(Image: Tina Tiller)

PartnersSeptember 17, 2020

Te whakamana i Te Tiriti: Ngā akoranga ki te ao pakihi i te ao Māori

Contributing writer

(Image: Tina Tiller)

Ehara i te mea kua whakaturehia te kawenga kia aro ki Te Tiriti o Waitangi i te rāngai tūmataiti pēnei tonu i te rāngai tūmatanui. Heoi anō rā, e rongo ana te ao pakihi i ngā kura mātauranga ka hua ake i te tika o te mahi ngātahi ki te Māori.

Read the English language version of this story here.

Mā te whai whakaaro nui ki te ao Māori e wātea ai he ara whai hua ki ngā pakihi o Aotearoa e motuhake ai tā rātou titiro ki te ao, ka mutu, ka whai hua hoki pea te pūkoro, ka whai tikanga ā-ahurea anō. Mā konei hoki ka hua ko tētahi momo āhuru mōwai mō te Māori, he nui hoki kei ngā ahumahi me uaua ka kitea te mata Māori. Mā te whakapakari i ngā pūkenga ā-ahurea e pai ake ai tā ngā pakihi whakawhiti kōrero ki ngā pakihi Māori. I mua i te pānga mai o te mate karauna, he $50 piriona te wāriu o te ohanga Māori. Puta noa i te ao, ko te ao Māori tētahi ara whakatairanga e tino whai hua ai ngā whakahaere nō Aotearoa.

Heoi anō rā, ka hē hoki pea te whakamahinga o te reo Māori, o ngā tikanga Māori anō i te rāngai tūmataiti, me te aha, tērā tonu pea ka nopenopea, ka tūkinohia rānei te ahurea. Arā ētahi whakahaere kua hē te whakamāorihia o ngā ingoa pakihi, ā, hua ana ko tō rātou whakamā, ko tō te Māori pukuriri hoki. Hei ngā wāhanga “uaratanga” ki ngā pae tukutuku, ka kitea tō te whakahaere ngākau titikaha ki te “manaakitanga”, ki te “kaitiakitanga” rānei, ahakoa pea te kore i mārama kehokeho ki aua mātāpono, ki ngā haepapa rānei e hāngai ana.

Arā hoki he haepapa kāore pea i tika, heoi anō rā, ka utaina tonuhia ki te Māori kei ngā whakahaere kia noho hoki ai ia hei mātanga ahurea, i tua atu i tana mahi ake. Engari, mā te whai whakaaro ki tō rātou tūranga hei tangata Tiriti ki Aotearoa, ka taea e ngā pakihi te mahi tahi ki te Māori i runga i te tika, kia ea ai te āhuatanga o te mahi ngātahi i wawatangia i Te Tiriti, me te aha, ka whai hua ā-pūkoro, ā-pāpori anō ngā taha e rua.

Hei mea whai hononga ki te aonga o Matariki i te Hūrae, i whakapuakina e Vodafone tētahi kaupapa here hou: Te whakamana i ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi. E whai nei te kaupapa here kia pakari ake ai ngā hononga i waenga i te whakahaere whitimamao me te Māori, i roto tonu i te pakihi nei, ā, i ngā pakihi Māori e mahi atu nei ia. He mea whakawhanake tuatahi ake nā te Vodafone Foundation, he mea ārahi hoki nā Ahorangi Mānuka Henare rāua ko te Pou Whakawhanake Māori o Vodafone, ko Kirstin Te Wao (he uri o Te Arawa me Tainui, he mea whakatupu hoki i waenga i a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei), ko tā te kaupapa here nei he tohu i tō Vodafone “ngākau titikaha ki te whakamana i Te Tiriti, ki te mahi hoki e ai ki tētahi anga whakahaere e taea ai tana whakaatu me tana whakanui i te ahurea kanorau o Aotearoa.”

