Tuia Encounters 250 will not be all about Captain Cook, committee member Dame Jenny Shipley has said as she encouraged both Māori and Pakeha to tell their stories good and bad.
The event, of which the former Prime Minister is a co-chair of the organising committee, commemorates 250 years since the first interaction between Māori and Captain Cook’s crew aboard the Endeavour.
"This is a moment in our history where we can speak about our maritime sailing capability, Māori, bluewater sailing, ocean going, over the horizon, Cook’s work, the science they shared together and think about voyaging and navigating as a personal story," Dame Jenny told TVNZ1's Breakfast today.
"Where am I going and share our stories respectfully with new knowledge and in a new way," she continued.
"In 1969, we weren’t in this place now, it was all about Cook. No one wants it to be only about Cook, people want to say we have a dual heritage."
Dame Jenny acknowledged that in many cases, this was not a happy history, but she encouraged people to share regardless.
"Some places where this encounter occurred were very happy and others were tragic and actually that’s true about our lives and so we hope each of these stories will be spoken about honestly and even in Gisborne where it began," she said.
"There are very many Māori and I have spent over two years listening carefully and they were very clear they don’t want to re-enact history, they want to create history."
"People want to say 'let’s talk about Māori stories, let’s talk about our European stories' - let’s be honest about the stories good and bad and then talk about how were bound together."
"We need to acknowledge the people who find the stories of colonisation still a huge burden, they are our burden as a people."
The centrepiece of the event will be a voyage featuring both waka from the Pacific and European vessels.
"It’s going to have waka from the Pacific because we’re a Pacific people, it’s going to have waka hourua which celebrates the many arrivals of Māori across New Zealand."
"The Endeavour from Australia, the replica will come, then there will be tall ships and maybe even in Auckland for example, we’ll have the most modern, Team New Zealand’s."
"We are a sailing people, every one of us chose to leave from somewhere and make this our home come here and the maritime history is a common piece so the voyage over three months will allow us to enjoy that history, learn more about it but then talk about our voyage and our own pepeha."
Beyond the voyage, Dame Jenny hoped the event will lead to more talking and listening.
"The joy of my role is I have heard so many new stories ...and if they’re new to me than they can’t be that accessible."
"I hope one of the things we do is spending far more time telling our stories, particularly Māori and the Pacific’s oral stories and then share them more broadly."
"The success of this is the talking and listening."
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