David Wicks

D Dawson writes (Beacon July 16) that his argument against Māori wards is that “We do not have separate wards for Dutch, German, Asian or Indian people”.

Mr Dawson ignores that Māori in Aotearoa have a vastly different history to all the other nationalities that make up our nation.

For approximately 800 years, they were sole occupiers of Aotearoa; they are the original indigenous people of this country and that alone is exceptionally difference from other settlers.

In modern terms throughout those centuries, it was their country. They are the tangata whenua, “the people of the land”.

With the coming of European settlers, and without going into detail, such was the disruption to Māori way of life that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.

It is a foundational agreement signed in 1840 between the British Crown and Māori chiefs in New Zealand, establishing a framework for British sovereignty and Māori rights and governance. It is a legally binding document and another major point of difference between Māori and other settlers/immigrants to this country.

Many Māori leaders in the 1850-60s felt that aspects of Te Tiriti were being disregarded, especially over land purchase.

Their protests were interpreted as threatening enough that Governor Grey asked for colonial troops – around 10 English regiments, between 14,000 to 18,000 troops, to be sent to New Zealand.

The result of this invasion was that many tribes, especially in areas such as Waikato, Taranaki and our own Bay of Plenty, were defeated/conquered. They lost much of their land, with the result that their culture was suppressed.

They succumbed to poverty and the problems associated, disease, poor health,  and faced discrimination in education and housing, and were barred for many years from voting in a European system.

Most Māori, even those tribes that had fought on the side of the government or remained neutral, became second-class citizens in their own country.

It is a positive that as a nation we have so many different cultures, but Māori have history in this country that goes back centuries before the arrival of any other races.

That is a vital difference. It has taken this country years to begin to right some of the wrongs that Māori suffered. We have made progress in many areas to ensure aspects of Te Tiriti have been upheld and this needs to continue.

Lesley Immink in her opinion piece (Beacon July 15) gives a very positive answer to what should be the main question on the value of Māori wards. That is, how successful they have been over the last term of council.

In her opinion, very. We must vote for keeping Māori wards for the good of not only our community, but for our country.

Māori do have a very special place in this country. This needs to be fully acknowledged.

That is why it is important we keep working together to ensure our nation progresses harmoniously.