Pyramid Club never fails to put on phenomenal shows that expand your musical horizons. This time, witness a range of acts from Jaw Harp to Mongolian Throat Singing accompanied with queer hip-hop.
8PM - Pyramid Club - $20
Dropper w/ Mudgoose and Half/Angel
Power Pop quartet Dropper are releasing their debut single “Your Face Says It All”.
Dropper will be joined by ‘ear bleeding country’ act Mudgoose and post punk/noise rock influenced half/angel.
8PM - Dom Polski - $5-10
DISCOVERY Daft Punk Tribute
Discovery is Australia’s tribute to the music and image of French electro house legends, Daft Punk. Complete with authentic signature gold and silver robot helmets as well as an entertaining, party-vibe DJ set of their own produced remixes and mash ups, ‘Discovery’ ensure even the purest Daft Punk fan will be satisfied!
8PM - Meow Nui
Groove Council EP Fundraiser Show
With a late-2025 debut EP release on the horizon, Groove Council have a special reminder for their loyal groove constituents: rates are due. The councillors are gearing up to deliver an unprecedentedly groovy and uniquely extended night of nonstop live jazz-house music to raise pūtea for the recording and production of their forthcoming EP.
9:30PM - Rogue and Vagabond - $20
Aloka
A driving force in the new era of electro, Aloka blends raw, emotional intensity with razorsharp production and a deep command of the dancefloor ~ Hailing from the windswept coast of West Wales, he’s earned a global following for his genre-bending sound and boundary-pushing releases.
10PM - Meow - $30
Nā
Hilda Halkyard-Harawira (Ngā Iwi o Muriwhenua, Ngāpuhi, me Ngāti Whātua)
Tēna koutou, e tauira mā,
All you clever students and kaiako who attend the universities need to be proactive in your planning as the future decision makers of Aotearoa. Don’t think you can just plan your life. It is tough in Aotearoa for the majority of people especially with all the drastic cuts to core services. So how can you, the intelligentsia, shape the direction of Aotearoa and find equitable outcomes so people can go about their daily lives without getting tense over Te Tiriti?
Can you discuss amongst your friends how you would develop a framework for a circular economy that embraces He Whakaputanga and te Tiriti o Waitangi that can meet the needs of all people? How will Aotearoa economies need to adjust to the world upheavals and survive the tariff wars being imposed ?
The defeat of the Treaty Principles Amendment Act (112 votes to 11 this month), has wasted a lot of people’s time, energy and resources that could have been spent on more deserving projects. The divisive damage of this bill will be reflected in the next general election which may come earlier than 2026.
I recommend bringing forward by 10 years the inclusion of He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the constitution of Aotearoa by 2030. Why are Māori expected to wait 200 years until 2040 for the rest of the country to embrace te Tiriti? Even today 185 years is far too long.
To answer the question of what a Tiriti honouring Aotearoa looks like,
A Tiriti-honouring Aotearoa is one where it is clearly understood that Ngāpuhi , Muriwhenua and other Iwi never ceded sovereignty. To keep it simple, the northern tribes and others only signed the Māori Tiriti.
He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi are embedded in the constitution of Aotearoa to recognise the unique foundational agreements of this “wenua rangatira” sovereign nation and the Crown.
He Wakaputanga is recognised as a Declaration of Independence by a sovereign nation to the world.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi legitimises the role of kawanatanga in Aotearoa to make and execute laws, and administer public services for all citizens. It also guarantees Māori the rights of tino rangatiratanga or autonomy to make decisions for themselves and set tikanga over their whenua, resources, reo, hui, income, generation schemes, and institutions.
The dual domains of kawanatanga and tino rangatiratanga need to intersect with each other to ensure:
Either a dual or shared governance structure, where Māori and Crown representatives govern together or;
For the meantime Kawanatanga divests responsibilities for Māori to manage/govern their interests and operational resourcing is allocated equitably.
The widespread teaching of both texts of te Tiriti and the Treaty as well as the history of colonisation.
Māori own 5% of the land. The Crown and public can’t have any more .
Measures of success in Tai Tokerau
Māori are 53% of the Far North population and in some remote areas we are 100%. He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti of Waitangi are a normal part of our day to day lives, we’re just waiting for a political shift of thinking and action.
Constitutional transformation
The country would shift from a colonial constitutional system to one that embeds te Tiriti and tikanga Māori at its heart (as proposed in Matike Mai). This could include a dual or shared governance structure, where Māori and Crown representatives govern together.
Ko Taranaki te Maunga
Ko Patea te Awa
Ko Aotea te Waka
Ko Pariroa te Marae
He uri au nō Taranaki – Ngā Rauru,
Ngāti Ruanui me Ngāruahine.
Ko Ngāti Tupito, Hamua, Hapotiki
ōku Hapū
E noho ana au ki Taranaki
Ko Debbie Ngarewa-Packer ahau.
What does true co-governance look like?
