Author: Moana Jackson

The upcoming Crown commemorations of James Cook’s voyages are “part of a wider narrative in which racism has been denied more often than it has been acknowledged”.

“The Christchurch terrorist was not some ‘lone wolf’ psychopath. He may have acted alone, but he drew upon the shared ideas and history that still lurk in the shadows of every country that has been colonised.”

“The so-called humanitarian colonisers who came here in the 19th century did not necessarily hate Maori. Indeed, they sometimes professed to love us and simply wanted to dispossess us in a sensitive and caring way.”

“All that has come out of the moko kauae debate is that, as Māori, we’re still having to justify ourselves in order to appease those who think that what is ours should also be theirs.”