Post by Kiwi Frontline on Oct 9, 2019 4:44:49 GMT 12
Otago Daily Times 9/10/19
IWI REPRESENTATION
Regarding Donna Matehaere’s letter to the editor (28.9.19).
The notion of reserved seats for iwi runanga in local government is really an expedience for courting Te Runanga of Ngai Tahu money through formal local runanga conduits.
I say this as a Maori landowner who despairs of any notion that aims to create both reserved council seats for corporate entities and encourages privileged ethnic division.
IRIAN SCOTT Port Chalmers
Dominion Post 9/10/19
CHALLENGES IN TEACHING OUR HISTORY
Congratulations on a very balanced editorial on Monday, dealing with James Cook's arrival in New Zealand. It was the most balanced account of this event I have yet seen in the New Zealand media.
But the letter from Tony Orman on the same day, noting that TVNZ had described Cook's arrival in 1769 as the "first encounter between Maori and Europeans", illustrates the challenge we face in getting our history taught with accuracy.
The Dutchman Abel Tasman had encountered Maori more than a century before Cook's arrival.
This error may be regarded as a bit trivial. Much more serious would be creating the impression that the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s were the major source of violent bloodshed in the 19th century, whereas in fact the roughly 3000 people who lost their lives in those battles were outnumbered at least tenfold by those killed in the inter-tribal battles which occurred before 1840.
I welcome the commitment to teach all schoolchildren something of our nation's history. Let's try to ensure that that history is as accurate as possible.
The person who wrote the Stuff editorial on Monday could be a useful person to help with the drafting!
DON BRASH, Auckland
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers
IWI REPRESENTATION
Regarding Donna Matehaere’s letter to the editor (28.9.19).
The notion of reserved seats for iwi runanga in local government is really an expedience for courting Te Runanga of Ngai Tahu money through formal local runanga conduits.
I say this as a Maori landowner who despairs of any notion that aims to create both reserved council seats for corporate entities and encourages privileged ethnic division.
IRIAN SCOTT Port Chalmers
Dominion Post 9/10/19
CHALLENGES IN TEACHING OUR HISTORY
Congratulations on a very balanced editorial on Monday, dealing with James Cook's arrival in New Zealand. It was the most balanced account of this event I have yet seen in the New Zealand media.
But the letter from Tony Orman on the same day, noting that TVNZ had described Cook's arrival in 1769 as the "first encounter between Maori and Europeans", illustrates the challenge we face in getting our history taught with accuracy.
The Dutchman Abel Tasman had encountered Maori more than a century before Cook's arrival.
This error may be regarded as a bit trivial. Much more serious would be creating the impression that the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s were the major source of violent bloodshed in the 19th century, whereas in fact the roughly 3000 people who lost their lives in those battles were outnumbered at least tenfold by those killed in the inter-tribal battles which occurred before 1840.
I welcome the commitment to teach all schoolchildren something of our nation's history. Let's try to ensure that that history is as accurate as possible.
The person who wrote the Stuff editorial on Monday could be a useful person to help with the drafting!
DON BRASH, Auckland
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers