Unity and yet to be explored possibilities.

There seems to be no agreed focus of unity around which Zionist settlers and indigenous Arabs can come together. We ended our discussion in a somewhat gloomy mood. One participant feared we might be on the edge of World War III. Perhaps the far-right Zionist government will reach its long-held goal of getting rid of the Palestinian presence. As a Zionist cabinet minister recently said, “The Palestinians have three options: submit to us, migrate to another place, stay and face death”. We concluded with some searching questions ringing in our ears: Can we as a human race escape from the cycles of violence in which we imprison ourselves? Can we learn to live creatively with diversity? Or are we doomed to live in never ending conflict with those who live and believe differently?

As I drove home I reflected how fortunate we are to have the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of our nation, but more than that, also a focus of unity for our life together, a pointer toward possibilities yet to be fulfilled, a document that since 1840 has come to be the bearer of creative and needed possibilities not imagined by those who signed it. Over recent decades parliaments and the courts have concluded that the enduring and ever relevant basis of the Treaty is that Māori and Pakeha, indigenous owners of this land and settlers from other places, are committed to and have the capacity to live in a respectful and caring partnership. But it requires disciplined effort.

The Treaty was written and signed in 1840 to address a particular set of aspirations and circumstances. But it means more than its writers and signers could imagine. Like Magna Carta in Britain, the Declaration of Independence in USA, and other founding documents in other places it continues to be a guide and a focus of unity for all who by birth or by choice call Aotearoa New Zealand home. It represents possibilities that may help guide us through the difficult decades that lie before us. But Treaty-based possibilities must be chosen afresh in every generation and by every group who come to our shores.

The Treaty presents us with an ongoing question: ‘Can we build a society where two races, two distinctive cultures, can share together in building a community where each group’s wisdom, history and ways of meeting human need are respected and expressed? The Treaty response is that it may be possible and we’ll give it a go even when it’s taking us into unchartered territory. The brief but bold description in Te Tiriti, of a society where settler and Māori leadership and values are both respected and enabled to flourish, represents a possibility yet to be fully enacted. Considerable progress towards this elusive goal has taken place in recent decades and it is tragic that the present coalition government wants to turn back the clock and dampen down Māori Treaty -based aspirations. It is a socially destructive path being built by politicians some of whom are clearly historically ignorant, greedy for power, racist, uncaring and culturally tone deaf.

The church was present at the signing of the Treaty - we are in a sense among the guarantors of the Treaty and its possibilities. Local Māori leaders say it is time for Pakeha and later settlers to speak up in support of continuing Treaty based possibilities. As we move into a particularly difficult period of human living shaped by the challenges of climate change, environmental destruction, a growing gap between rich and poor, the possibilities and perils of artificial intelligence, the accumulated wisdom of both Settler and Māori New Zealanders will be needed. Western capitalist greed and disrespect for each other and for the environment will be a poor guide into the future we face. The treaty provides an appropriate focus of unity and possibility as we travel into tomorrow’s uncertainties. Unlike the people in contemporary Palestine/Israel we do not live in a darkened room without doors or windows; we are held together by a Treaty and its’ still to be explored possibilities. It’s an experiment in nation building that is still in progress.