Co-governance is about common ground and a shared way of achieving something that both (or all involved) desire to be achieved. True CoGovernance requires a commitment to collectively doing what it takes for the best outcome – in any space. We can look to some of the best examples of true, achievable and successful co-governance that happen within our own communities – there are examples everywhere. I think of the recent Taranaki Maunga settlement where our 8 Taranaki Iwi worked with the Crown and Department of Conservation to formulate a plan and best case scenario for kaitiakitanga of our Maunga. There was a shared goal and a commitment to achieving it, working together.
How
might te Tiriti help shape constitutional reform?
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our founding document here in Aotearoa and our rights as Māori and Tangata Whenua are asserted through Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Therefore, our belief is that constitutional reform guided and informed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the only way to successfully serve not only our people, but all of Aotearoa.
What does a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa look like, how do we get there?
A Tiriti-centric Aotearoa is an Aotearoa thriving as intended by our tūpuna. It looks like no debate on what works for Māori, because there’s an understanding that Māori know what works for Māori. It looks like active and encouraged participation and leadership from our Rangatahi. It looks like a tikanga-based Aotearoa, instead of a New Zealand driven by capitalism. It is an Aotearoa where everyone is housed and fed, where generational trauma is turned to generational wealth and there is continuous work being done to undo the effects of colonisation that are felt in every sector until we no longer make up the poorest of all statistics.
To get there we have to be led by the aspirations of our tūpuna. Firstly, honouring Te Tiriti. Secondly ensuring all spaces are guided by Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the principles of Partnership, protection and participation, starting with the Kawana space.
On a more practical, tangible level (and putting my political pōtae on) – We get on the Māori Roll! We have seen recently that for the first time we have more Māori on the Māori roll than the general role. With this increase, we edge very closely to having an 8th Māori seat in Parliament. Every time we participate, stay active and bring more Māori voices into these spaces, we get closer to a system based on Te Tiriti.
What is everyone’s role in this kaupapa, from tangata whenua to tangata tiriti, tangata moana to tauiwi?
Everyone in Aotearoa plays an important role in achieving a TiritiCentric Aotearoa, and importantly everyone living in Aotearoa has a responsibility to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Whether as partners to Te Tiriti or living in Aotearoa guided by our founding document. Te Tiriti protects and serves for all. If we look to the recent Hīkoi mo Te Tiriti and the submissions against the Treaty Principles Bill, the might of working together under Te Tiriti was apparent and served as a reminder of what the whole of New Zealand could look like if it were honoured.
As
Te Pāti Māori, what does an Aotearoa Hou look like and how do we get there?
Nā Debbie NgarewaPacker (she/her)
I touched on much of what I believe could make up the vision of an Aotearoa Hou when addressing a Tiriti-centric Aotearoa, but broken down at its most basic form, an Aotearoa Hou to me looks like everyone thriving and no one being left behind. This I believe can be achieved when we follow a tikanga Māori or a Māori values approach. Obviously we want to create an Aotearoa that works for Māori, where historically systems have not been designed for or have failed us… but when we look to other minority groups such as takatāpui, our migrant communities, Tangata Moana and all people here in Aotearoa, a Māori values or tikanga based approach should work for everyone. Concepts like Manaakitanga or Kaitiakitanga are relevant to how ALL people are looked after here in Aotearoa. We get there by continuing to work on what we can change in spaces such as the Kawana space to make it better work for everyone, but always with our Pae Tawhiti or our aspirations for our Aotearoa Hou guiding how we move so that each generation gets closer to our Aotearoa Hou vision.
Being
Pākehā Voices on Belonging, Responsibility, and Aotearoa
By Te Urukeiha Tuhua (He/Ia) Tūhoe
I’ve heard a lot of kōrero about what it means to be Tangata Tiriti- a non-Māori person living in Aotearoa under the promise of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This is an identity rooted in both privilege and responsibility, and involves coming to terms with a past that is violent and colonial. I am passing the microphone on to various Tangata Tiriti students to answer my pātai and lead some of these conversations.
What Does It Mean to Be Tangata Tiriti?
Being Tangata Tiriti is about honouring the agreement that allowed Pākehā to be here in the first place, but it also comes with responsibility to stand in solidarity with Tangata Whenua to uphold Te Tiriti. For many, it is important to recognize that their ancestors were colonisers and to recognise the injustice that occurred, and to actively work alongside Māori for a better future.
‘It’s permission for me to be here. It’s permission for other Pākehā to be here. It’s an agreement between two cultures which is really special and unlike any other country in the world. With this current government that is trying to erase the more nuanced parts of this history, I have a responsibility to speak up and say, ‘No, this is not okay’.’ - Millie (she/they)
‘Te Tiriti is what allowed my ancestors to come here and is what allows me to be here. [It is] the legitimacy on which that’s founded. The Crown hasn’t upheld their end of Te Tiriti, but as a person who is here by way of treaty, I have to take that responsibility onto myself. In my life, in my political action and my way of existing, I have to carry that forward.’ - Dani (she/they)
‘I am Pākehā. I come from a history of colonisers and it’s about acknowledging that. It’s my responsibility to be aware, to educate myself and acknowledge what’s happening.’ - Isaac (he/him)
‘We live in colonised Aotearoa. We, as Pākehā, are the dominant majority group, but we weren’t here first. It was written in [Te Tiriti] that Māori were supposed to have sovereignty, and the people from our heritage and culture took that away from them. It’s about standing up for people.’ - Joey (he/him)
‘It’s important to know about the history, and that includes the ugly colonial history of it. It’s important to recognise that a lot of hurt and generational trauma has come from colonisation. It’s not about putting the fault on Pākehā today, but more about asking what we can do as Pākehā, as Tangata Tiriti, to help our fellow Māori siblings to move forward as a society where we can all be equal.’ - Rique (he/him)
Where Is Home?
