{"id":93329,"date":"2025-10-22T02:10:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T02:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/93329\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T02:10:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T02:10:08","slug":"researchers-say-nz-parks-still-carry-colonial-scars-te-ao-maori-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/93329\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers say NZ parks still carry colonial scars \u2013 Te Ao M\u0101ori News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was first published by RNZ <\/a><\/p>\n

Is it time for parks and reserves to better uphold Te Tiriti? Two researchers believe so.<\/p>\n

After finding gaps in legislation, University of Otago – \u014ct\u0101kou Whakaihu Waka researchers Dr Robin Quigg (Ng\u0101ti Raukawa) and Els Russell (Ng\u0101ti Maru) examined what extent do indigenous rights have on managed public land.<\/p>\n

The co-authored paper published in Local Environment, the International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, investigated how parks and reserves in Aotearoa have historically been used as colonial tools in the formation of settler nations, disrupting indigenous peoples\u2019 connections to their lands.<\/p>\n

They also looked into names of Dunedin City Council parks and reserves, concluding that 75 percent were named in Tangata Tiriti remembrance while seven percent of its reserves had names that reflect Kai Tahu r\u016bnaka histories and values.<\/p>\n

For example, Roberts Park derived from Sir John Roberts, a Dunedin businessman, mayor and provincial councillor, and Caversham (reserve) was named after early English settler William Henry Valpy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross Aotearoa New Zealand, parks and reserves demonstrate the lasting impact of land alienation, a pain still deeply felt today, with reserves demonstrating that while unoccupied, they continue to carry colonial histories in such features as their names, the activities facilitated, and types and patterns of vegetation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhose version of nature are we seeing in those straight rows of poplars by the sports ground, or in parks named after someone else\u2019s great-great-grandfather who sat on a Domain Board?\u201d Quigg questioned.<\/p>\n

The Reserves Act 1977 governs the acquisition, management, and preservation of more than 10,000 reserves in Aotearoa with over half in control of local councils – its managers are required to uphold M\u0101ori values and align with the rights guaranteed under Te Tiriti.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile parks and reserves are public land, the Act requires the land to be categorised in ways that exclude M\u0101ori values, even when the land was compulsorily acquired from M\u0101ori hap\u016b and whanau.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their study used Critical Tiriti Analysis, a methodological approach developed by M\u0101ori scholars, to assess the Act\u2019s responsiveness to Te Tiriti and find ways to incorporate M\u0101ori perspectives in public land management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Act] reinforces and reminds us that colonialism is not only in the past… Many of us experience its legacy daily, in how we think about nature, and what counts as \u2018natural\u2019 in our towns and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty) and \u014dritetanga (equality), both guaranteed by Te Tiriti, are not specifically noted to be upheld by the Act. As a result, M\u0101ori rights in parks and reserves management rely heavily on the attitudes and awareness of those implementing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said M\u0101ori wh\u0101nau, hap\u016b, their histories, values, and practices have long been marginalised and excluded from dominant narratives and systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been done through forced acquisition of land that becomes parks and reserves, relocations, renaming of places, restricting access to traditional spaces, and causing environmental degradation to culturally significant landmarks and areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is time for these areas to better represent M\u0101ori histories, values, and relationships to the land, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven that the legislation guiding parks and reserves management in Aotearoa fails to uphold Te Tiriti, it is incumbent upon policymakers, as public servants, to fairly acknowledge M\u0101ori wh\u0101nau and hap\u016b, whose histories, values, and practices have long been marginalised and excluded from dominant narratives and systems.<\/p>\n

The duo argues that true partnership under Te Tiriti may require the \u201cuncoupling\u201d of M\u0101ori land from the Reserves Act 1977 to restore tino rangatiratanga of ancestral lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrong connections to land are vital to M\u0101ori well-being and worth defending,\u201d Quigg said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was first published by RNZ Is it time for parks and reserves to better uphold Te…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38390,111,43,139,69,1518],"class_list":["post-93329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-colonisation","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}