Hei tā Te Wao, he “momo whaea” a ia, inā hoki, kua 12 tau a ia e mahi ana ki Vodafone. I tīmata ia ki te kāhui manaaki kiritaki, e āwhina ana i te iwi ki te whai hononga waea, hononga ipurangi aunui anō. Mai anō i taua wā, he nui ōna tūranga ki te pakihi, ā, ko tētahi o ana kitenga i roto i ngā tau i te taiao rangatōpū ko te kawatau kia nui noa atu ngā pōtae ka mau i te Māori tērā i ērā i whakaaengia e rātou.

“Ki te noho mā te tokoiti ngā hua pakihi e whakatutuki nō rātou e kawe ana hoki i ngā haepapa Māori katoa mā te whakahaere, e kore hoki tērā e toitū,” hei tāna.

“Nā runga i tā mātou i wheako ai i ngā tau tekau kua hori nei, e whai nei mātou ki te whakapakari i ngā pūkenga ki te ao Māori puta i te whakahaere. He mea nui kia mārama kehokeho ai ā mātou tāngata ki te ao Māori, ā, ko te painga atu kia whai hononga whai hua anō hoki rātou, otirā, kia mārama ki ngā hua o taua hononga ki ā rātou mahi ki Vodafone.”

Kirstin Te Wao is Vodafone’s Pou Whakawhanake Māori (Head of Māori Development) (Photo: supplied)

E rārangi ana te kaupapa here a Vodafone i ētahi oati tekau mō te whakamana i Te Tiriti, otirā “e arahina ana e tana whakamāramatanga ki ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti.” Hei wāhanga o ēnei oati ko tētahi māramatanga hōhonu ki te whakaūnga o ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti ki te horopaki pakihi, ko te tika o te whakakanohitia o te Māori i roto i te whakahaere, me “te whanaketanga, te whakamāoritanga, me te whai wāhitanga tonutanga o te reo, o ngā tikanga, o ngā whakaaro Māori hoki, puta noa i te pakihi o Vodafone, i tōna hapori anō.” E ai anō ki te kaupapa here, ka tono pea a Vodafone kia whakatauira ngā kaiwhakarato i tō rātou ngākau titikaha ki te mahi tahi ki te Māori, ki te whakamahi anō i ō rātou āhuatanga whakaaweawe kia whai kōwhiringa anō ai te Māori.

E whai nei a Te Wao kia hua ai he taiao e taea ai e ngā whakahaere Māori te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero ki a wai ake rānei i Vodafone, ka mutu, e mārama tonu ana, e whakaute tonu ana, tē whakawhirinaki atu ai ki te tokoiti kaimahi Māori hei pīkau i tērā haepapa. Ko tana hiahia kia noho ai a Vodafone hei wāhi e poipoia ai ngā pūkenga Māori puta noa i te whakahaere.

Ko tāna, “Kei hea tātou? Kei Aotearoa tātou, me te aha, he haepapa tō ngā whakahaere e mahi nei i Aotearoa kia tika, kia pono, kia toitū hoki te mahi tahi ki te Māori, i tōna mana hei tangata whenua.”

Ko ngā hua o tētahi hononga pakari i waenga i te rāngai tūmataiti me ngā whakahaere Māori ka rangona e ngā taha e rua. Ki te Māori, he whakapuakanga o te whai kia mahi tahi, mā konei e tūpono pakari ake ai ngā pakihi Māori, e tūpono whai hua anō ai te Māori.

Ka tohua e te Perehitini o te Pāti Māori, e Che Wilson (Ngāti Rangi-Whanganui, Tūwharetoa, Mōkai Pātea, Ngāti Apa, Ngā Rauru), ko Air New Zealand hei tauira o te pakihi tūmataiti kua whakapau kaha kia pakari ai ana hononga ki te Māori. I waitohungia e Ngāti Porou tētahi whakaaetanga mahi ngātahi ki a Air New Zealand i te tīmatanga o te tau 2018, nā konei i kitea ai ngā hua pēnei i te whai wāhitanga o ngā kai kua hua i ngā whakahaere, i ngā pāmu ā-iwi anō, ki ngā rerenga.