Questions about home and where we come from are never simple, especially for people whose ancestors arrived in a place through colonisation. There is deep conflict for many Pākehā in how they define Aotearoa as being their home when it is a colonised place.
‘I was born in Australia but I’ve lived here all my life. My roots and history are here. This is the country that has provided for me throughout my life.’ - Millie (she/they)
‘I see a distinction between home and homeland. This is my home, but it’s not where I’m from. My people are not from this part of the world at all.’ Ruby (they/them)
‘In a way, I feel like an unlanded person. All of my history from when my ancestors lived in Ireland and England is lost in the mist for me. I never heard stories about it growing up, or if I did it was sort of vague whispers. This is the only home I’ve ever had, and so there’s a level of connection here, but you can’t feel connection if you don’t understand where that connection comes from, and for me it comes from Te Tiriti.
There’s grief there. My ancestors were shipped away from their homes through economic hardship and had that connection to land stolen from them, so there’s this real temptation to take up some new land and be like, ‘This is now my connection. I’m filling this hole with someone else’s land.’ There is grief there, but it’s okay to feel that grief and not make it someone else’s problem, and not need to patch that hole with stolen land. There’s a way to exist there and it’s complicated and it’s nuanced and it takes internal analysis. It’s learning who you are as a person and learning more about where your family came from.
Home is a word with so much weight to it. Home is where I connect to personally. It’s where I feel comfort, where I feel safe, where I know the landscape, where I know the people. It feels so right that this (Aotearoa) is my home that it’s hard to think of it as anything else.
But you have to be able to hold it with a sort of looseness. You have to be able to feel this attachment and feel this connection without feeling like you own it, without feeling like it’s yours exclusively or without fearing that it’s being taken away from you. If you feel like it’s your home, then it’s your home, but that doesn’t mean you have ownership over it. Home is a place that has manaakitanga over you. It has ownership over you because you’re part of it.’ - Dani (she/they)
Why Does the Term ‘Pākehā’ Offend Some People?
I’ve always found it interesting how people can react so defensively to the term ‘Pākehā’, treating it as a slur when it is not.
‘I wonder if it makes them uncomfortable because it’s a reminder that they’re not from here originally, and it disrupts their relationship of being a kiwi, and being from New Zealand, and it makes them feel othered when really it’s such a non-issue. It’s just not what it’s about.’ - Millie (she/they)
‘It is disingenuous, sometimes when people from a position of privilege come face to face with discussions of equality and equity, another minority group being lifted up feels like oppression when it’s actually not. Being called Pākehā isn’t an offensive thing, it’s just a distinguishing term.’ - Rique (he/him)
‘‘Pākehā’ is a word that sounds like an attack to a certain group of people because they’re used to hierarchies. They’re used to one thing being higher than another inherently, so ‘Pākehā = bad, Māori = good’ is how they’re hearing it. They jump straight to the defensive because deep down they have this guilt. That’s why people can react so strongly. They feel threatened by it. You can understand why: People who have a legacy of stealing and killing and taking and dominating are always going to be afraid that that’s going to happen to them. That’s how they think of the world. That’s their whakapapa, and so they carry that forward with them.’ - Dani (she/they)
‘They don’t know what it means. Some people don’t like it when they don’t understand a language and they don’t understand a label that’s being put on them. If you take the time to learn, it doesn’t mean ‘white pig’.’ - Ruby (they/them)
Nā Aria Ngarimu (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, Rongomaiwāhine, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui)
Emma Barnes-Wetere (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui)
The path forward for te Tiriti is not as uncertain as many believe - the foundational thinking already exists. While the treaty's future encompasses vast conversations, Te Ranga Huatau is a vibrant example of how Māori law students continue this essential dialogue, weaving contemporary perspectives into the evolving landscape of indigenous legal thought.
The Legacy of Te Ranga Huatau
This year I have the pleasure of being the coordinator for the third volume of Te Ranga Huatau, the annual magazine published by Ngā Rangahautira (the Māori Law Students Association at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington). This publication is proudly featured in the prestigious Māori Law Review, extending our reach and impact within the legal community. This magazine is a by-Māori, for-Māori platform, enabling Māori law students and alumni to discuss legal, political and social issues of importance to us. Te Matahiapo Safari Hynes gifted us our publication's name, explaining that Te Ranga Huatau is about weaving our ideas of our ideal world: commenting and critiquing our current world while developing our own opinions of what we want our future world to be.
