28/11/2025
Tautoko
A Statement from Ngāti Ranginui Iwi in support of Kura, Schools, and Boards of Kura upholding the Mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
🌿🌿🌿🌿Ara mai te rangatahi e….🌿🌿🌿🌿
Ngāti Ranginui Iwi stands firmly alongside our kura, schools, and boards of kura who have committed to upholding the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The Treaty is not a relic of the past, but a living document, an enduring covenant between tangata whenua and the Crown. It has been repeatedly breached, and this moment represents yet another breach for which we stand in strong opposition to.
It is vital that our story is told authentically and truthfully. Too often, what people know of our history is shaped by attempts by the dominant peoples to excuse actions and diminish the truth. We reject these distortions.
Governments will come and go, but iwi and hapū remain enduring. Ngāti Ranginui will stand in perpetuity, committed to working alongside our schools so future generations are grounded in truth, justice, and the obligations of Te Tiriti. Though we are not accountable for the actions of our forebears on either side, we carry the duty to dismantle systems and policies that perpetuate marginalisation.
Colonial amnesia precedes colonial erasure, which only recovers memory by the sheer force of those who never forget. As an iwi written out of history, subjected to confiscation and colonisation for which the Crown has both acknowledged and apologised, we know the cost of silence. We must do better to ensure our stories are told, both sides of the story, without compromise.
Placing learning at the centre, we believe that a child who has a sense of self-knowledge is better equipped to learn because they have a greater sense of agency, motivation, and control over their learning process, without this, schools are just a colonial construct and repetition of our past.
Ngāti Ranginui Iwi will continue to work with our kura, schools, boards of kura, and governments walking together to uphold the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and to ensure that truth, justice, and memory endure for generations yet to come. That the negative learning experience of many of our people is not repeated. We can do better, we can be the change.
Nā te poari o Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ranginui
