As a primary school teacher from a very racist pakeha family other than a marae trip when I was 10 my exposure to our deep rich Maori heritage, was limited. A number of years ago I was privileged enough to go to Waitangi and share time and conversations that will forever mean the world to me. A couple of years later my husband and I were able to take our children to Waitangi over Waitangi and immerse them in not on the history of such an integral part of NZ but also in the customs, culture and language. This is something that we now have set as a bi-annual trip so that they will not grow up ignorant like I was.
I believe that the Tamariki and Rangatahi in NZ need to be part of the movement and it starts with us the parents.
Comments