Established in 1986 by Dr. Moana Jackson, Ngā Rangahautira upholds Pā Moana’s whakaaro that our kaupapa must not only be by and for Māori but fundamentally of Māori - emerging from Māori origins and maintaining Māori voices throughout conception, development, and implementation. Therefore, Te Ranga Huatau exists primarily to amplify our Māori law students' voices.
Our whāinga, our goal, is for Te Ranga Hautau to be our kete mātauranga, a place for creating, weaving and storing the kōrero and whakaaro of this generation for the future. These magazines hold the whakapapa of Ngā Rangahautira, and we hope to continue that whakapapa, the creation of layers of history, for a long time to come.
The theme for last year’s volume was ‘Hīkina te Mānuka’; to pick up the wero left by our predecessors and to lay the groundwork for those who will follow us. Last year's magazine featured thought-provoking contributions including Amiria Tikao's Te Kori a te Kō: marae-led responses to climate change, Kaea Hudson's The struggles of submission writing under the coalition government, and Tessa Keenan's exploration of why Te ao Māori is a Queer Utopia.
Debunking Fears about Kaupapa Māori Approaches to Governance
If you’ve encountered critical theory in your studies, you may already be familiar with Kaupapa Māori theory. It emerged from the global series of sociopolitical movements that sought to address systemic racism against Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) and offers a framework where Māori knowledge, identity and leadership are placed at the centre. In recent years, research grounded in Kaupapa Māori theory has significantly increased to the point where it holds influence over Aotearoa New Zealand’s legislation, policy and regulation.
We’ve all heard the apartheid comments...
‘By Māori, with Māori, for Māori’? What about me? Is this apartheid?
Let’s be clear. Apartheid is a system of state-sanctioned racial segregation designed to strip rights away from people based on their ethnic background. Kaupapa Māori theory does not deprive non-Māori of their rights; it seeks to ensure Māori retain theirs.
Māori experience disproportionate overrepresentation in nearly every negative socioeconomic indicator. We all know this. The purpose of a by-Māori, with-Māori, for-Māori approach is to empower Māori-led solutions to the issues facing Māori communities, precisely because externally imposed solutions have so often failed. We only need to look at the data to see the impacts of this systemic racism.
If that sounds confronting, let’s pause and take a step back.
By Emma Barnes-Wetere (Ngāti Maniapoto, Tainui)
‘Māori’ can mean ‘normal’ or ‘ordinary’. Before colonisation, Māori didn’t really identify as ‘Māori’; their identity came from tūpuna (ancestors), whakapapa (genealogy), iwi and hapū affiliations, and tohu (features of the land such as maunga, awa, moana etc). The word ‘Māori’ was used to distinguish people from the supernatural or the unfamiliar. After the arrival of Pākehā, the word took on
The theme for this year’s volume is ‘He toka tū moana’; a rock standing firm in the sea. This whakataukī refers to one who remains steadfast in their culture, beliefs, and convictions despite external pressures. Like a rock withstanding the relentless ocean, they stand strong against all elements.
It is an exciting time to be a Māori law student at Te Herenga Waka, especially following the reawakening of Te Tumu Herenga Waka marae and the opening of Ngā Mokopuna this year. Yet it is also a challenging time. The Regulations Review Committee recently determined that law schools are not required to teach tikanga Māori in their mandatorycurriculum, following a complaint against the New Zealand Council of Legal Education's decision to incorporate tikanga in compulsory law papers. This ruling disregards tikanga Māori as the first law of Aotearoa, which continues to shape and regulate the lives of Māori. If Parliament upholds this decision, tikanga Māori will not be required in compulsory law papers.
In light of these challenges, I believe there is a misconception that as Māori law students we will produce writing that merely reacts to the current government's overtly racist policies. However, the growing presence and influence of Māori perspectives in law is not a response to outside pressure, but rather the natural expression of a living, breathing culture reasserting itself in its rightful place. While governments are transient, as Māori our whānau, hapū, and iwi are forever. Our cultural advocacy stems not from government pressures, but from the inherent obligations we have to our people. As Pā Moana wisely said: "We are not alone in our struggles. We stand in the light of our ancestors."
Ngā Rangahautira alumni Hēmi Daly recounted how Pā Moana once delivered a beautiful kōrero on the recognition of Māori legal systems and te Tiriti. When asked "what do we do?" about these ongoing struggles, he simply responded, "that is for you to work out." In Pā Moana’s inspiring words, “We dare to dream something different. Because the future in the end will be whatever we imagined it to be.” Law students spend years learning about legal problems rather than solutions, which can be frustrating. However, through this educational journey, students gradually develop their own perspectives and solutions. The pieces in Te Ranga Huatau represent Ngā Rangahautira's answer to Pā Moana's wero.
To tauira ture Māori, I strongly encourage you to contribute your writing to Te Ranga Huatau this year. Your thoughts, experiences and ideas are particularly important, offering invaluable wisdom that can help to reshape our legal landscape. To tangata tiriti, I hope you enjoy reading them.
a different function as the government sought to assimilate and disestablish the sociopolitical governance structures of the time. While many lost their connections to their identity associated with tūpuna, iwi, hapū, and tohu, carrying whakapapa Māori and therefore being Māori, offers solidarity, unity and belonging in a system that has long marginalised and sought to erase these identities.
