Majority of NowNext survey respondents believe Māori culture and history is an important part of our national identity

Friday, 22 April 2022

Stuff's NowNext survey asked its audience the tough questions about racism and the value they place on Māori culture. (First published April 2022)

Issues of social justice, diversity and inclusion are critically important to New Zealanders and the future of Aotearoa. In Stuff’s latest NowNext Pou Tiaki survey, more than 6000 Kiwis participated in challenging kōrero around race relations in Aotearoa. Most aspired to an inclusive nation but there is more work to do.

Marama* remembers every anti-Māori comment she’s ever encountered.

She used to laugh about it, brushing it off because it was normal, but in our changing society the joke is ending.

Stuff’s NowNext Pou Tiaki online survey called on its audience to answer challenging questions about race relations in Aotearoa New Zealand and the value they place on Māori culture.

* Threats and abuse hurled at Kiwi business after rebranding with te reo Māori name

* Human Rights Commission will stop taking complaints about use of te reo Māori

Of the 6000 survey respondents, 82% believe Māori culture and history is an important part of our national identity.

The majority (86%) said they aspire for Aotearoa to be a diverse and inclusive society, but the lived experience of Māori shows that aspirations and reality are not always in sync.

From left, Marama and her whānau are all on their te reo Māori learning journeys.

Racism and colonisation today

Racism, personal and institutional, and the negative effects of colonisation are still being felt by Māori nationwide, with 65% of the 500 Māori respondents saying they have faced it themselves.

Marama (Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungungu) was surprised it wasn’t higher.

She’s seen and felt the impacts of racism herself in the treatment of her whānau in shops, from comments made by former partners degrading her identity, and when people treat her differently because she has a Māori name.

82% of Stuff’s NowNext survey respondents believe Māori culture and history is an important part of our national identity.

As a light-skinned wahine Māori she’s somewhat incognito to those who harbour prejudice towards tangata whenua, she says, but the flip side is that she hears it all.

“I still remember every conversation I’ve had where it’s been like that,” Marama says.

“It’s heartbreaking. It hurts every time when I hear anyone making comments like that and them not being open to learning.”

Te reo Māori kaiako and indigenous TikToker Paaka Davis is glad many Māori are aware of the impacts of colonisation today. His mataora has been completed since this photo was taken.

For Māori respondents, 69% said Māori continue to suffer the impact of colonisation and institutional racism compared to 52% of overall respondents.

Marama said while it was improving, there is still a disconnect in the understanding of what colonisation was when Pākehā first arrived, and the continuing impacts that exist today.

“People who have never experienced it, or don’t understand what it is, don’t see it,” says Marama.

“Not acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi, having the new National Party leader saying that he doesn't think a Māori-led health authority is appropriate for Māori … that’s colonisation isn’t it?”

Te reo Māori kaiako and indigenous TikToker Paaka Davis says it’s a win that more than half the respondents, Māori and non-Māori, believe the impacts of colonisation continue today.

Dr Rāwiri Tinirau says there have been steps to support Māori, but sometimes it feels like one step forward and two steps back.

Davis (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Whānau a Kai, Ngāti Kahungungu) said it speaks to a deepening understanding of how Aotearoa was shaped and continues to be moulded by institutions that haven't supported Māoritanga.

“It shows that a lot of people understand colonisation and the effects of colonisation.

“You need to understand what colonisation was, before you can understand how racism in Aotearoa works.”

The battle between intrinsic and monetary value

When asked if Māori culture and history is an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s identity, 87% of Māori respondents agreed compared to 82% of the total group.

Although positive, Davis questions whether it’s seen as intrinsically valuing Māoritanga and supporting revitalisation efforts or if it’s because of the monetary benefits Māori bring to the nation or both. The Māori economy or asset base was valued by BERL, the economic think-tank, as being $68 billion in 2018. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise estimate the value could reach $100b by 2030.

“Our colony state is too well-supported by the pillars of capitalism, so much so that capitalism has now overridden tikanga Māori,” says Davis.

Director of Te Atawhai o Te Ao, the Independent Māori Institute for Environment and Health, Dr Rāwiri Tinirau understands Davis’ perspective.

Tinirau (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngā Rauru Kītahi, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Wairiki, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maru) said while acknowledgement of te ao Māori was increasing, often it was included when a monetary benefit could be derived.

“It’s all good to pull on aspects of Māori culture when it suits the country, but we’re not quick to acknowledge the wrongs and the harms with the language and culture that was being lost.

“Within families you see the trauma being replayed, and we have several families who are trying to reconnect with their roots and that’s all come from a system that didn’t value or support tikanga Māori and te reo Māori.”

In 2021, Tinirau’s team produced their own survey Whakatika: A Survey of Māori Experiences of Racism, which aimed to capture the experiences of more than 2000 Māori.

He said Stuff’s survey findings were light compared to Whakatika, and the responses from the company’s audience was telling.

Te reo Māori kaiako Hēmi Kelly is hopeful that as tamariki learn about Aotearoa’s history in schools, there will be a greater appreciation of Māori people and culture.

“The reality is, it’s very, very difficult to change behaviours that have been well established.

“There’s not going to be a silver bullet for this, it’s going to take years and years to educate people on what has been done to Māori and what needs to be done to rectify these issues.

“[But] it is not the responsibility of Māori to enforce what needs to be done, it's everyone’s responsibility.”

Te reo Māori and its healing powers

Language is the doorway into understanding another culture, and 66% of respondents see value in te reo Māori.

Everyday Māori podcast presenter Hēmi Kelly, a te reo Māori kaiako (teacher), translator and consultant, said he’s seen a boost in Māori and non-Māori accessing reo classes for a range of reasons.

“I think for Māori that come through, there’s a really deep-rooted yearning to understand their culture and language,” says Kelly.

“For some, they have married into Māori whānau, or have Māori grandchildren. Others feel that it’s the right thing to do.”

While more than two-thirds of respondents see value in te reo Māori, 31% said it had no value, and 17% agreed with the complaint often used on social media or directed at users and supporters of te reo Māori: “I’m sick of that Māori language being rammed down my throat.”

Ngahiwi Apanui, the tumuaki of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, Māori Language Commission, says it is key that whānau continue to embrace te reo Māori.

Kelly (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tahu-Ngāti Whāoa) experienced this type of reaction at a TedTalk he did about why everyone should learn te reo Māori.

“This lady came up to me afterwards and was saying, ‘I just want to let you know I have absolutely no interest in learning Māori and you pronounced the word pronunciation wrong the whole time.’

“There are people who are always going to have that viewpoint and for me there’s no point in wasting any effort on those people in terms of sharing the language.

“We need to focus on that 66% who are keen and interested because they’re the ones who are creating the changes – and that 31% is going to get smaller and smaller and smaller.”

Ngahiwi Apanui said he was fascinated by the responses drawn by the NowNext survey, an indicator of people who engage with Stuff.

As chief executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) he oversees the annual Colmar Kantar survey which has identified the main drivers for learning te reo Māori were linked to connection and identity, particularly for Māori parents.

“The role of whānau to learn or improve te reo is seen as key,” Apanui said.

“Overall, more than 8 in 10 New Zealanders see te reo as an important part of their national identity, while 7 in 10 see speaking te reo as something to be proud of as well as something the Government should promote.”

While the uptake of te reo Māori among whānau has been encouraging, Apanui reflected on how the media had not always believed in Te Taura Whiri’s aspirations.

“Thirty-five-years ago when our organisation was launched, our predecessors were told by a major newspaper that they could not place job advertisements in te reo even though it had just become an official language of New Zealand.

“Things have changed a lot since then, but we have a long way to go until we can say that te reo is safeguarded for future generations.”

Marama is on her te reo Māori journey. Today she’s learning at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and teaching her tamariki te reo Māori by speaking it to them and around her home. Her father was a native language speaker but lost it as he was forced to assimilate to English.

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She’s hopeful that as more Māori and non-Māori take up the language, the struggles of her father and herself to connect with te reo Māori, won’t be repeated for future generations.

“It just makes me thankful that [te reo is] on the media now, it’s being spoken, and in schools they’ll be teaching the history of Aotearoa.”

* Marama is not her real name, it was changed for this article.