Decolonising in Aotearoa: Recent Episodes
Decolonising in Aotearoa
Decolonising in Aotearoa is a Kaupapa Māori podcast that focusses on promoting kōrero and whakaaro about the process of decolonisation for ngā tāngata katoa. Decolonising in Aotearoa is hosted by Paaka Edwards and is written and produced by Wetere Paki. In each new episode, Paaka hosts a new manuwhiri who bring with them a specific pūkenga or set of skills. Together, Paaka and the manuwhiri wānanga about the process of decolonisation in relation to their own experiences as tāngata Māori, and how this process is applied by the manuwhiri in the practice of their pūkenga. The name, ‘Decolonising in Aotearoa’ was chosen specifically as it speaks about the process of decolonisation in the present tense. This is to remind us as tāngata that decolonisation is an on-going process, as it sits in response to colonisation, which exists in both the external environment around us, and internally, in our own minds.
In this episode, we will discuss the process of identifying sites within ourselves and our surrounding environments which are colonised, and how we might go about transforming these sites through decolonisation. The first site that we will concentrate on is our own cultural identity as taangata whenua.
In this episode we will look at some of the colonial narratives around Maaori identity: how these narratives and associated imagery are communicated to us as a colonised people who are living in colonial settler state, and what function this narrative serves in upholding colonisation.
Beginning to Decolonise our Minds
What does it mean when we say our minds are colonised? And how do we then become aware of this so that we can begin to decolonise our minds?
In this episode, Paaka talks about how our minds have and continue to be colonised, how this affects the relationship between one another and why it is important to think critically about our own thoughts, beliefs, perspectives, values, and actions.
Before we can begin to talk about the concept and process of decolonisation, we must first examine the process of colonisation, specifically what informs the colonisation of ngā tāngata Māori in Aotearoa, both in historical and contemporary times.
In this episode, Paaka shares a version of a speech that he gave at the University of Toronto on the topic of Indigenous Experiences of Racism and Settler Colonialism. Paaka spoke from the perspective of a tangata Māori, interweaving his own personal experiences with racism with a critique of the ideological underpinnings or principles of colonisation, drawing connections between colonisation and contemporary racism in Aotearoa.
This episode is about getting an understanding of what drives colonisation, and how colonisation impacts on us as tāngata Māori living in Aotearoa.