Post by Kiwi Frontline on Sept 12, 2019 6:54:54 GMT 12
Otago Daily Times 12/9/19
TREATY OF WAITANGI
THE call for the teaching of New Zealand’s history in schools, especially of the Treaty of Waitangi, could have considerable merit.
However, the History Teachers’ Association (ODT, 30.8.19) doesn’t specify which ‘‘version’’ of the Treaty it has in mind.
Gibberish such as ‘‘spirit’’, ‘‘living document’’, ‘‘principles’’ and ‘‘partnership’’ have arisen from uncertainties in meaning due to the loss of the final Treaty draft in English.
In its absence, backtranslations were attempted at various times from Maori to English.
There was also a composite ‘‘Royal Style’’ version assembled from early notes on February 5,
1840, mistakingly taken to be the final draft. Consequent discrepancies in meaning provided an invitation for adventurous assertion and opinion.
The courts and Waitangi Tribunal have had a leading role. Their early determinations have been used as precedent for increasingly extravagant claims about the Treaty, and history.
Little attempt has been made to go back to primary sources, particularly since 1989 when the final draft of February 4 was rediscovered.
This is the Mother Document of the Treaty. It removes doubt as to the latter’s meaning. No earnest historian or educator can continue to ignore its existence nor provenance.
The association could take a lead and ensure that what it seeks to impose on the young and impressionable is founded on best currentday knowledge. This will require the discarding of most of what has been on offer to date.
BRUCE MASON, Ranfurly
Dominion Post 12/9/19
MISSIONARIES HAD A HAND IN LANGUAGE
In Maori Language Week I think it would be timely to acknowledge how our indigenous people acquired a written language – a tribute to our early settlers and missionaries.
When the Rev Samuel Marsden arrived in 1814, followed by Henry and William Williams, they brought the Latin alphabet with them. From 1814 missionaries tried to define sounds of the spoken language they heard. Linguist Professor Samuel Lee worked with Chief Hongi Hika at Cambridge University, in England, in 1820 to systematise a written language. The resultant phonetic spellings have been remarkably successful as Lee’s orthography continues in use with only minor changes.
It was reported by missionaries that in 1820 Maori were learning to read and write using leaves, wood or hides where there was an absence of paper.
It would be good to read of the benefits of colonisation with literacy, education and a written language when there is so much negativity.
GILLIAN FEIST, Waikanae
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers
TREATY OF WAITANGI
THE call for the teaching of New Zealand’s history in schools, especially of the Treaty of Waitangi, could have considerable merit.
However, the History Teachers’ Association (ODT, 30.8.19) doesn’t specify which ‘‘version’’ of the Treaty it has in mind.
Gibberish such as ‘‘spirit’’, ‘‘living document’’, ‘‘principles’’ and ‘‘partnership’’ have arisen from uncertainties in meaning due to the loss of the final Treaty draft in English.
In its absence, backtranslations were attempted at various times from Maori to English.
There was also a composite ‘‘Royal Style’’ version assembled from early notes on February 5,
1840, mistakingly taken to be the final draft. Consequent discrepancies in meaning provided an invitation for adventurous assertion and opinion.
The courts and Waitangi Tribunal have had a leading role. Their early determinations have been used as precedent for increasingly extravagant claims about the Treaty, and history.
Little attempt has been made to go back to primary sources, particularly since 1989 when the final draft of February 4 was rediscovered.
This is the Mother Document of the Treaty. It removes doubt as to the latter’s meaning. No earnest historian or educator can continue to ignore its existence nor provenance.
The association could take a lead and ensure that what it seeks to impose on the young and impressionable is founded on best currentday knowledge. This will require the discarding of most of what has been on offer to date.
BRUCE MASON, Ranfurly
Dominion Post 12/9/19
MISSIONARIES HAD A HAND IN LANGUAGE
In Maori Language Week I think it would be timely to acknowledge how our indigenous people acquired a written language – a tribute to our early settlers and missionaries.
When the Rev Samuel Marsden arrived in 1814, followed by Henry and William Williams, they brought the Latin alphabet with them. From 1814 missionaries tried to define sounds of the spoken language they heard. Linguist Professor Samuel Lee worked with Chief Hongi Hika at Cambridge University, in England, in 1820 to systematise a written language. The resultant phonetic spellings have been remarkably successful as Lee’s orthography continues in use with only minor changes.
It was reported by missionaries that in 1820 Maori were learning to read and write using leaves, wood or hides where there was an absence of paper.
It would be good to read of the benefits of colonisation with literacy, education and a written language when there is so much negativity.
GILLIAN FEIST, Waikanae
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers