Injustice is like a whale
Rather than defining Te Tiriti as 'a partnership between races', perhaps it could be visualised as a meeting place where different groups of New Zealanders come together to resolve injustices and seek peace with one another, writes Dame Anne Salmond.
In 1990, Pā Henare Tate, a well-known priest in the Hokianga, wrote a beautiful article about Te Tiriti for New Zealand Geographic. In it, he discusses the tapu and mana of each person, which springs from the life force (mauri) of the world itself – the sun, moon and stars, the earth (Papatuānuku) and sky (Ranginui), the ocean (Tangaroa) and forests (Tāne).
"Te wa – the journey of life", he says, "is filled with opportunities to address the tapu of our fellow travellers". There are three ways to do this, he adds, "through tika (justice), pono (integrity, or faithfulness to tika) and aroha (love)".
Link to article: Anne Salmond: Injustice is like a whale (msn.com)
