Will migrants’ stories have a place?
Recently I discovered the Ministry of Education’s website contains a draft of its proposed Years 1-10 curriculum for Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories. It is intended for public consultation, and it invites feedback online.
The curriculum’s focus appears to be on Ma¯ ori history and the consequences of colonisation. This is welcome. Redressing the imbalance between Ma¯ ori and European histories in our school curriculum has been long overdue.
But what about the Dalmatians, Greeks, Italians, Muslims, Jews, Chinese? No mention even of ‘‘Asians’’, the catch-all into which a third-generation Chinese New Zealander like myself is usually bundled.
We are simply referred to as ‘‘migrants’’, in one small paragraph below one referring to ‘‘Polynesian peoples’’ – another catch-all term.
In spite of our rich histories and economic, social and creative contributions to Aotearoa, we are still being relegated to ‘‘Other’’, with all that that implies of invisibility, anonymity and dismissal.
Last month an event took place that illustrates how much the Chinese are a part of New Zealand history. More than 100 Chinese and local iwi gathered on the waterfront at Opononi to dedicate a memorial to the sinking of the SS Ventnor off Hokianga in 1902.
The ship had been carrying the remains of 499 Chinese gold miners bound for return to their home villages in China. Their bones had been exhumed and placed in coffins. Some of those ko¯ iwi drifted to shore, where local iwi found them, buried them and passed the story down through the generations. The Opononi memorial not only honoured the remains and lives lost, but also those who rescued and treated them as if they were their own.
It was an extraordinary gesture of manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga, and through the speeches and meetings accompanying the ceremony, close bonds were forged between Ma¯ ori and Chinese. It is a story unique to Aotearoa and its history. But if we are invisible, would stories like that find a place in this curriculum?
Forty years ago I spent time overseas. When I left, multiculturalism was being debated. When I returned, it had been replaced by biculturalism. Over those 40 years the ‘‘migrants’’ have stood aside patiently, accepting that ta¯ ngata whenua deserved priority.
That this curriculum proposes to finally do that is pleasing, but are we ‘‘Others’’ being asked yet again to wait, perhaps another 40 years, before being included too?
The 2018 census states that Ma¯ ori make up 16.5 per cent of the population. ‘‘Asians’’ are almost the same, at 15.1 per cent. Within the latter, the Chinese component is 36.3 per cent.
When this curriculum is introduced in 2022, the early Chinese settlers will have resided here for 180 years. Their descendants have been actively engaged in researching, documenting and publishing their history, yet it is barely visible in the story to be taught to coming generations of New Zealanders.
And what of recent settlers? How are their children to learn the historical context into which they have stepped or been born into, and which continues to influence how they are perceived and treated today? How can their ‘‘wellbeing’’ – one of the factors this curriculum states that it seeks to support – be achieved if they do not see themselves included?
This draft couches its proposals in generalisations, and no doubt my objections will be countered with the promise of more detail. There is nothing, however, to give me confidence that the detail will fully reflect the diversity we so frequently claim for this country, or that it will introduce an understanding of diversity to students at the ages when it will be most effective.
Within the story of the SS Ventnor lies a powerful insight into how different cultures can connect deeply and work together with mutual kindness and respect. It is the sort of story that all tamariki can understand.
Yet will such stories be shared with them when even 180 years of Chinese New Zealand history appear to count for nothing?
We are still being relegated to ‘‘Other’’, with all that that implies of invisibility, anonymity and dismissal.
Helene Wong is a writer and author of ‘Being Chinese: a New Zealander’s Story’ (Bridget Williams Books, 2016)
See the draft curriculum, and the online survey for feedback (by May 31) at education.govt.nz/our-work/ changes-in-education/aotearoa-newzealand-histories-in-our-nationalcurriculum/