Waitangi Day is an important moment to pause, reflect, and consider how Te Tiriti o Waitangi is understood and upheld in our workplaces – not just today, but throughout the year.

 

Honouring Te Tiriti is not about one-off gestures or symbolic actions. It is about relationships, responsibility, and the way organisations show up every day for people and place.

 

The reflections below are informed by whakaaro shared by members of the Diversity Agenda community and our Māori leadership voices, and are offered as practical starting points for organisations at any stage of their journey.

 

Honouring Te Tiriti is not only about upskilling non-Māori. It also means recognising that kaimahi Māori are each on their own huarahi and are continuing to learn te reo me ōna tikanga themselves.

Creating environments where kaimahi Māori feel supported, valued, and well held in their mahi matters. Strong relationships with hapū and iwi are built through people who feel looked after. Hapū and iwi will want to understand how you care for their taonga – their people – within your organisation.

 

Colonisation is a huge part of who we are as a nation. There is no value in avoiding it, softening it, or pretending it is not central to how Aotearoa New Zealand came to be.

Not all tangata whenua grew up immersed in te ao Māori because of colonisation. Understanding this context matters. You cannot build genuine relationships with hapū and iwi without grappling with this history and its ongoing impacts.

Learning about colonisation is not about blame. It is about honesty, responsibility, and being better equipped to engage with Te Tiriti in a meaningful way.

 

Knowing whose whenua you stand on goes beyond naming iwi. It involves learning the local stories, responsibilities, and relationships that hold that whenua.

Taking time to understand place helps ensure your presence and your mahi sit within the stories and responsibilities of that rohe, rather than outside of them.

 

Mana is derived through relationship with the whenua – not ownership of it. Hapū hold mana through their tātai to the whenua, which carries both authority and responsibility to care for it.

The whenua itself is Papatūānuku and carries her own mana. Understanding this distinction shifts thinking from control to relationship, accountability, and belonging.

 

There is a wealth of knowledge available from tangata whenua scholars and experts on He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti. 

Reading or watching the work of respected voices such as Moana Jackson, Aroha Harris, Ani Mikaere, Margaret Mutu, Mānuka Hēnare, and Sir Joe Williams is a meaningful place to start. You cannot fully understand Te Tiriti without understanding He Whakaputanga. There are books, articles, and talks readily available. If these voices are unfamiliar, that in itself is an opportunity for reflection.

 

Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is an ongoing commitment, not a single day of acknowledgement. Small, deliberate actions – grounded in learning, relationship, and accountability – matter.

 

Mā te mōhio ka mārama, mā te mārama ka mātau, mā te mātau ka ora.
Through understanding comes awareness, through awareness comes knowledge, through knowledge comes wellbeing.