Professor Vaughan Bidois: English First — Te reo Māori and the act of symbolic violence

Act leader David Seymour (left), National leader Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister and NZ First leader Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell

OPINION

The coalition government led by the National Party has made significant statements and policy promises that have sent ripples of unrest throughout the nation — at a time when family and friends have come together to share and reflect on what has been a challenging year, we find ourselves yet again at another familiar crossroads.

Renowned Brazilian educator Paulo Freire wrote that “reading the world always precedes reading the word, and reading the word implies continually reading the world”. At the heart of his philosophy is that education should be a liberating rather than an oppressive experience, and the key to that is one’s ability to read the society around them, to understand one’s place in the world and how one came to be there.

Celebrating Māori Language Week in Wellington. Photo / RNZ

We are of a time where our understanding of the importance of language and how it shapes our thoughts, experiences and actions, our values, beliefs and perceptions needs redress. We need to educate ourselves about how an appreciation of both the English and Māori languages, as well as other languages, contributes to a more culturally diverse and inclusive society in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The messages and promises by the new government to rename and rebrand government departments by their English names, the support for the Act-led Treaty Principles Bill, the abolishing of Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority, and the examination of affirmative action programmes at universities have created a stir and opened debate about the value of te reo Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

For many, I am sure, it is hard to believe that in 2023 we are having to justify the use of te reo Māori names. For a small minority, however, the use of Māori names for government departments has been abhorrent, it has apparently made it confusing to navigate government departments or ministries anymore, with the use of such names as Te Waka Kotahi, Te Whatu Ora and Oranga Tamariki.

According to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, “older people” — and I’m assuming he’s referring to mostly older Pākehā people — were confused with the Māori names.

In the past, these types of views have not been surprising. The amalgamation of the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology, for example, which changed its name to Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology in 2016, also got similar feedback saying Toi Ohomai would be too difficult to pronounce for some.

Anti-apartheid protesters and police clash outside Eden Park before the final test of the Springbok tour in September 1981.

As a nation, we have a proud history of being world leading and progressive in our thinking, actions and politics. We were the first country in the world to stand up for the rights of women to vote, we stood up against the powerhouse nations of the world with our anti-nuclear stance, and we helped shape the future of a nation, as well as our own, by disrupting the greatest rugby rivalry in history, during the 1981 Springbok tour protests.

Ironically, it would be through fighting for the rights of oppressed peoples in a faraway land that our own racism, our own discrimination were exposed. The protest movements during the 1970s, and those since, while at times tense and uncomfortable, did create the conditions for dialogue, for the potential to demonstrate mutual respect, and for an opportunity for self-reflection, and for change.

Māori language, culture embraced by major parties

The relatively meagre gains made over the past four decades by Māori, under both major political parties, have been notable in the sense we have seen te reo Māori being embraced by both Māori and non-Māori, that Māori knowledge and culture are being seen as something of worth, of importance to wider society as a whole, and to the world.

What is difficult to know is, are these gains at risk of being eroded under this new regime? I guess time will tell.

What I am sure of, however, is that Māori will not passively sit back and allow this to happen. The protests on the opening of the 54th Parliament was a signal to the new government.

While Luxon said the protests were “unfair” given they had been in power only a week, the campaign trail leading up to the election had been months, and the coalition parties of the new government have failed to read the room, so to speak.

The new government has failed to read the world as well; it failed to read or ignored the importance many Māori place upon language, culture, and identity.

Given our history, this is rather alarming.

The introduction of the English First clause by the Government, the use of dual names but only when using English first, or not using Māori names at all, are not neutral acts, they are both cultural and symbolic in their intent. Symbolic in that they create a hierarchy that says one language is more important than the other, and culturally because it creates cultural divisions in society that could be potentially devastating, given the gains that have been made in recent times.

Professor Vaughan Bidois. Photo / Supplied

The arbitrary acts of using English first or removing Māori names function as a form of symbolic violence towards all those who have taken up learning te reo Māori, but particularly towards our mokopuna, tamariki and rangatahi within kōhanga, kura kaupapa and whare kura and to all our kaumātua and kuia who have fought for so long for the revival of the language.

Dual naming of government departments might go some way in addressing the arbitrary nature in which the English language is being prioritised over te reo Māori. It might also disrupt the naturalised assumptions that some hold regarding te reo Māori, its value and its use.

In terms of which should go first in that dual naming — Māori or English? — one idea is that perhaps the language that was first uttered across these lands should take preference. Such a simple act would recognise both our unique heritage as tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti, as well as begin to normalise and naturalise the use of te reo Māori alongside English.

Toitū Te Reo Māori, Toitū Te Tiriti.

Vaughan Bidois (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Tai, Whakatōhea and Tūhoe) is executive director academic at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. He is a professor of education teaching and research interests include critical pedagogy, critical theory, kaupapa Māori theory and methodology, postcolonial theory, identity theory and cultural politics.