Kaupapa Māori theory works in a similar way. It’s not about exclusion; it’s about restoring space for Māori thinking, values and leadership in places where they were systematically pushed out. It’s about Māori leading solutions to Māori issues around systems where those voices have been ignored or marginalised. Think about the public health system – Māori are extremely overrepresented in negative health outcomes. Te Aka Whaiora, the Māori Health Authority offered an opportunity to deliver culturally appropriate health services to Māori people. Yet it was disestablished, a casualty of the growing anti-Kaupapa Māori theory rhetoric. Imagine the lives that would be saved and dignities restored if Māori were receiving effective healthcare – not to mention taxpayer dollars. When Māori lead solutions for Māori, the benefits flow to everyone.
So, is this apartheid? No. Apartheid entrenched oppression. Kaupapa Māori theory seeks to undo it.
When Māori thrive, we all thrive. A by-Māori, with-Māori, for-Māori approach isn’t about taking something away from others, it’s about restoring what was taken from Māori. Once we learn to see it that way, these conversations will lift out of fear and become a collaborative discussion about what we can achieve together.
Most Māori can say they have fought to speak Te Reo Māori, learn, and embrace Te Ao Māori – or simply the right to be Māori. I certainly have, and not even for myself. In my first year of uni, my teina should have been starting NCEA Te Reo Māori. Instead, she was told that it clashed with her maths class and so she couldn’t take it, and of course, couldn’t be moved to another class because one more student would be ridiculous. But depriving my sister of the opportunity to learn her own language? Acceptable.Through a lot of conversation and slight arguments she did still take the class, although ultimately whenever I think back it still pisses me off.
This is what I pull from when I think about the future of Aotearoa and the place of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in it. It's important to me that we involve whānau and friends in these kōrero as they have all had their own fights in these spaces. So, I decided to platform the voices of my whānau, to give space to people who have not had the opportunities to be as loud as me, and have a wide range of experiences and backgrounds that differ from mine.
On a personal note, being Māori and being able to speak about issues affecting us should not be inherently political. YES, I'm aware “everything is political,” but our identities as Māori are not - that's just who we are. To politicise everything, including lived experience and identity, stops people's ability to speak. This is either because they don't feel educated enough, they aren’t comfortable in politicised spaces, they worry about what they may risk, or simply because it may feel like you have to choose a side to be allowed to speak.
Also, YES all issues are relevant. Workers rights, social rights, the environment, etc – Te Tiriti feeds into them all and so ALL of these issues should be a part of this kōrero if we want to move forward as a whole. However, we should approach them as human issues, not political issues. Politics is simply a mechanism we use to address these issues.
Our future is uncertain. You never know what may happen, but what I do know is we can only continue to fight and to grow when we are a unit. I’m not a big family person, we don’t always agree on things and I live far from them all, but even so I know they should never be left behind, silenced or shushed. I also know that we are all united in ensuring future generations of our whānau are better off.
Kia ora! You can call me Huy/Hui, I hail from the mighty Taranaki and Waikato, but my roots also trace back to Vietnam and Tibet. You’ve probably seen my arts in Salient over the past couple years, guess I like drawing sometimes, lol. Toi Māori is definitely my favorite. Since I was little, learning about and embracing Māori arts has helped me reconnect with my whakapapa. It’s a meaningful journey for me, and I love expressing my culture through my art. Chur for the opportunity to share!
Leo
Ehara te kūmara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka. You’ve been arrogant for too long. In order to find the external love that you want, you must spend some time alone - look within.
Libra
Kia manawa kuaka. You are doing so well! Your past disappointments are blinding you from the good in your life right now. By balancing your emotions and persevering just like the manu Kuaka, you will reap the benefits.
Gemini
Ka eke i te wīwī, ka eke i te wāwā! Are you from Ngāpuhi? Because you are absolutely slaughtering your enemies. Stick to what you’re doing and you will emerge victorious.
Cancer
Hoki atu ki tō maunga kia purea e ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea. You’ve been carrying the burden of the injustice you’ve faced for too long. You love comfort, but in order to relieve yourself of that baggage you must find a new start.
Capricorn
You’ve been on your own waka for too long, and you’re getting tired of paddling by yourself. Reach out to the whenua surrounding you, as well as its people, to seek the fulfilment you need.
Taurus
Tired of locking horns with bad treaty partners? Start singing Whakaaria Mai and get ready to bury your racist friends.
Scorpio
Playing diplomat and fence sitting will only cause pain and loss in the long run. Take some initiative for your ignorance! Inertia and remaining stagnant is wasteful.
Virgo
You are seeking utu and you will find triumph. Be careful who you trust. No matter what, your tūpuna are always beside you.
Aquarius
Your current goal is near completion. Conflict is necessary in order to climb your next maunga. However, don’t be scared of this conflict - approach it with curiosity.
