Reconciling the Treaty - 8 Alistair Reese
Three Voices at Waitangi; a Sacred Public Square Dr Alistair Reese is a farmer, public theologian, and historian. Alistair’s research focuses on Reconciliation, Colonisation and Te Tiriti/Treaty of Waitangi. His writing includes a particular emphasis on Pākehā identity and how to live in a colonised land. He holds postgraduate degrees in History, Tikanga Māori and a PhD in Theology from University of Auckland. Alistair is a Research Affiliate in the School of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago. He lives on a farm in Paengaroa in the district of Tapuika/Waitaha. On February 6th 1840 in Waitangi, there were three representative voices at the Treaty table: the British Crown, Rangatira Māori and the church. Each of the three voices operated within an assumption that the occasion, the document and the place was sacred. Almost a century later, in 1934, the then Governor-General of NZ, Lord Bledisloe gifted the Waitangi Treaty grounds back to the nation. He stated: “Let Waitangi be a tatau pounamu for us all, a symbol of peace and unity”. He then prayed: “O God....grant that this sacred compact then made in these waters may be faithfully and honourably kept for all times to come”. Covenantal and sacred language. In the fading sacred pubic square of his day, Bledisloe proposed to the nation that the Treaty of Waitangi still provided a pathway of reconciliation. Here I argue, however, in order to be reconciled by the treaty, we need to further reconcile the treaty with its context. A contextual interpretation invites the listener into a historico-theological space of karakia, metaphor, biblical neologisms, and covenantal ontology. This paper proposes that viewing the treaty as a theological document helps to reconcile the treaty to its context, add depth to the national conversation and enhances its original reconciliatory intentions.
Three Voices at Waitangi; a Sacred Public Square Dr Alistair Reese is a farmer, public theologian, and historian. Alistair’s research focuses on Reconciliation, Colonisation and Te Tiriti/Treaty of Waitangi. His writing includes a particular emphasis on Pākehā identity and how to live in a colonised land. He holds postgraduate degrees in History, Tikanga Māori and a PhD in Theology from University of Auckland. Alistair is a Research Affiliate in the School of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago. He lives on a farm in Paengaroa in the district of Tapuika/Waitaha. On February 6th 1840 in Waitangi, there were three representative voices at the Treaty table: the British Crown, Rangatira Māori and the church. Each of the three voices operated within an assumption that the occasion, the document and the place was sacred. Almost a century later, in 1934, the then Governor-General of NZ, Lord Bledisloe gifted the Waitangi Treaty grounds back to the nation. He stated: “Let Waitangi be a tatau pounamu for us all, a symbol of peace and unity”. He then prayed: “O God....grant that this sacred compact then made in these waters may be faithfully and honourably kept for all times to come”. Covenantal and sacred language. In the fading sacred pubic square of his day, Bledisloe proposed to the nation that the Treaty of Waitangi still provided a pathway of reconciliation. Here I argue, however, in order to be reconciled by the treaty, we need to further reconcile the treaty with its context. A contextual interpretation invites the listener into a historico-theological space of karakia, metaphor, biblical neologisms, and covenantal ontology. This paper proposes that viewing the treaty as a theological document helps to reconcile the treaty to its context, add depth to the national conversation and enhances its original reconciliatory intentions.