“Kua whakawhanakehia, kua whakangungua āna kaimahi katoa, otirā, mō te wāhi ki ngā kai, kua toro ki ngā pakihi Māori. Ka rere ana ki tāwāhi, ka kitea ngā kai me ngā waina a ētahi pakihi Māori i te rārangi kai, ā, ka tupu tonu atu i reira,” ko tā Wilson.

I Vodafone, ko tā Te Wao e whai nei, mā tā rātou kaupapa here e whai wāhi nui ake ai, e mārama ake anō ai ngā uri noho whakaraerae o Aotearoa ki te ao matihiko. Nā te noho taratahi i runga i te mate karauna i kitea ai te whārua nui ā-matihiko nei i ngā hapori e noho taimaha ana i Aotearoa, i te āhua i mate ai te hunga rangatahi ki te whakawhirinaki atu ki ngā akoranga me ngā taputapu ā-ipurangi, i ngā kura e kapi ana. Ehara i te mea e hāngai noa ana te wehenga ā-matihiko ki ērā e whai taputapu ana, kāore rānei. E hāngai ana hoki ki te mārama ki ēnei hangarau, otirā, ki te whakamahinga e whai hua nui ai. Nā whai anō he tokoiti iho i te 2% o te ahumahi hangarau mōhiohio o Aotearoa, he Māori.

“Me whai wāhi rawa te Māori ki te rāngai, kaua noa hei kiritaki, engari hei kaiwaihanga, hei kaihoahoa, hei kaiurungi, hei kaiwaehere, hei kaiwhakahaere kaupapa anō hoki. Me uru rawa te Māori ki tēnei ahumahi e mātua whakaatahia ai, e mātua arongia anō ai ngā hiahia o te Māori i te hapori,” ko tā Te Wao.

Ehara i te mea ko ngā hapori me uaua ka kitea ki te rāngai mōhiohio hangarau anahe ērā ka whai hua i te whakawhanaketanga o te mātauranga Māori ki te rāngai. Ka whai hua hoki ko te rāngai tonu, i te nui ake o ngā kaimahi whai pūkenga e ahu mai ana i ngā ao kanorau. Ki a Vodafone, mā te pakari ake o ngā hononga ki te Māori, e pakari ake anō ai te kāhui whai pūkenga, e hua anō ai he māramatanga ki te ao hangarau nō tirohanga kē atu i tō te Pākehā e noho mātuatua nei i tēnei wā.

Mā te kaha ake o te aro ki ngā tikanga Māori, ka whai tānga manawa ngā kaimahi Māori i te haepapa kia pīkauria te taha ki ngā tikanga i te ao i te pō. Ko Precious Clark (Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri-O-Hau, Waikato, Ngāti He, Ngāti Pākehā) te tumu whakarae o Maurea Consulting. Kua kitea e ia te kawatau kia tōia e te Māori a ngāi kūare ki te ao Māori me Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ki te ao mārama. Ko tāna he hāpai i ngā pakihi pēnei me ANZ, me The Warehouse, me Microsoft, me Z Energy anō, kia tīmata ai te whakawhanaketanga o ngā pūkenga ahurea Māori puta i aua whakahaere.

“Ko mātou, ko te Māori, ka mate ki te whakapau wā, ki te whakapau kaha anō e whai māramatanga ai a Tauiwi, e mahi tahi mai ai rātou. He utu nui tērā ka pīkauria e mātou, ia te wā,” ko tāna.

“Me i oti i ēnei whakahaere ā rātou anō rangahau, ā rātou anō mahi whakawhanake pūkenga Māori, ka mārama ai ki tō rātou anō tūranga e ai ki Te Tiriti, ka oti i a rātou ētahi mahi nui e whai mōhiotanga ai rātou, e pai ake ai te āhua o te whakarato mai ki a mātou, mā mātou anō.”

He nui hoki ngā hua ka tūpono puta ki te rāngai tūmataiti hoki i tēnei māramatanga tauutuutu, ko tā Clark. E mōhiotia ana te pakari o te ohanga Māori, e $50 piriona te wāriu, inarā te wāriu mauroa kua hua i a ia i ngā ahumahi ahumatua. Ko tana whanaketanga, ko tana toitūtanga hei akoranga ki te nuinga o pakihi kē atu.

