Despite the promises of the Treaty of Waitangi, māori and pakeha relations in New Zealand since the signing of the treaty have not been a partnership of two peoples developing a nation, but political, social and economic domination by the pakeha majority and the marginalization of the māori people through armed struggle, bias legislation and educational initiatives and policies that promoted pakeha knowledge codes at the expense of māori. Despite there being a myth of New Zealand being ‘one people’ with equal opportunities, results of this domination remain evident today.

The above is an excerpt from Culture Counts: changing power relations in education by Russell Bishop and Ted Glynn available to purchase at Dumore press.