Sagittarius
Someone has been colonising your space and stomping on your mana. You, however, have the vantage point now. Through consistency and dedication to yourself, you will heal and gain fulfilment.
Aries
Moea te tangata ringa raupā. Seek a (treaty) partner who will work hard to provide for you and keep their promises. Alternatively, marry a white person and get your #LANDBACK.
Pisces
Lighten up, grumpy old koro! Your anxiety and full plate has made you into a tangiweto hōhā. Reach within, spend time with your inner tamaiti(child). Allow yourself to be sensitive, idealistic, and curious.
Beyond the Colonial Blindfold
“Capitalism attacks and destroys all the finer sentiments of the human heart; it ruthlessly sweeps away old traditions and ideas opposed to its progress, and it exploits and corrupts those things once held sacred.” - Daniel DeLeon
Will Irvine (he/him)
If you’ve read any book of anti-colonial theory in the past five years, chances are it was Imagining Decolonisation. The small collection of essays, penned by a collective of prominent Māori authors (including the late Moana Jackson and Salient contributor Mike Ross) and scholars, has had an outsized impact on the increasing discourse around decolonisation.
Imagining Decolonisation has succeeded precisely because it identifies the problem that most critics of capitalism and colonialism find themselves trapped in. It is very easy to identify what is wrong with our current system of living, but it is substantially more difficult to imagine a way out. In the words of Frederic Jameson, “it is easier to imagine the end of the word than it is to remember the end of capitalism”. It is within this crisis that the Western left finds itself drawn into endless circles, relentlessly re-litigating ancient conflicts dating back to the now-extinct communist movement of the 20th century. Within this seemingly endless paradigm, a sense of hopelessness sets in — something that theorist Mark Fisher called “capitalist realism”.
Aotearoa New Zealand is uniquely positioned to escape this crisis. This is precisely because of our founding document. The world that Te Tiriti presumes is a world where an indigenous nation is given unimpeded sovereignty to govern free from the forces of capital and imperialism. In essence, Aotearoa is a nation whose foundational text is hostile to capitalism.
Because of this, reading and discussing Te Tiriti is a generative exercise in creating new worlds. With unique energy and dynamism, Te Tiriti breaks free from the imaginative constraints of capitalism. Because the world that Te Tiriti asks us to imagine is so different from the world we exist in, a certain level of escape takes place. The mind, whether tangata whenua or tangata Tiriti, is forced to think outside the constraints of imperialism.
Tino rangatiratanga is one such concept. Western philosophy has attempted to envision tino rangatiratanga as a degraded notion of “self-sovereignty” or “selfgovernance”. This reductionist view ignores collectivity and social responsibility, and thus gets tino rangatiratanga completely wrong. It is particularly telling that, when interpreted through the lens of Western philosophy, tino rangatiratanga is essentially treated as far-right libertarianism! This, of course, is just the problem with trying to read Māori concepts through a Western lens — you inevitably reproduce your own prejudices.
When understood as Māori’s collective right to govern their own communities, tino rangatiratanga is a roadblock to capitalism’s eternal conquest. Capital attains dominance in communities by isolating the individual, promising prosperity with one hand whilst stripping away everything that makes prosperity worthwhile with the other. This is not exclusive to colonisation — Karl Marx famously declared that, within the destructive engine of capital, “all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned.” However, it is undoubtedly at its apex when weaponised by capital to destroy indigenous forms of living. Across the globe this is true, but it is particularly true in Aotearoa. The Crown found themselves unable or unwilling to destroy Māoritanga by force, so they instead applied the levers of capitalism and institutional subjugation.
So, how can Te Tiriti o Waitangi be used as a weapon against the world-ending engine of capital? To a certain extent, we must begin by rejecting the capitalist formation of “decolonisation” — that is, of economic gain without economic justice, of political representation without political power, and of cultural tokenism without cultural rebirth. More than that, though, Te Tiriti needs to be utilized as a device for expanding minds, particularly those of tangata Tiriti. For us to be able to build a collaborative future alongside Māori, we must be able to envision futures in the same way that Māori do, and this involves breaking our own chains. Just as a caged dog can never bite its owner, a caged mind can never fight oppression.
Life at a
POSTHĪKOI VUW
On the 19th of November 2024, a record number of people journeyed to the streets of Wellington for the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti. Young and old, students and teachers, from near and far, the group at Waitangi Park swelled even larger than the Homegrown crowd. It felt like I ran into everyone I had ever met in Wellington, but the longer the day drew on, the more Insta stories I saw from people I had yet to run into. It was both inspiring and empowering to be taking to the streets alongside people who wanted the same thing I didkotahitanga in action. The worthy cause? Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Wellington especially had become a ticking time bomb of Treaty issues, and the pot was ready to burst. Everyone had an opinion, and on the hīkoi those opinions were clearly manifest - uphold the Treaty. I wondered just where everyone had come from and marveled that we could all be so connected on this important issue. And yet I can’t help but wonder: how much did the Hīkoi really change the minds of everyday people? How will this hīkoi affect my life?
