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Politics
Carl Mika, Professor of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury

Tokenism and te reo Māori: why some things just shouldn’t be translated

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In 2017, the Whanganui River was made a person in the eyes of the law. The Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act acknowledged, in its own way, that the human world includes other, more-than-human entities.

It was perceived at the time as quite a radical step for the law, and it is undoubtedly legally significant. But this profound interconnection that underpins all things has been self-evident for Māori and other Indigenous peoples for millennia.

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