of the most reassuring things we can do as a collective.
Which brings me to te Tiriti | the Treaty. Our founding document is basically about just that, setting things up in this country to make sure everyone was looked out for. Te Tiriti | the Treaty is a unique founding document that can guide us to make a good future together, where we can look out for each other and the environment. I want all Pākehā (and others) to have the opportunity to see the potential. And framing it well is one way we can help make that happen.
So over the last few months Minette and I have been lucky enough to bring The Workshop’s analysis and tools to how to frame te Tiriti | the Treaty for Pākehā communities. We are mid way through the project, but last week we released our first report which includes some initial framing advice. Below I have highlighted three of the recommendations for you. You can read about them in more detail in the report.
Our next steps in this project are to take these frames and messages to formal testing with much larger groups of Pākehā. We also need to understand frames and framing strategies for non-Māori, non-Pākeha communities.
To help get the word out at this busy time of year I'll be giving a free online talk (via Zoom) about this work and our recommendations. Join us on Wednesday 11 December at 12pm. All you need to do is register using this link.
Three recommendations from our research
1. Empower Pākehā with knowledge about the original spirit of te Tiriti | the Treaty
Move people past thinking that the entire Tiriti | Treaty process was a bad-faith one - which was a strong shared mental model we identified.
One way to do this is to explain that the original spirit of te Tiriti | the Treaty was to move forward together respectfully, regardless of the version
What this sounds like:
Historians and experts, both Māori and non-Māori, tell us that all parties involved in creating and signing of the Treaty intended us to move forward together as a country by respecting and protecting each group's unique needs and differences. The spirit motivating the Treaty was the intention to live well together, with respect for each other.
Another way to do this is to explain the strength of Māori communities at the time of signing
Explain the good health and the social, economic, and cultural strength of iwi and hapū before and at the time of signing. This offers a course correction to the idea that, in signing te Tiriti | the Treaty, Māori were being tricked.
We’ve heard from lots of people that Aotearoa New Zealand is a place where people look out for each other. You could say that this started with Māori. At the time the Treaty was signed, Māori were more than 97 percent of the population. They had thriving trade, domestically and internationally, they had really successful law and health systems, and they were living longer than most Europeans. The Treaty was a way to make sure that everyone living here was cared for and welcomed — an act of generosity by Māori. They were thinking about the future and how we would develop this country together.
2. Offer people a way to talk and learn more about te Tiriti | the Treaty
Naming ways we can have a mana-enhancing public conversation can divert people from the unhelpful idea that bad-faith actions to undermine te Tiriti | the Treaty are well intentioned.
One way to do this is to always give people an alternative way to talk about the Treaty than the Principles Bill — a productive public conversation in which both Māori and non-Māori are taken care of.
What this sounds like:
We are a country where people look out for each other. Many of us want to talk about the Treaty in mana-enhancing ways so we can build understanding together. Right now, we are not being given good options to do so. Instead let’s learn, listen, and talk together in a way that looks out for Māori and non-Māori.
3. Show good things happen in our lives today when we turn to te Tiriti | the Treaty
Explaining and showing how te Tiriti | the Treaty improves all our lives today helps Pākehā see how it is relevant to them - something they struggled to understand.
One way to do this is to explain how te Tiriti | the Treaty and the Waitangi Tribunal has been used by Māori to protect and repair our shared environment.
What this sounds like:
Māori and non-Māori have more in common than not. We have many things that are special to all of us including our natural world. The Treaty guaranteed that Māori would be able to protect the places that were special to them. Over the last 50 years, Māori and other New Zealanders have turned to the Treaty — for instance, through the Waitangi Tribunal — to make sure that the government worked with Māori to protect the places that are special to all of us. We have all benefited from this. For example the Treaty has been used to protect our native animals and bush and ensure our waterways are clean.
Look out for our training options in Feb and March 2025
It can be hard to think about plans for next year when we're all working so hard to get things finished before the summer holidays. One incentive for thinking ahead might be our Early Bird rates for training in February and March 2025 which close this side of Christmas.
Visit our events calendar to see which training option might suit you best. We deliver all our training across in-person, online and live-virtual formats so there are plenty of options to choose from.
Ngā mihi
Jess