This is by no means an objective or unbiased account. The majority of my friends here at VUW are political people - as Vic students, as law students, as Māori. I like to think that the Treaty impacted all of our lives long before we were marching down the streets. But now that the hubbub has died down, I’m not so sure. Last year, with submission after submission building strength, the Treaty tensions were palpable. Daily conversations did not get far without comment on the most recent Treaty issue. When the hīkoi came we were ready. Now that it is over, the Treaty seems to be less of a public issue - even though it is still being attacked. At first this was disappointing. It felt like we had all made a collective statement then gotten back on our high horses and deserted the cause. But truthfully, we may have just needed the summer offfighting the good fight 24/7 is never sustainable.
But now that our summer break is over, what is the way forward for our humble Treaty? To me, the comedown of the hīkoi high looks like de-centering the government’s anti-Treaty agenda and focusing on how the Treaty affects my life. I wonder if this is what it felt like in the aftermath of the foreshore and seabed hīkoi (my youth and inexperience in nation-wide protests is showing). Now that we can take a break from the barrage, we can focus our time and effort on where Treaty issues impact us the most. While there is strength in numbers, we cannot all be across every cause. Taking time to reflect, regroup and reprioritise will help us in the long run. There is definitely a different vibe at VUW post-hīkoi. I think we feel just a little more connected, even though we have returned to our regularly scheduled activities. It is my hope that the hīkoi gave everyone an insight into the power we have when mobilised together. Strong foundations have been forged for better connections in the future. Now is the time to build and maintain relationships, especially between intersecting equity groups. In the meantime, I will keep my Tino flag handy, and I’ll remember to bring cough drops next time so I don't lose my voice.
Hīkoi! Hīkoi! Hīkoi! Hīkoi! Hīkoi mo te Tiriti! Hīkoi mō te Tiriti!
Our Tī Kōuka
POETRY
I am tī kōuka. We are.
I can’t decide which. Perhaps it’s both at the same time.
Each of us connected forward and backward to this same tree.
The same marker on paths that were well tread by our tīpuna and are now bursting with life not our own.
Colonisation cut down the tī kōuka. Cut us at our knees. Started digging to eradicate the potential for new growth then abandoned the project as so often happens.
When we uphold hapū rights, we honour He Whakaputanga me te Tiriti o Waitangi because hapū rights are sovereign rights.
Kīhai Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi i tuku tōna rangatiratanga ki te Karauna. E kore rawa Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi e tuku tō tātou tino rangatiratanga ki te Karauna.
‘The hapū of Ngāpuhi have never ceded sovereignty to the Crown and Ngāpuhi hapū will never cede sovereignty’: our Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi Unity of Purpose. A statement agreed through hui-ā-hapū and consensus.
The Ngā Hapū o Ngāpuhi Unity of Purpose affirms our longstanding position that at the time of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, our tūpuna DID NOT cede their sovereignty to the Crown.
He Whakaputanga signed in 1835 was a resounding declaration of the mana rangatiratanga of those who signed on behalf of their hapū. Te Tiriti o Waitangi, signed five years later, established Kāwanatanga.
The Crown instead assumed sovereignty which was used to place hapū under extreme duress for over 184 years, with breaches of the tino rangatiratanga guaranteed to te iwi Māori. Kāwanatanga was delegated to the Crown, through te Tiriti o Waitangi. The acts of Kāwanatanga have caused significant harm to te iwi Māori. We live with the intergenerational impact.
Me maumahara mai tātou, i mua i te taenga mai o te Pākehā, kei ia hapū o rātou ake rangatiratanga ki te whakahaere o rātou whenua, rawa me te iwi. We had our own systems of governance, laws, and way of life. This sovereignty was not a political concept, but a way of life deeply rooted in our tikanga and values. To be clear, te Tiriti o Waitangi is a relationship agreement which sets out power and where decision-making sits.
Throughout the generations, governments have continued to deny te tino rangatiratanga o te iwi Māori. This denial continues today.
I am confident that, when our tūpuna signed te Tiriti o Waitangi, they did it with the best of intentions. Never would they have expected to see their descendants languageless, homeless, or destitute on their own lands. That’s the shame of Kāwanatanga having denied te tino rangatiratanga o te iwi Māori over generations, and whose acts and omissions have left our people virtually landless.
I acknowledge the influence and leadership of Moana Jackson and his cohorts who travelled the country and met with hapū, iwi, community, young and old to visualise what a new form of governing might look like for a better Aotearoa which recognises te tino rangatiratanga o te iwi Māori and provides space for a unique form of Kāwanatanga where te Tiriti o Waitangi is upheld and cherished. This is Matike Mai.1
This work was also complemented by the Constitutional Conversation commissioned by Hon Bill English and Hon Dr Pita Sharples at the time.2
What both processes showed was a willingness of New Zealanders as tangata whenua and tangata tiriti to wānanga, noho tahi and mahi ngātahi on what Aotearoa constitutionally could look like. I attribute this to leadership, to genuine authentic, people minded leadership. Not divisive, not tūkino, but genuine inquiry and inviting hui participants to come with open minds into the wānanga.
