i ndi geno u s k n ow le d g e
Building Peace on Earth Pauline Tangiora Kim Langbecker
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orty-plus years of activism for environmental justice, Indigenous rights, human rights, and conflict resolution or reconciliation have taken elder Pauline Tangiora (Ngāti Rongomaiwahine) from her small community on the Māhia Peninsula of the North Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand) across the world to places as far flung as Mexico, where she has faced down militaries with Indigenous community members; Iraq, where she has comforted child victims of chemical weapons attacks; to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, where she advocated with the San from Botswana, all while supporting her own people in their fight for their ancestral land. Though there are few places she has not traveled to, Tangiora maintains she is most at home in Māhia: “When I come under the railway bridge and look across to Māhia, I think, ‘I’m home’.” Tangiora traces her call to justice to an incident she experienced as a young girl in primary school. “A quiet boy was sitting in the field having his morning tea, and these two girls came up to him and belted him. I went up to them and said, ‘You do it again to him and I will do it to you.’ We have to stand up for people who cannot stand up for themselves,” she says. Tangiora has a blended family of 14 children, 52 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. She recognized that maintaining the balance between traditional values and 8 • www. cs. org
a modern life were critical to the survival of her culture, and equally so for the protection of the environment. She resisted receiving a ta moko (tribal marking) until she was in her fifties because she understood the cultural responsibility and significance associated with it. Ta moko is a sign of cultural identity and a reflection of the general revival of language and culture; having one means you have a great responsibility to your community in service. Tribal members are part of the solution and see the value in engaging the youth in positive activities and learning opportunities. At the same time, there is a deep sense of investment in the wisdom and knowledge that the elders carry. Tangiora is one of three activists recently presented with the prestigious International Bremen Peace Award from the Schwelle Foundation in Germany. Kate Dewes, who has worked closely with Tangiora in her role as director of the Disarmament Movement and Security Centre in Christchurch, New Zealand, calls her “the leading kuia [Māori female elder] in the peace movement globally.” She is former president and current vice president of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Aotearoa; former regional women’s representative for the World Council for Indigenous Peoples; and a former Earth Charter commissioner. Currently Tangiora serves as ambassador to the Earth Council International and the 13 International Indigenous Grandmothers’ Council. She is also a member of the World Futures Council and the