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Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Brennon Wood for his insightful and helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper and the author's writing group colleagues Christine Cheyne, Lesley Patterson and Allanah Ryan for their more recent feedback. The author would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for Continuum, whose critical comments were invaluable in helping to improve the original paper.
Notes
[1] At the last census in 2001 Maori made up approximately 15 per cent of the country's population and Pakeha approximately 79 per cent.
[2] Historically the Jewish people have been the exception to this rule, but an exception that was ultimately resolved in the return to the historic homeland, now Israel.
[3] One consequence of this is an historically thin reliance on a nostalgic rendering of Pakeha post-second World War culture, for example the celebration of kitsch from that era under the label of ‘Kiwiana’ (see Barnett & Wolfe, Citation1989).
[4] The Treaty became the basis on which the British Crown asserted sovereignty over Aotearoa. Both English and Maori versions were written, the Maori chiefs signing the latter. Much contemporary debate over the Treaty centres on the differing interpretations of the agreement that arise from the different language versions, in particular, whether or not the Maori signatories did really intend to cede ‘sovereignty’ or merely the right for the British to ‘govern’. What is not subject to dispute is that the Treaty agreement was subsequently and repeatedly breached by the actions and omissions of the settler government.
[5] See www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz. Originally established in 1975, since 1985 the Tribunal has been empowered to investigate historical claims. Consequently, the work of the Tribunal directly addresses the history of colonization.
[6] Here I must acknowledge that Michael Reilly (Citation1996) alerted me to this particular term of Said's.
[7] See Belgrave (Citation2001) for detail on the role of history in the Tribunal's work.
[8] The UMR Research report can be found on this site.
[9] Since 2002 these panels have been replaced with an exhibition on the process of making a Treaty claim, and signage leading into this exhibition space has been added, thereby making it less likely that this corner space will be missed by interested visitors.
[10] Note that Phillips does not treat ‘pakeha’ as a proper noun requiring an upper case initial letter. The choice of ‘pakeha’ or ‘Pakeha’ is a subject of dispute within Aotearoa New Zealand, although Phillips’ treatment is becoming less common. Presumably Phillips uses the lower case as a sign that there is little evidence of a self-consciously ‘Pakeha’ identity within New Zealand society.
[11] ‘Pakeha’ is a Maori word first recorded in 1815 in the first Maori grammar, compiled by missionary Thomas Kendall. Kendall translated ‘tangata pakeha’ as ‘white man’ (Biggs, 1988, p. 19). However, this origin is little known by the majority of New Zealanders and, although the term is widely used, there is a great deal of suspicion amongst many that its real meaning is insulting (ibid.). Others embrace the term, although there is little research evidence of what Pakeha means for these self-identified Pakeha. What evidence exists suggests that both espousal and rejection of the term are linked to its origins as a Maori word and the relationship between Maori and Pakeha that that implies. On the one hand, those who identify with the term acknowledge that this identity arises out of a relationship to Maori—however they conceive that relation. On the other hand, those who reject it also reject the idea of a relationship to Maori providing their self-definition (see Pearson & Sissons, Citation1997). Clearly, the unease and division around the concept of Pakeha identity is linked to the ambivalent relation between white New Zealanders and their indigenous neighbours.