Te Tiriti-based Futures + Anti-Racism 2020
Hei kanohi mataara, hei ringa whiti - Eyes wide open, ready for action.
Tiriti-based futures & Anti-racism 2020 is an innovative (inter)national, online and offline, Tiriti-based, anti-racism and decolonisation event in Aotearoa.
The event will start with a one-day hui March 21, Race Relations Day 2020, hosted by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua in Tāmaki Makaurau, and run for 10 days. Webinar topics include institutional racism and anti-racism, decolonisation, building Tiriti-based futures and transforming our constitution. Overseas presenters will also discuss lessons for Aotearoa from their experiences with these issues. The open-access webinars will be posted on-line, where they will become permanent resources for anti-racist activism and Tiriti education.
Te Tiriti-based Futures + Anti-Racism 2020 also includes face-to-face events in multiple locations, these will include Tiriti workshops, train-the-Tiriti-trainer hui, public talks, webinar viewing and discussions and community potluck dinners. New anti-racism and Tiriti resources, both printed and online, will gradually be added to the site.
The organisers are a group of Pākehā and Māori with experience in activism, research and community development. With your help, we hope that Te Tiriti-based Futures + Anti-Racism 2020 will become an annual event.
Accountability to Māori
This initiative is a response to a challenge from Māori wanting increased education efforts around decolonisation. The event is based on community Tiriti education principles, pedagogies and on-going reflections. It accepts te Tiriti o Waitangi as the primary text, and places it in the context of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nū Tīrene. We acknowledge and maintain that hapū in Aotearoa never ceded tino rangatiratanga.
Our co-ordinating group (Alex Hotere-Barnes, Kate Matheson, Kassie Hartendorp and Heather Came-Friar) have a number of different relationships and accountabilities with both Māori-led groups and individuals. Presently, this includes but is not limited to: STIR: Stop Institutional Racism, Te Rau Ora, Action Station and a diverse network of Māori Tiriti educators and activists.
We are working with both Māori and Tauiwi Tiriti educators to advance our aims. These relationships are both formal and informal. As our initiative grows we expect new relationships will also be forged. Ultimately, our work with Māori is based on long-term, relational, mutual trust and respect established over decades of mahi. Throughout the development and implementation of our campaign we have and will continue to seek guidance and support from these different networks.
This project also has the tautoko of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, Tuu Tama Wahine, Waka Oranga, Digital Indigenous, Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa - NZNO, Te Ha Oranga, Nga Mana Pou and Taupua Waiora Centre for Māori Health Research – Auckland University of Technology. The webinar programme has a significant presence of Māori leaders and academics. Our partners will variously be leveraging the event to advance their goals and aspirations in relation to race relations.