ETHICAL REMEMBERING - HOPE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

This is the final in a series of extracts from Cook and Ethical Remembering, in which Tina Ngata of Ngāti Porou, distils years of discussions with rangatahi on the subject into ten guidelines for teaching what has happened in Aotearoa over the past 250 years ago.  This week, the last four guidelines are covered.

Guideline seven:  GIVE OUR TAMĀRIKI AND RANGATAHI HOPE.  Discuss clear actions they “can take to resist imperialism and dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery.

Teach them about the strong leadership already being shown in this space … calling upon the Vatican to rescind the papal bulls [and] impress upon them the importance of promoting the Indigenous perspective.

“Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery and Imperialism holds great benefits for [everyone], so consider discussing the promise of a post-Doctrine of Discovery future [and] what actions could be taken by the Vatican, by governments, by communities and at an individual level.”

Guideline eight:  PREPARE THEM FOR DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW, (EVEN RACIST ONES).  “Provide all sides of the argument. Many Māori are participating in the TUIA250 celebrations and it’s important to understand their reasoning.  Groups like Hobson’s Pledge and white supremacist groups also support the commemorations and the return of the Endeavour replica, and it’s important to look at the correlations and contrasts between these positions and compare them to those who oppose.”

Guideline nine:  DISCUSS ACCOUNTABLE RESPONSIBILITY.  “It’s very easy for people to learn of this history and fall into the trap of resenting non-Indigenous peoples, or indeed Christianity. Listen and watch for clues as to how children and young people are responding to the information before them.  

“Shawnee/Lenape scholar Steve Newcombe makes an important and helpful distinction between Christianity as a faith and Christendom as the amalgamation of church and state, an alliance between monarchies and the church which resulted in the ‘divine right’ of monarchs to do as they wish.  Discuss how many non-Indigenous people have been forced away from their homelands through Imperialism. Accountability rests with all of us to speak to the harms of Imperialism.”

Guideline ten:  PROMOTE ETHICAL REMEMBERING BY DISCUSSING “how colonialism, as a construct, rests upon … fictions to justify its own importance, centrality, and beneficence. It’s … important to deconstruct those fictions [and] to understand how [they] are transmitted [through] statues, currency, education, media, entertainment, place names, memorials and events like TUIA250. 

Discuss a more ethical remembering of who we are and what is important in order to set a pathway for who we want to be in the future.

“Pose similar scenarios for comparison:  Would it be appropriate to ‘balance’ the evils of the Holocaust with workshops on Hitler’s other, more redeeming characteristics?  When confronted with the horrors carried out by the conquistadors, is it at all appropriate to celebrate what an excellent navigator Hernan Cortes was?  What version of history has dominated our worlds up till now? What counts as ‘important’ history and what is the right way to remember painful histories?”