“Tōmua i te mate karauna, kotahi anahe te ahunga o te ohanga Māori, arā, he ahunga tupuranga. Me e whai ana tētahi whakahaere i Aotearoa kia whai hua i ngā moni e rērere haere ana i te ohanga o Aotearoa, ka whai take te whakarite kia aro ai, kia whai wāhi ai, kia mahi tahi anō ai ki te Māori,” ko tāna.

Kirstin Te Wao and Tuihana Ohia at the launch of Vodafone’s Honouring the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy in July (Photo: supplied)

I te nui haere o te ohanga Māori, kua nui haere hoki te kawatau i Aotearoa, e whai wāhi ai koe ki taua angitutanga, me kite rawa tō ū ki ngā mātāpono o Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ā, me ō pūkenga ā-ahurea Māori anō. Hei wāhi o ērā pūkenga ā-ahurea ko te whakamahinga o ētahi kupu, o ētahi uaratanga Māori anō. He rite tonu te whakamahia o ngā uaratanga pēnei i te “manaakitanga” me te “kaitiakitanga” e ngā pakihi Tauiwi, heoi anō ko tā Clark, ka mōhio tonu te Māori ko wai mā te hunga kāore i āta rangahau i te hōhonutanga o aua uaratanga rā.

“Ko au te hea mō taku iwi, mō Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. I te whakarite mātou i tētahi rautaki whare, me te whai kia kuhu atu ētahi ki ngā kāinga o ō mātou whānau kia kōrero ai i ngā kaupapa e hāngai ana ki ngā whare. I whakawhāitihia ngā kaitono ki ētahi whakahaere e rua, ka kī atu ai, ‘ka whakatauhia koutou ki tētahi pōwhiri, kia kite ai mātou he pēhea nei te whānui o ō koutou nā mōhioranga.”

Ngāwari noa tā te rōpū tuatahi kawe i a ia anō. Engari anō tērā atu, toremi katoa ana.

“I mārama tonu atu mātou, tē aro i a rātou ngā tikanga Māori. Ka tere kitea e mātou.”

Kāore hoki te kiritaki e kūare ki ērā whakahaere e ngutu kau nei te whakamahinga o ngā uaratanga Māori, ā, ka taka te wā, ka mārama noa ake te kitea, ko tā Wilson.

“Ka whai hua tonu i te ngutu kau, engari, ka tere kitea hoki te kiko kore. Me whakatauira ngā whanonga, inā hoki, ka kitea i te hekenga o te wā ko tō te whakahaere ngākau titikaha, ko te korenga rānei. Koia te matua – ko te whakatinanatanga o te kōrero, ko te kore rānei i pērā.”

I Vodafone, e oatitia ana taua whakatinanatanga, i te whakaūnga o ētahi oati hei paerewa, e hua ai he hononga whai tikanga ki te Māori. E mōhio pai ana a Te Wao, ko te kaupapa here nei hei tīmatanga noa. Ko te whakatutukihanga o te whāinga kei te āhua o tā Vodafone, i ōna taumata katoa, whakatinana ake.

“E kore e tika i a mātou, i te ao, i te pō, heoi anō rā, e takahia ana te ara, otirā, e ngākau titikaha ana mātou ki te mahi tahi ki te Māori e puta ai ngā hua pai rawa ki te Māori, ki a Vodafone, otirā, ki a Aotearoa.”

This story was translated by Pae Tū Ltd.

Keep going!

(Image: Tina Tiller)

PartnersSeptember 17, 2020

Honouring Te Tiriti: What businesses are learning from te ao Māori

Alice Webb-Liddall

Contributing writer

(Image: Tina Tiller)

Engaging with Te Tiriti o Waitangi isn’t mandated in the private sector like it is in the public sector. But businesses are discovering the wealth of knowledge to be found through meaningful engagement with Māori.