These documents provide a roadmap to inform our next steps and open a pathway for further analysis and dialogue. Our governing arrangements in Aotearoa should look and feel uniquely Aotearoa, not some counterfeit imported Westminster system which bears no resemblance to our country, our people; nor honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its tuakana He Whakaputanga.
I call for more wānanga, for deep wānanga with open hearts and minds. Where we mahi ngātahi for the Aotearoa our mokopuna deserve.
3 - What company did the Crown purchase 50% of for Māori in 1992?
4 - New number of members in the Waitangi Tribunal in 1983
9 - Wai 004 and Wai 006 concerned discharge of waste into _
10 - Month the Waitangi Tribunal was established in 1975
12 - Wai 262 is the Flora and _ Claim
14 - Protest which led to the Waitangi Tribunal’s creation
Down
1 - How many votes for the Treaty Principles Bill in parliament?
2 - Wai 262 Legal Architect
5 - Asians _ Tino Rangatiratanga
6 - Who needs her veges rationed?
7 - Category for a broad, generic, Tribunal Inquiry
8 - First name of the current Chief Judge
11 - The entire value of Treaty settlements between 1993-2018 would only cover superannuation for how many months?
13 - Tribunal has been described as supplying _ “to the gravytrainers for an ongoing, if not neverending, list of woe”
Wordsearch
November
Seymour Idiot Haka
Kupapa Az Kill The Bill Principles Nine Days Horseback
Tamariki
Harbour Bridge
Tangata Tiriti
Eru Kapa Kingi Te Kao Rangatiratanga
Quiz Acronym
Fill in the names of prominent Treaty Settlement negotiators to find the name of a panMāori governance body.
_ipene O’Regan
Al_x Nathan
R_bert Mahuta
Ella _enry
Michael C_llen
Chris Mc_enzie
J_mie Tuuta
Tracey H_roa
_ira Szásy
Trevor Him_na
Ma_nu Paul
Moe_garoa Murray
M_vis Mullins
1. Who said Te Tiriti o Waitangi was ‘worthless’ because it had been signed ‘between a civilised nation and a group of savages’, deeming it a ‘simple nullity’?
2. How many times was the flagpole at Kororāreka chopped down?
3. Stan Walker is actually, for real, the cousin of people from which iwi?
4. How many people signed the English text of Te Tiriti?
5. Te Kaahu is the reo Māori music identity of which artist?
1. Sir James Prendergast, Chief
Tūhoe, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Porou
Thirty nine, 500+ signed the reo Māori text 5. Theia
Acronym: Te Ohu Kaimoana
Hīkoi mō te Tiriti
SOC 101 Toitū te Tiriti
Aotearoa has been significantly shaped by colonisation: a capitalist activity commenced by nineteenth century Britain and continuing to the present day. Simply, the British colonised Aotearoa for resource extraction, as an outlet for population growth, as an incentive for military service, and for market expansion. All this despite legal Māori independence (He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni) and despite the formal agreement between Māori and the British government called Te Tiriti o Waitangi which declared that each would govern their own and that Māori would retain tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty).
Capitalists only uphold formal systems, declarations, and laws under one of two conditions:
1. When it suits them; and
2. When we make them.
Tangata Māori have been rightly unrelenting over generations upon generations in making the capitalist colonial exploiters respect tino rangatiratanga, return whenua and taonga, and materially move towards the partnership envisaged by ancestors who signed Te Tiriti.
One of the most effective tactics of the capitalist class is setting the oppressed (the majority; the 99%) against one another. United, we vastly outnumber the capitalists and there is little to prevent us from re-appropriating and justly redistributing the resources they currently hoard. But when set against one another through artificial divisions such as race, gender, or language, we are misled into fighting one another for crumbs while the capitalist class continues to exploit all.
Socialists’ imperative of class unity against capitalists does not, however, mean that we should erase those aspects of ourselves which makes us who we are as people, nor that we should be blind to the ways in which oppressions can vary in expression and in the degree to which they intersect. Working class tauiwi (non-Māori) suffer oppression and exploitation under capitalism, and a sense of bitterness against that oppression is justified. But working class Māori are doubly oppressed through both dispossession from whenua and rangatiratanga, and through alienation from the products of their labour under capitalism.
So in practice this means Pākeha and other tauiwi in Aotearoa must acknowledge shared struggle and stand up for Māori land rights; participate in revival of the taonga that is Te Reo Māori; and ensure political organising includes and respects mana whenua. We saw this unity in forming and supporting the biggest protest Aotearoa has ever held in 2024’s Hīkoi mō te Tiriti. Support the right to selfdetermination. Support grassroots mass struggle. Tūtira mai ngā tangata: Toitū te Tiriti!
by VUW International Socialists / ISO
Teddy O’Neill Resident Expert
Jackson McCarthy Arts + Culture Editor
Saad Aamir
Walter Zamalis
Contributing Writer
Mauatua Fa’araReynolds Contributing Writer
Contributing Writer
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