Cost of reconciliation
The new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum is implemented in schools this year, but who will bear the cost?
In the second half of the 19th century, Pūkākā Pā was levelled down by several metres to accommodate the needs of British settlers in Taranaki. The name of the hill comes from the call of kā ka.
Damon Ritai (Te Atiawa, Ngā ti Te Whiti) is one of the few educators who knows this story. He is the person Taranaki schools go to, to learn local stories. Ritai is certain about one thing: the stories have to come from the local marae, hapū and iwi.
The new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories (ANZH) curriculum represents a chance for these stories to finally be told in schools – but teachers and Mā ori say they are being asked to learn and build them with insufficient resources.
The Ministry of Education has been working alongside 43 iwi and hapū and spent around $3.85 million to create 124 pū rā kau (stories).
Developing ancient histories from their original oral form has been a strenuous job for Mā ori educators.
The missing metres on top of the hill in New Plymouth were the fortress of Ngā pō tikitauā hapū , says Ritai, a former principal who is now the Mā ori achievement collaborative iwi liaison for schools in the rohe (region).
The pā site became a military outpost during the Taranaki wars and was renamed Marsland Hill after a British officer not connected to the whenua.
‘Reconciliation is a journey, not a destination’
Jay Ruka (Te Ā tiawa, Ngā ti Mutunga) describes Pū kā kā Pā as a textbook example of what not to do in terms of reconciliation. Ruka has been working with Ngā ti Te Whiti and Ritai to learn and to teach local stories from a tribal perspective.
He has been the dean of Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary for 18 months, as well as director of Te Whare Hononga – The House that Binds, a new education centre recently unveiled next to the cathedral.
Ruka says importing new ideas without an adequate conversation with mana whenua is a recipe for disaster.
Wearing a pair of sneakers and a hoodie, he represents a generation of Mā ori coming to terms with their ancestral path.
While living in the UK more than 15 years ago he began thinking about his heritage as Mā ori, and decided to come home and embrace his Mā oritanga.
The enlightenment resulted in a change of name, from Jay Lucas to Jay Ruka. His greatgrandfather had to change his name from Enoka Ruka to Robert Lucas during World War I. Reconciliation with his past meant adopting tikanga and understanding the depth of te ao Mā ori.
‘‘Reconciliation is a journey, not a destination. You don’t necessarily arrive at a point of being reconciled, you arrive at big milestones.’’
The history curriculum is one of these big steps. Primary and secondary students will hear about the history of Aotearoa New Zealand from teachers and educators – and iwi and hapū have been at the centre of this change.
‘We are developing the content for our own people’
Coastal Taranaki School principal Scott Walden (Te Atiawa, Ngā ti Haupoto) says schools are places where civil society can meet iwi and students can learn tikanga.
Telling local histories is necessary for shaping the future of the country, he says, and mana whenua and tangata whenua must be prioritised.
Schools in the area have collaborated to create a network called Te Ara Taiao. After meeting with hapū and iwi members, participating schools agreed to tell the same
Mā ori stories.
Academics and teachers around the country back the change, but some add that whether it’s successful will depend on grassroots application.
‘‘The big idea is so courageous, but it’s the next level down that counts. The implementation on the ground,’’ Midhirst School principal Graham Sands says.
He is also the cultural lead of Te Kā ui Ako o Taranaki Mohoao. Based around Stratford, the group is one of many localised networks of teachers (kā ui ako) coordinating this change and looking for authentic stories directly from iwi.
Speaking to Stuff last June, Taranaki Mā ori educator Dr Ruakere Hond said although iwi and hapū have preserved local, oral stories for centuries, now schools will be trusted to tell these stories to the next generation of New Zealanders – and therefore connections with iwi were vital for the new curriculum to be a success.
But none of the schools spoken to received extra funding to pay iwi.
‘We are talking millions’
Iwi and hapū around the country have been working closely with schools. Some had longlasting relationships because they anticipated