Read the Māori language version of this story here.

Embracing te ao Māori represents an opportunity for New Zealand businesses that gives them a unique perspective on the world that can bring profit and cultural purpose. It also creates a secure environment for Māori, often in industries where they’re underrepresented. Increasing cultural capability is a chance for businesses to communicate more fluently with Māori businesses. Pre Covid-19, the Māori economy was valued at $50 billion. Globally, te ao Māori has become a powerful marketing tool for New Zealand brands.

But the use of tikanga and te reo by the private sector can also be misguided. Culture can be appropriated and abused, and brands have used poorly translated words for business names, causing embarrassment for them and anger from Māori. In the “values” sections of many websites, you can learn about a company’s commitment to “manaakitanga” or “kaitiakitanga”, which doesn’t always come with a real understanding of the concepts, or appreciation of the responsibility they come with.

There can also be an unfair burden placed on Māori within organisations to be in-house cultural consultants on top of their day jobs. But by recognising their place as tangata Tiriti in Aotearoa, businesses can begin to engage with Māori in a way that embraces the promise of the Treaty partnership and brings financial and social benefits to both parties.

To coincide with Matariki in July, Vodafone announced a new policy: “Honouring the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi”. The policy aims to strengthen the relationships between the telecommunications company and Māori, both within the company and the Māori businesses Vodafone works with. First developed by the Vodafone Foundation and guided by Professor Mānuka Henare and Vodafone’s Pou Whakawhanake Māori (Head of Māori Development) Kirstin Te Wao (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Rangiteaorere, Ngāti Mahanga, Ngāti Hikairo and Ngāti Whātua o Ōrākei), the policy signifies Vodafone’s “commitment to honouring the Treaty and operating within a framework which allows us to express and celebrate the cultural diversity of Aotearoa New Zealand”.

Te Wao calls herself a “bit of an auntie” having worked at Vodafone for 13 years. She started on the customer operations team, helping people get their home phone and broadband connected. Since then she’s held a number of roles within the company, and one thing she’s observed over her time in the corporate environment is the expectation that Māori employees wear more hats than they necessarily signed up for.

“Relying on a few people to deliver business outcomes and also be the go-to-Māori within the organisation, that’s not sustainable,” she says.

“From our experience over the past ten years, we’re taking the approach of building cultural capability across the organisation. It’s important that all of our people have a clear understanding and ideally, a positive connection with te ao Māori and how that helps them in their role at Vodafone.”

Vodafone’s policy is laid out in a set of ten commitments to honour the Treaty, and “are guided by its interpretation of the principles of Te Tīriti”. These commitments include a deeper understanding of how the Treaty principles can be applied in a business context, the effective representation of Māori within the organisation, and “the ongoing organizational development, normalization and use of Māori language, practices and philosophies across the Vodafone business and community”. The policy also says that Vodafone may require new and existing suppliers to demonstrate their own dedication to working with Māori, leveraging their influence to create further opportunities for Māori.

Te Wao’s vision is to create a place where Māori entities can communicate with anyone in the company with the same level of understanding and respect, instead of relying on a few Māori employees to carry that weight. She wants Vodafone to be a place where Māori talent is fostered throughout the organisation.

“Kei hea tātou? Where are we? We are in Aotearoa New Zealand and so organisations operating in Aotearoa New Zealand have an obligation to make sure we’re working with Māori as tangata whenua in a meaningful, authentic and enduring way,” she says.

The benefit of a strengthened relationship between private sector companies and Māori organisations goes both ways. For Māori, it’s a declaration of intent to work together, which has the potential to strengthen Māori businesses and provide opportunities for Māori.

Che Wilson (Ngāti Rangi-Whanganui, Tūwharetoa, Mōkai Pātea, Ngāti Apa, Ngā Rauru), president of the Māori Party, singles out Air New Zealand as a private business that’s worked hard to create a strong relationship with Māori. Ngāti Porou signed a partnership agreement with Air New Zealand at the beginning of 2018 which, among other things, saw the inclusion of iwi-owned and farmed primary produce on flights.

