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The USA and New Zealand have remarkably similar backgrounds. They are both former settler colonies, as the British Empire sought to replace the local indigenous population with their own people. This involved invasive policies ranging from dispossessing them of their land and thus livelihood, forced cultural assimilation to depopulation through mass slaughter. However, modern New Zealand is now at the forefront of post-colonial endeavours to atone for their past wrongdoings, with Minority Rights Group corroborating how “the Māori enjoy a relatively strong position in society compared to other indigenous peoples”. In contrast, Native Americans consistently face disproportionate poverty, disease, mental health issues, addiction and suicide levels. When examining their respective constitutions, both countries’ disparity in remedying their brutal colonial history is imminent. New Zealand’s founding document is the treaty they signed with the Māori in 1840 (the Treaty of Waitangi), which is now a “moral, political and cultural force in the national imagination” (Cape York Institute). In contrast, the USA’s constitution has little mention of the people whose land they stole, characterising their apathetic approach towards the Native Americans across their 400-year relationship.
In both states, the British Empire attempted to strip the Māori and Native Americans of their cultural identity by forcibly separating native children from their parents- taking them to boarding schools in order to ‘civilise’ them. These schools punished their students if they practised their traditions or spoke their language; American church-run schools have been particularly criticised for their unparalleled levels of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. This has contributed to the erasure of Māori and Native American cultural heritage: 65 indigenous languages in the USA have already become extinct, and 75 only have a few speakers left.
In New Zealand, the Māori ‘Renaissance’ occurred from the 1970s to revitalise their culture: the 1987 Māori Language Act granted Te Reo official language status, and New Zealand’s national holiday became Waitangi Day, focused on honouring the Māori community. The 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act was also passed, creating an official tribunal dedicated to protecting Māori rights and compensating them for past subjugation. This period saw an increase in the Māori population, marking their transition from facing cultural death to becoming “politically, culturally and artistically ascendant”. In contrast, the mid-twentieth century saw increased hostilities against Native Americans. For instance, the 1970 Family Planning Services and Population Research Act has been linked to the forced mass sterilisation of Native Americans. At least 40,000 survivors have been identified, lowering birth rates and significantly reducing their population.
This discrepancy continues when examining how both countries have acknowledged their past atrocities. For decades, the American government has been criticised for refusing to issue an official apology to the Native Americans. 2009 was the first and only time the federal government apologised for their colonial past: President Obama had slipped it into a defence appropriation spending bill, avoiding apologising directly to tribal leaders. Neither the White House nor Congress ever announced or publicised this arguably superficial apology. Obama evaded using the term genocide to define their past wrongdoings, labelling it instead a generic ‘conflict’: erasing years of colonial history encompassing broken treaties, ethnic cleansing, and even enslavement. Critics also argued it was carefully worded so that native communities could not pursue legal restitution against the American government.
This greatly contrasts with New Zealand’s formal apology in 1995 under the Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act. It was a highly publicised affair, with tribal leaders conducting ceremonies to honour the occasion in their native language. It was the first time Queen Elizabeth II personally and publicly gave her Royal Assent to a New Zealand law, as typically the Governor-General signs New Zealand law in her stead. The last time the Monarch had assented to any Act of Parliament publicly was Queen Victoria in 1854. Unlike the USA, the apology was made directly to the Māori Queen, Dame Te Arikinui Te Ātairangikaahu. Tribal leaders welcomed the apology, as it explicitly stated that “the Crown expresses its profound regret and apologises unreservedly for the loss of lives … from its invasion, and at the devastation of property”. Their apology was also accompanied by NZ$170 million settlement package; however, the New Zealand government acknowledged this economic redress did not cover the true cost of the damage to the Māori community, estimated to be NZ$20 billion, as it would have bankrupted the country. Regardless, estimates value Māori-owned assets to have reached $68.7 billion in 2018, illustrating the effectiveness of reparations in bolstering native communities. Several other settlement packages and official apologies have followed, illustrating New Zealand’s dedication to creating a truly bicultural nation that empowers its indigenous people.
Written by Samira Lily Chowdhury
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