Untold histories of Aotearoa

In term 2 our class continued our learning of Aotearoa NZ Histories by studying the ‘Dawn raids. The ‘Dawn Raids’ happened in the early 1970’s where mainly Pasifika people were racially targeted and deported back to where they came from, even though New Zealand was in high demand of workers years before this happened.

We learnt more about the ‘Dawn Raids’ through reading different articles in school journals and articles found online. Our class also read the novel ‘Dawn Raids’ by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith, which is a book from the perspective of a girl who went through the Dawn Raids named Sofia Savea. The book gave us a better understanding on what it would’ve been like living through the Dawn Raids. We also read some stories in journals, which gave us a little more information. As well as books and articles, we got to watch a video that had people who actually experienced the Dawn Raids which gave us a real point of view on what happened and what it would’ve felt like for our people in the 1970’s.

Rm 9 decided to learn more about the Dawn Raids because it is an important part of Aotearoa's history. This year, Jacinda Ardern announced there was going to be a formal apology to our Pasifika community for the 1970’s Dawn Raids. This had great effects on the people involved, and still to this day these actions by the Government had affected them 50 years on. We watched the formal apology in class and this was a special moment for us, as we felt this was needed for our Pasifika people to move on and move forward.

Our Tangata Pasifika class also learnt about the Dawn Raids because it was important to us as Pasifika students to know what the Dawn Raids were and how it affected people of our cultural backgrounds. We enjoyed learning about the history of Pasifika people living in Aotearoa, but it was also sad knowing what things Pasifika people had to go through and this was only 50 years ago. When we had learnt about the Dawn Raids, we were so interested about it and wanted to know more.

Through studying about the Dawn raids we were also fascinated about ‘The Polynesian Panthers’. This group was formed in the 1970’s during the Dawn Raids and this movement was similar to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in the US. We agreed that we should try and reach out to the Polynesian Panthers to see if they could come and visit Tangata Pasifika to tell more about the Dawn raids. We were so excited that they had agreed to come and talk to us, but unfortunately in the end our dates couldn’t match the ones they were able to do.

Learning about ‘The Polynesian Panthers’ and the work they did during the ‘Dawn Raids’ was awesome. For Great Stories this term I (Makayla) have decided to do my project on ‘The Polynesian Panthers’ as they are quite influential in my eyes. They did a lot of work for our people and stood up for our rights when the Government was against us. They have a great story and their work in supporting young Pasifika should be celebrated. We have both enjoyed learning about our untold Pacific histories and we hope to learn even more.