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September 15, 2022
Colonisation talk part of tangi
Peter Verschaffelt
Posted On September 15, 2022
Download AudioGreens co-leader Marama Davidson says now is as good a time as any to talk about colonialism and Aotearoa’s constitutional future – even before the Queen has been laid in her grave.
There has been push back to any talk about the royal family’s role in Britain’s colonial record, which is being raised by people of colour throughout the former British Empire.
Ms Davidson says for Maori, it’s a natural korero to have.
“Our process of tangi has taught us that as Maori we are accustomed to grieving and holding respect for people who pass, for their whanau whanui, for their whakapapa, and we honour, and at the same time we offer what a person’s passing, what a person’s death means. We offer a fuller lens. And so I felt it was remiss of me to offer my condolences, to mourn the Queen, without also holding space for those who are talking about the ongoing oppression of colonisation,” she says.
Ms Davidson notes the adjournment of parliament to mourn the Queen meant the scrapping of a special debate for Te Wiki o te Reo Maori which would have looked a the very real effects of a colonial policy on Maori.
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