History teaching backed

Pou brings wars to school yard. Guest speaker Sir Harawira Gardiner status – ‘‘a fundamental building block of any civilised society is an understanding of its history.’’ For 150 years, the New Zealand wars had ‘‘Danced in the Shadows’’ of mainstream learning’’.

If we are to teach New Zealand history, be it war history, or general history, then it is our responsibility to start at the beginning, not halfway as mentioned. Go back to when man first set foot on New Zealand soils. The real tangata whenua of New Zealand, the Kahupungapunga/ Patupaiarehe/Waitaha peoples.

What became of them, and why are these people and their history being deliberately suppressed even today. ‘‘Who are we to deny them their rights to be heard, and to be remembered’’.

Many of their descendents are still living here today.

G B Burling, Wahi