Chance to reshape and retell a broader history
As our long-overdue discussion about racism, colonisation, and statues rumbles on, it’s worth reminding ourselves what history is, and what it isn’t. Rather than being static and indisputable, history is a messier thing, constantly being created by our changing interpretations of past events through a lens of biases, values, and viewpoints.
‘‘This factually based story,’’ says a popular textbook on history, ‘‘is always subject to challenge. In almost all cases, sooner or later, an interpretation is questioned, found inadequate, refined, or sometimes completely overthrown by a new, more convincing explanation.’’
Some of the first to call for a different explanation of history were feminist historians. They reinterpreted events from the perspective of women, bringing new light to events such as war, industrial changes, and political events.
Rather than focusing on the achievements of the powerful elite, feminist historians revealed ‘‘disappearing women’’ who had been in the shadows of history, but whose lives and experiences needed recovering from what historian Sarah Pedersen called ‘‘the condescension and obscurity in which they have been so unnaturally placed’’.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, this same obscurity has long been raised by Ma¯ ori. ‘‘In heaps of New Zealand history, Ma¯ ori are not even present,’’ says Dr Arini Loader of Victoria University. ‘‘If we are, we might be cartoon characters – caricatures – we might just be names on a page. But we don’t see ourselves in those people, because that is not how we see or talk about ourselves. It’s devastating. It’s soul-destroying. If all you see is history through another person’s eyes, then it is not your history.’’
Invisibility is one thing, but the public commemoration of the individuals who helped destroy your wha¯ nau’s lives, lands, and mana is unimaginable. This rawer version of history forms the nub of the debate around the quick exit of Captain Hamilton’s statue and the larger question of how to acknowledge the historical figures – from Captain Cook to Governor Grey – that enabled the forceful colonisation of our country.
That colonisation profoundly shapes New Zealand today. Morgan Godfery, of Waikato-Tainui descent, writes for The Guardian that ‘‘Grey’s actions bleed into the present, shaping who owns land in the Waikato and who doesn’t and determining which institutions (the Crown’s government) exercise power and which don’t (iwi and hapu).’’ The reasons why ‘‘Ma¯ ori are on the wrong side of every statistic, from incarceration to joblessness’’, he says, is because of the history that Grey and others made.
But now the mood is changing and there are different interpretations of our past that are being told by voices rising out of the ‘‘condescension and obscurity’’ that feminists first identified. As Black Lives Matter and race riots raise modern-day concerns and drown out old ones, this interpretation of history is becoming more rounded and complex, raises new ideas, and tells different parts of a larger story.
When Hamilton was quietly hauled out of Hamilton 10 days ago, he wasn’t being removed from history, as some commentators argued. The values that he represented and the ideas he championed were being replaced by ones that better reflect what most New Zealanders now hold true.
This is a necessary and normal part of reshaping and retelling our history.
Anyway, statues are quickly becoming an outdated convention. Putting a carved-out body or face on an elevated plinth with a plaque is no longer a relevant way to celebrate humanity’s achievements with the context they deserve. We can commemorate our milestones and champions in so many other ways, with narratives that tell a better, wider story.
Let’s move on. Maybe we need to rethink how we memorialise the achievements and ideals that we are most proud of as a nation.
Public artwork, for example, could replace the stone Queen Victorias. Pieces of art not featuring a specific (Pa¯ keha¯ , overwhelmingly male) person could reflect our shared values, like partnerships, fairness, innovation, and diversity. Our contributions to the world could be stylised in hard materials: our scientific and human rights achievements, competing at the top of the world’s sporting competitions despite our small size, and leading the world into women’s suffrage, gun law reform, and hey, maybe even a Covid-free nation. What would a post-Covid public art piece depicting our team of 5 million look like in Albert Park?
It’s time to get over the idea that a single version of history is as solid and strong as a statue, which Hamilton City Council has shown us can be quickly removed one morning. As we write a broader history, what will we commemorate – and how?
It’s time to get over the idea that a single version of history is as solid and strong as a statue.