image credit: Massey University

Click here to listen to a conversation with Sir Mason Durie

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Professor of Māori Research and Development & Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Māori & Pasifika), Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand, statesman and elder (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa, Rangitane tribes) talks about the global indigenous movement, Maori participation and Maori as global citizens.

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See below for a transcription of this conversation:

Mason Durie:I think that the indigenous rejuvenation and reassertion is in fact a global movement. It’s not, It is certainly not unique to Maori and so by getting involved in that there is already a move to be part of a global movement and global citizenship has got more than one meaning in this sense and that in enables Maori to be part of the indigenous world movement and that’s been quite important I think as, and not only important in terms of a sense of solidarity that economically is going to be important too you can imagine business ventures and economic where you’ll get preferred providers who might haven’t be Indigenous whether it is in fishing or some other arrangement.

So I think that Maori if there hadn’t been this rejuvenation and revitalization the sense of being Indigenous would not have escalated to the degree that it is at now so that we can participate as citizens in that sense. But then the other point is, that certainly from our end, we’ve had this slogan since 2001 which is now part of the education department’s broad direction for Maori education is that it should be possible for Maori to live as Maori and be citizens of the world. And so we’ve got that joint, dual pathway, and the sense now in education, I don’t think they are doing a particularly great job in doing it, one should not be at the expense of the other, need not be at the expense of the other. being-Living as Maori and being citizens of the world are joint requirements in modern times and the education policy needs to be able to see that as possible, that you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. And then because Maori mobility has just sort of escalated.

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