This lunchtime lecture series, Kōrero pono mai, runs alongside the exhibition Whai Wāhi through March. These talks take heed from Te Waka Hourua, who call upon institutions to kōrero pono mai / tell the truth. Invited speakers will present short talks grounded in their experiences as legal experts, advocates and scholars in relation to te Tiriti and the Treaty.

Signs of a Nation - Carwyn Jones

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is recognised as a founding document of government in New Zealand. But what does this really mean for the role te Tiriti has in our national life? Where do we see it reflected in our law and policy and public institutions? The ways in which institutions like Te Papa present te Tiriti helps to shape our collective understanding and the public discussion of the role of te Tiriti. The changing nature of those public, political, and constitutional conversations – from 1840 to today – reveal important insights about the fundamental relationships between Māori and the Crown.

Carwyn Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a Kaihautū of Te Whare Whakatupu Mātauranga at Te Wānanga o Raukawa and the lead academic in the Ahunga Tikanga (Māori Laws and Philosophy) programme there. He is an Honorary Adjunct Professor at Te Kawa a Māui—the School of Māori Studies at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington and a Fellow of Te Apārangi – the Royal Society of New Zealand. His research focuses on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights of Indigenous peoples. He is co-editor of the Māori Law Review, the author of New Treaty, New Tradition: Reconciling New Zealand and Māori Law, a co-author of Treaty Law: The Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in law and practice, and an editor of the new collection of essays, 50 Years of the Waitangi Tribunal – Whakamana i te Tiriti.