Waatea News Column: New Zealand must do more than celebrate Maori resilience
Last week for International Day of Indigenous Peoples, Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon called for New Zealand to amplify Māori resilience.
He asked us to celebrate the leadership and strength shown by Māori and other Indigenous Peoples in the face of the global pandemic.
The sudden lockdown and re-emergence of the Virus in South Auckland is a reminder that until a vaccine is found, we are as vulnerable as everyone else is to this insidious plague.
That realisation must drive us to new ways of being, and the resilience Maori have shown needs to not just be celebrated, it must be resourced, supported and most importantly, emulated by NZ society.
There is an enormous amount Pakeha culture needs to learn from Māori resilience and the funding of that capacity for resilience must be the underlying dabate of this election.
This virus has obliterated the sacred cows of free market economics and it has demanded an active State that has almost forgotten that its first responsibility is the safety and protection of the people.
Empowerment of community to feel the agency of collective solidarity would be the closest to Tino rangatiratanga we’ve managed since signing the Treaty.
First published on Waatea News.
That realisation must drive us to new ways of being
During the six weeks of lockdown we shared a nationwide sense of whanau, an awareness of our existence here in Aotearoa as an interwoven community.
This arose through our collective unity. Once that is fractured, we all become more vulnerable to outside threats, including viruses.
The recent political game-playing that is going on is distracting us from what is essential for the wellbeing of all; it is dividing us as a nation.