History comes to a head

at the helm of history and centering New Zealand’s story as a British nation.

Bledisloe and his audience made sense of the encounter of 1769 through mid-20th-century ideas of race and empire. Hapu¯ and iwi perspectives didn’t get a look in.

The collapse of the British Empire, however, called into question those stories which gave meaning to New Zealand British identity.

If early commemorations oozed imperial confidence, the bicentenary of Cook’s landing in 1969 was markedly more anxious.

A parade through the centre of Gisborne featured a giant representation of Cook’s head, followed by a model of the Endeavour. Fireworks and religious services were also part of the celebrations.

The 1970 Royal Visit of Queen Elizabeth II placed the Cook anniversary in a broader discussion about New Zealand’s story. Traditional performances emphasised Ma¯ ori as a ‘prehistory’ to the arrival of a triumphant European society.

National introspection, however, collided with Ma¯ ori activists who focused on Cook as a symbol of a shameful colonial past and the omission of Ma¯ ori voices from the history of New Zealand.

On the cusp of the 250th anniversary, we can see continuities in this history of commemoration. The Government has allocated close to $10 million to mark the anniversary. An invitation to Prince Charles still stands. A flotilla of waka and other ships, including an Endeavour replica, will visit four of the main Cook landing sites, starting with Gisborne.

The story that could frame the commemoration, however, is decidedly different to 1919 and 1969. Te Ha¯ /First Encounters is a collaborative project between Government and iwi.

‘Te ha¯ ’ means ‘sharing of breath’ – as in the hongi, an exchange of life.

Anne Salmond suggests the anniversary is an opportunity to heal old wounds.

Celebrations of racial and imperial progress, as Lord Bledisloe emphasised in 1932, ring hollow for us today. So does the 1969 story of European discovery. Despite the search for a putative indigenous Pa¯ keha¯ identity, championed by the late Michael King, New Zealand’s story is rudderless.

The 250th is a chance for a more truthful telling of the 1769 encounter. Setting aside the narrative of ‘discovery’ offers a richer story of cross-cultural encounters between Europeans and tangata whenua, marred by tragedy, but also exchange.

Most importantly, 1769 was the beginning of our shared history. Cook represents a European episode wedged between a Ma¯ ori past and a Pacific future. While imperial stories have faded, tangata whenua histories remain.

The 2019 commemoration is a fresh start for Pa¯ keha¯ New Zealanders to see themselves as participants in Aotearoa New Zealand’s deeper history. This means recognising that we are no longer at the steering wheel of history.

This is the first, difficult step towards a truly shared story, drawing strength from the relationships and meetings of the past as we head into the future.

Rowan Light is a history lecturer at the University of Canterbury who specialises in the history of memory and commemoration in New Zealand.