Today, record numbers of tauiwi (settlers, including tauiwi of colour) are identifying as tangata tiriti (people whose relationship with Aotearoa rests on Te Tiriti o Waitangi). At the same time, what it means to be tangata tiriti is less than clear. Who might this term relate to? What might it say about the responsibilities of tauiwi and the relationship between tauiwi and tangata whenua? What might it mean for how we share power as a nation? (Spoiler: constitutional transformation based on Tikanga Māori, Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga, as outlined in the Matike Mai report.) Above all, where might we look to find the beginnings of answers to these questions? My PhD ponders these questions, weaving together existing research on tikanga, Te Tiriti and tauiwi cultures. I weave and write from my position as tangata tiriti and tauiwi of colour, accountable to tangata whenua, my own peoples - including the rainbow community - and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. I weave in relationship with the question "nō wai mātou?" - if tangata tiriti look upstream, which rivers will we see flowing into us?

About the speaker: Etienne Wain (he/any) is Peranakan Malaysian-Chinese (Hakka, Hainanese) and Pākehā (English, Scottish). He grew up in Ōtautahi Christchurch and has called Pōneke home for the last 10 years. Etienne is in their third year of PhD study with Te Kauhanganui Tātai Ture, the Faculty of Law at Te Herenga Waka, writing on what it means to be tangata tiriti. Alongside this research, Etienne sings with the Wellington Youth Choir and writes poetry from their position as a queer Chinese tangata tiriti artist. 

About the chair: Māmari Stephens (Te Rarawa) has been with the Faculty of Law since January 2006 after several years studying, and working in Corrections & Māori broadcasting. From 2008 until 2015 Māmari, along with Assistant Professor Mary Boyce formerly of the University of Hawai’i, ran the Legal Māori Project. Her primary research interests are law and language, Māori and the New Zealand legal system, and social security law. 

Please note this seminar will be held in RH207 at our Pipitea campus and online via Zoom. 

This seminar is part of a regular series organised by the Rainbow Research Network. For more information or to get involved, contact rainbowresearch@vuw.ac.nz.