“They’ve been able to develop and train all of their staff, and they’ve been able to segue into Māori-owned businesses for their food. You go into an international flight and you’ll see the different Māori-owned businesses that are providing food and wine on the menu and it just grows from there,” says Wilson

At Vodafone, Te Wao wants its policy to expand the digital access and fluency of some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable. Covid-19 lockdown exposed the reality of the digital inequalities that exist in marginalised communities in New Zealand, with rangatahi told to rely on online schooling and devices while schools were closed. The digital divide doesn’t just represent those who have access to devices or not; it’s as much about understanding how these technologies work and how to utilise them fully. In this environment, it’s unsurprising that Māori make up less than 2% of New Zealand’s IT industry.

“We need Māori participation in the sector not just as consumers, but as creators, designers, governors, coders, and project managers. We need Māori in this industry to be able to be sure that it’s reflective and catering to the needs of Māori in the community,” says Te Wao.

Developing Māori knowledge in the IT sector won’t only benefit these traditionally underrepresented communities, it will benefit the sector as well by creating more skilled workers from far more diverse backgrounds. For Vodafone, stronger relationships with Māori means a much stronger talent pool and understanding of technology, not just from the traditional Pākehā perspective that currently dominates it.

Greater engagement with tikanga also releases the burden on Māori employees to constantly carry that responsibility. Precious Clark (Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri-O-Hau, Waikato, Ngāti He, Ngāti Pākehā) is the chief executive at Maurea Consulting and has seen the expectation placed on Māori to provide other people with an understanding of te ao Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi. She helps businesses like ANZ, The Warehouse, Microsoft and Z Energy do the cultural groundwork to build cultural competence across the organisation.

“As Māori, we’re the ones who have to invest all of our time and energy in educating non-Māori so that they engage with us. We bear the burden of that cost every single time,” she says.

“If all of these organisations did their own due diligence and their own cultural competency development and came to understand their own Treaty position, then they would have traversed significant ground in their own education process in order to be better at delivering to us and delivering for us.”

The benefit of this mutual understanding has huge potential for the private sector too, says Clark. The $50 billion Māori economy has proven its strength, creating lasting value particularly in the primary industries. Its growth and longevity is something most businesses can learn a lot from.

“Prior to Covid-19, the Māori economy had only one trajectory and it was a trajectory of growth,” she says. “If you want to be an organisation in New Zealand benefiting from the dollar that circulates in the New Zealand economy, it makes sense to get yourself ready for engagement, participation and partnership with Māori.”

With the rise of the Māori economy, there’s also a rise in expectation across New Zealand that if you want to take advantage of that success you need to demonstrate a commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and some cultural competency. Part of that cultural competency covers the use of Māori words and values. Values like “manaakitanga” and “kaitiakitanga” are often used by non-Māori businesses, but Clark says Māori will always be able to spot those who haven’t done their research on what they actually mean.

“[When] I was the chairperson for my tribe of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, we were developing a housing strategy and wanted people to be able to go into our whānau homes and have conversations with them about housing-related kaupapa. We shortlisted the finalists down to two potential organisations and we told them ‘we’re going to put you through a pōwhiri process because we want to see what you know.”

The first group sailed through. The other organisation didn’t know what to do.

“That told us instantly that they didn’t know tikanga. We sniff you out.”

Consumers also aren’t blind to those companies using Māori values disingenuously, and over time it becomes easier to distinguish, says Wilson.

“You’ll get some really good value added by having window dressing, but you’ll also get found out really quickly. We have to model behaviour because you can check entities over a period of time to see how committed they are. That’s the key – whether there’s follow through or not.”

At Vodafone, the new policy promises that follow-through by giving the company a clear set of commitments to be held to in order to create meaningful relationships with Māori. Te Wao knows the policy is only the beginning, and the proof will be in how Vodafone, at all levels of the organisation, practices it.

“We’re not always going to get it right but we are on the journey and we are committed to working with Māori to get the best outcomes for Māori, Vodafone and Aotearoa.”