The misconception that Māori have more privilege than Pākehā is kept alive today for the same reasons it evolved back in the 19th century – to maintain a cultural power imbalance, says historian Dr Peter Meihana.
He explores how this centuries-old myth has been used to constrain Māori people in his book Privilege in Perpetuity.
Dr Peter Meihana Photo: Rebecca McMillan
Peter Meihana (front) with his father and brother Photo: Supplied
Professor Meihana (Ngāti Kuia, Rangitāne, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō and Ngāi Tahu) grew up in a Māori family in Marlborough yet due to the skin-whitening effects of an autoimmune disorder most people now perceive him as Pākehā.
After being the target of racism as a child, the Massey University lecturer developed a condition called vitiligo in his 20s.
The experience of being presumed Pākehā in later life has shown him how having white skin affords more "privilege" than having brown skin in Aotearoa, Meihana says.
"I can walk into space with my brother who is outwardly Māori and you can feel changes [in the air] for him. For me, I'm invisible. I can walk in and out of places and my skin colour doesn't play a part."
The myth of Māori privilege originated in two key moments, Meihana says – Captain James Cook's arrival in the Pacific and the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
In an act of "intellectual privileging", Cook compared and contrasted Māori with other indigenous people and deemed them less "savage" than Aboriginal Australians but not as "civilised" as Taihitians, he says.
By the time the Tiriti was signed in 1840, the Crown felt they were perfectly placed to tutor, protect and "civilise" Māori people and turn them into "good brown-skinned Protestant farmers".
To support the idea that Māori people needed external help to be less "savage", Meihana says people often reference the so-called Musket Wars of 1807 and 1837 – a 30-year period of war when Māori tribes made use of new weapons to settle old disputes.
"The so-called Musket Wars came to an end because Māori decided they wanted them to end. That was a Māori decision to do that.
"We had our own tikanga when it came to being in conflict … I'm a descendant of marriages that occurred to bring about peace."
In his childhood home of Wairau, Meihana encourages rangatahi to connect to their Māori heritage.
"Often you'll have boys who are the direct descendants of an ancestor and once you connect those boys to that ancestor … you can actually see a physical change in their posture. You can see them brimming with pride. I belong to this person. It's really, really nice to see."
