Press Release

Network Waitangi Whangarei

January 26, 2009

State of the (Pakeha) Nation 2009
 

What:  State of the (Pakeha) Nation speeches

When:  Wednesday Feb 4, 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Where:  NorthTec Interactive Learning Centre, Raumanga Valley Road

Who:  Dr Ingrid Huygens and Robert Consedine, hosted by Network Waitangi           Whangarei, supported by the Commemorating Waitangi Day Fund and NorthTec

Why:  To reflect on the Treaty of Waitangi relationship from a non-Maori perspective

Two of the country’s leading Pakeha writers on the Treaty of Waitangi relationship, Robert Consedine and Ingrid Huygens, will be speaking at a public meeting in Whangarei on February 4.

The Wednesday lunchtime event starts at 12.30 in the lecture theatre at NorthTec.

The two speakers will also take part in a Treaty forum hosted by the Taumata Kaumatua o Ngapuhi at Waitangi.

Robert Consedine is the author, with his daughter Joanna, of “Healing Our History – The Challenge of the Treaty of Waitangi”.  He has been facilitating Treaty workshops for more than 20 years, working with government departments, councils and NGO groups across the country.

Ingrid Huygens last year earned a doctorate from the University of Waikato for her thesis on the changes many Pakeha experience as they learn about the Treaty.  She has also been a community educator for many years, recently working with others to create a learning resource, “Treaty People”, for new migrants.

Dr Huygens will also be facilitating a lunchtime workshop for new migrants living in Whangarei on Thursday February 5, at noon in the library’s May Bain Room.  The event is organized by Settlement Support NZ-Whangarei, and those interested in registering can contact Ellen Altshuler at the district council.

At the NorthTec event, Network Waitangi will launch a revised edition of “The Treaty of Waitangi – Questions and Answers”, first written in 1989. The update includes new questions which aim to explain in simple language the foreshore and seabed issue, the United Nations interest in the Treaty relationship (including the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), and concepts such as cultural competence and Treaty-based constitutional change.

The booklet, edited collectively by independent non-Maori community educators, is aimed at those new to the Treaty, but is also for those who want to refresh and update their knowledge.  At $10.00, it will also be available at the group’s information stall at Waitangi on the 5th and 6th, otherwise from the lead distributor, The Treaty Resource Centre, at www.trc.org.nz. Copies of the previous three years’ State of the Pakeha Nation speeches are also on this website, and this year’s speeches will be added on February 4.

The Speakers

Robert Consedine

Robert Consedine was a co-founder of Project Waitangi in the mid-1980s and has worked as a full time Treaty Education Worker in Aotearoa for the last 20 years. In this work he has promoted Pakeha responsibility for the Treaty relationship through an accelerated two-day process covering global and domestic colonisation; the policies of colonial governments; the contemporary Maori political struggle and the changes since the 1970s.

Robert is the co-author (with his daughter Joanna) of  Healing Our History – The Challenge of the Treaty of Waitangi Penguin 2001/2005.
 
In the 1990s he introduced the Treaty workshop process to Canadian groups and in the 2005 election campaign he was No 6 on the Maori Party list.

Dr Ingrid Huygens

Ingrid Huygens is a community psychologist who has specialised in Treaty education and consultancy with non-government organisations.

Her PhD investigated processes of community, organisational and personal change reported by Pakeha when they learn about the Treaty.  She visited community groups in every region in the country, and analysed 16 organisations' journeys of Treaty-focused change.  Her theory of change in the Maori-Pakeha relationship has been described internationally as ground-breaking work. 

She is a first generation New Zealander of Dutch parents, based at Waikato University.  

Ends

© Scoop Media