Anti-racism People Leader Wānanga 

We started the year with a three-day Anti-racism People Leaders Wānanga in January 2024 at the Kōtare Research Centre for Social Change in Hoteo North, co-facilitated with (the thoughtful, grounded, empathetic therapist/ teacher, Dad) Wiremu Woodard. It was a small gathering of wāhine toa leaders from across the motu from Dunedin to Tāmaki with delicious kai from the kitchen crew Denis, Annabel and Jo. We did visioning work, extended our antiracist toolkit, used story-telling to unpack racism, had an elder panel with Sue Bradford, Tim McCreanor and Tony Fala, did some structural analysis, some mapping and disrupting racism, strategised about self and collective care, and yarned about Te Tiriti application… and that was just the formal programme.  Did we mention the kai was fabulous?
Bring on next year’s wānanga – details in upcoming events.

Waitangi Day Action

It was great to be at Waitangi through the Waitangi high tourist season and staff the STIR: Stop Institutional Racism booth with some loyal comrades. How I tell the story was we spoke to thousands of people at our booth; Tim reckons it was somewhat less. He may be right, but I am confident our old-school radical book raffle (that we sold tickets for at 50 cents a go) raised over $500 for the STIR coffers. We moved on some vintage odd sized t-shirts and some edgy homemade “the three P’s belong in the freezer” badges. It was great to see old comrades and be part of the early start for the Tāme Iti blank canvas procession (thanks to the Radical Sewing Circle for the flags and poles). Network Waitangi Whangarei as always were organising up a storm with their flash new Toitū te Tiriti t-shirts.
Heather was privileged to be part of the Tāngata Tiriti panel in the political forum and getting to meet Karlo Milo – She is now a superfan!  Sorry I can’t find the link to the kōrero but I am sure it was very motivational… You can however catch an interview she did with Kaitiaki here about What can Pākehā do?

Interview with Moana Maniapoto and Max Harris

Who isn’t a superfan of Moana Maniapoto (of Moana and the Moa hunters)? How is it that one person can be so talented – musician, lawyer, broadcaster, activist… It was delightful to meet Moana and be interviewed with Max Harris (yes he is really tall and smart) for her show Te Ao Moana. You can see what didn’t make the editors floor here and read Heather's mini blog about the experience here. Spoiler alert her key point was rather than debating Treaty principles we should be talking about WAI 1040 Waitangi Tribunal report that concludes Ngāpuhi never ceded sovereignty. Now that is a national conversation she is up for. Yes this photo shows the power of the Te Ao Moana hair and make-up team.

Te Tiriti based futures + Anti-racism 2024

Speaking of Moana Maniapoto in 2019 she tweeted “why don’t you Pākehā organise more decolonisation workshops?”. Heather boldly responded and said “sure we have got that covered”. She wrangled up some friends, some cash, some partners, some speakers and a community code and Te Tiriti based futures + Anti-racism was born. This ten day on-line open-access extravaganza, commonly known as Decol, has been running every other year since 2020 and has attracted thousands of attendees.

In March we hosted the biggest event yet with local favourites, new voices and some international folk to keep things fresh. Check out Heather's list of speakers masquerading as a blog. We are in the process of writing our thank you notes, posting  koha (old school styles) and generally tying up loose ends. If you missed the gathering please check out our YouTube channel which now hosts over 100 open-access webinars about racial justice – who needs Netflix. 

This year Heather was lucky enough to chair the session Te Ahi Kaa - The fight for racial justice in health care webinar featuring Rawiri Jansen, Jean Te Huia and Toni Shepherd. As anticipated it was a fierce session on the back of the closure of the Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority) and the urgent Waitangi Tribunal enquiry. It was a privilege to sit with such sharp minds and strong advocates for Māori health.

It is with regret that I acknowledge the passing of our comrade and friend Toni Shepherd last month. Toni (Kai Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Rapuwai, Waitaha) was a māma of four, a life-partner to Wiremu, a scholar, an activist, an environmentalist, and a clinician who was devoted to protecting the integrity of whakapapa. She worked as the Tumu Whakarae of Starship Child Health, Toni led the TamaAriki Ora team who daily fought for child health equity and social justice. Their mission is to ensure that we continue moving towards a mokopuna-centric, whānau focused and whānau led child health system.
Love you sistanerd.

NZ Public Health Association conference – Critical Public Health To Do List

Heather has always loved a good public health conference and has been going to them since the 1990s. This year was different in that she finally got asked to speak on the big stage! She was on a panel in the straight after lunch napping slot and used the opportunity to pitch her emerging Critical Public Health to do list (there is a paper in that) and practice her back-up singing skills for Te Rau Ora CEO Riki NiaNia.
Check out my blog to find out more.

Thanks to the organising crew, PHA conferences' are always a great chance to connect with old friends. With all the restructuring in public health it was great to see who still has a job, who has been promoted, who is doing fresh and interesting things. Edward Cowley (AKA Buckwheat) was a legendary MC and definitely won any Best Dressed Award if one had been going. There were lots of Crown officials walking a fine line pitching the Crowns new direction on public health in the wake of revoking the Smokefree legislation and the school lunch programme got downsized. Special as always to be part of the conference dinner and see the Te Aka Whai Ora crew win the overall Public Health Champion award. The Pacific crew from Hawkes Bay definitely dominated the dance floor. 

