May 26, 2021
Pakeha perilous in Packer lexicon
Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa Packer is picking the word Pākehā to eventually fade away.
She's praising the way incoming Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro talked of tangata tiriti.
Ms Ngarewa Packer says the term acknowledges the ongoing covenant represented by Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and tangata tiriti are standing beside tangata whenua on issues like Māori wards and fighting racism.
Pākehā represents an era which was more about where you came from than being from Aotearoa as partners and equals.
"When we look at our tangata tiriti, their association, their kaitiaki, their wairua is all part and parcel with merging in with us as well. so I think Pākehā is part of an older era. As we evolve there is certainly more association with wanting to be tangata tiriti and more importantly they are here because of te tiriti and here side by side," she says.
Debbie Ngarewa Packer says her Irish mother is proud to be called tangata tiriti.
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