Indoctrination or education? Anonymous donor gifts partisan Te Tiriti handbook to all NZ high schools

Summarised by Centrist

An anonymous act of generosity is bringing Understanding Te Tiriti – A Handbook of Basic Facts by lawyer Roimata Smail to every high school in New Zealand. 

Smail shared, “It is my hope… that all high school students will get an opportunity to know what it took me 20 years to learn.” The donor, inspired by a presentation at Ponsonby’s Women’s Bookshop, decided to fund the nationwide distribution.

The first books were presented at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o te Raki Paewhenua on 29 November, with hundreds more dispatched to high schools from a Rangiora logistics centre. 

Smail, who specialises in Treaty-related legal cases, self-publishes through Wai Ako Books. She described the donation as “a dream come true.”

Editor’s note: What’s notably absent from the reporting is that Understanding Te Tiriti – A Handbook of Basic Facts presents a highly partisan perspective. 

The book claims that Māori never ceded sovereignty, a point that remains hotly contested. This raises significant concerns about introducing it into schools without broader scrutiny. Shouldn’t schools rely solely on government-approved history, vetted to ensure balanced and accurate content?

The distribution of this book deserves closer examination and might prompt questions about whether alternative perspectives should also be made available. Could others step forward to fund the distribution of a different version to ensure students receive a well-rounded education?

Read more over at The NZ Herald