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.

The Historical Context of the Tiriti/Treaty Documents — Peter Adds

There are a number of popular misconceptions about how the Tiriti/Treaty documents were created and therefore what they represent today. This talk will cover what is known about the history of the creation of the documents in early 1840.

Peter Adds (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki) is a Professor (Teaching) in Te Kawa a Māui—School of Māori Studies, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, where he has worked since 1984. Adds’ academic training is in anthropology and archaeology. He has been involved in Treaty settlements research since the late 1980’s and has managed claimant Treaty claims in the Waitangi Tribunal and acted as a Treaty claims negotiator. He is also an experienced Treaty trainer. Adds was the Chair of the Māori Technical Advisory Group for the development of He Tohu, the permanent exhibition of te Tiriti, He Whakaputanga and the Women’s Suffrage Petition in the National Library; he is the Chair of Te Pae Whakawairua – the Māori Advisory Group for the National Archivist; he was Co-Chair of Tāhuhu Arotahi – the Māori Advisory Group for the redevelopment of National Archives Facilities; he was a member of the Management Board of He Tohu and he has just finished a second term as the Deputy Chair of the Archives Council.