Toitū Te Tiriti in Toirawhiti

To be honest I had to look up where Te Kaha was on the map and it turned into an epic adventure to get there, involving an electric car, plane rides, and a trusty hire car. It has been a while since Heather has done rural night driving so she was paranoid we would run out of vegetarian snacks as everything would be shut. A few wrong turns but we made it and the view when we woke up in the morning was spectacular! We had a great day teaching Critical Tiriti Analysis at the flash Kura buildings and got to see an old public health mate and meet the Mayor! The evening session was moving with the rangatahi passionately sharing their vision for the future and getting to share the stage with some old hands connected to the region. Always challenging to speak in public and speak for Pākehā but the hugs after suggested things landed okay. If we get invited back now, Heather knows the way.

Training in the field

HC&A have been training up a storm running our four core workshops and a number of bespoke sessions across the country from Whangarei, Auckland, Te Kaha, Gisborne, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Dunedin, Wellington & Christchurch.

The team have been enjoying the change to be in the field doing what we love and meeting new people. It is always fun to encounter our passionate repeat students who keep coming back with new peeps with the confidence that class is never the same twice; although some of the jokes must be losing their edge. We have been experimenting with storytelling, nature baths, becoming lego master’s and we keep tweaking curriculum as new feedback lands. 

We still hate microphones, small rooms and will continue to argue who makes the best cheese scones and which rohe are the best singers.
Contact JoyARatima@gmail.com  to book a core workshop or a bespoke session.

Critical Tiriti Analysis: Writing up a storm

These days most of Heather's writing is commissioned reports, policy documents, audits and reviews for organisations. It is wonderful to still be able to knock off the odd academic paper. In the last month we have published two papers. The were both Critical Tiriti Analysis papers with friends. The first focussed on the Pae Ora (Disestablishment of Māori Health Authority) Amendment Act 2024 and was published in the New Zealand Medical Journal. Not unexpectedly we found the Disestablishment Act breached Te Tiriti and had the potential to do great harm. The second examined the Local Government review and was published in Sites. This was a fairly positive Critical Tiriti Analysis that noted the review challenged both local and regional government to lift their game in relation to their Te Tiriti responsibilities and concludes that local Māori solutions, mātauranga Māori knowledge and leadership are required at all levels of local and regional government. National states of emergency and devastating disasters in the context of Cyclone Gabrielle will no longer wait for the bureaucracy of the local government. Sadly, it is unclear what elements of the local government review will be adopted by the current government.

Note - the Critical Tiriti Analysis community of practice continues to meet semi-regularly if you are keen to sign up email CRITICALTIRITIANALYSIS@gmail.com and Hana Wilkinson, once she is back from overseas will sort you out.
Community Research continues to host a repository of all things CTA accessible here. 

Meet the Team: Profile Joy Ratima

Essential to the smooth running of HC&A is the delightful Joy Ratima,
Heather's bonus daughter, trusty PA and partner in crime.
Joy is emotionally intelligent, flexible, warm, patient, incredibly well organised and a great problem solver. That is not an invitation to head hunt her!
 

She has 20 years’ experience in administration, previously working as Office Manager and EA at Robert Walters in Melbourne. She moved back to Aotearoa late in 2021 to immerse her whānau in culture and to enable her tamariki to attend school in Aotearoa as well as being able to spend more regular time with family. Joy has five children and is currently studying Te Reo part-time. 

Community notices & upcoming events

Anti-racism People Leaders wānanga 2025 –
Waihōanga River Lodge and Retreat, Wellington region

In January 2025 we will be hosting the second People Leaders wānanga, with Wiremu Woodard and Heather co-facilitating, but this time located in the Wellington region. Don't miss a 3-day extravaganza of fellowship, learning, sharing and fantastic kai along with a special elder panel.
The wānanga is created for People Leaders and alumni will leave clear on their next steps in relation to antiracism leadership.

Public CTA workshop Lyall Ball, Wellington

At the end of June, Fran Kewene (creative thespian Māori health teacher/ researcher) and Heather will be co-facilitating HC & A’s  first public Wellington-based Critical Tiriti Analysis workshop. It will be at the delightful Lyall Bay surf club which is literally on the beach. Food by Denis Came-Friar a chance to find out what all the fuss is about and lift your critical thinking and Tiriti compliance moves.

Public Anti racism workshops 11th July and 18th November in Auckland

We are still sorting the details but by public demand HC & A are hosting public antiracism workshops in Auckland in July and November. They are likely to be on the North shore in community venues with excellent parking and delicious homemade kai. The July workshop will be Embracing Tiriti based anti-racism and the November one Planning to Disrupt Institutional Racism – outline of the content can be found on the website and scan the GR code below to secure your spot. 
Workshops will be $450 per person.

Writing for Academic Publication - one-day webinar

It is not everyone’s cuppa tea but for us nerds there is something deeply satisfying writing up an academic paper and sending it out into the world. Academic writing and navigating academic publishing can be confusing this workshop demystifies that process and gets you putting pen to paper and pulling together abstract(s) and a trusty writing plan. HC&A runs these sessions every quarter, come along and bring a friend – I’m sure you have something useful to say to the world #smashthepatriachy #toitūtetiriti 

This workshop is for postgraduate students, early career academics or practitioners wanting to publish up a storm. 

Radical sewing circle- nationwide network

To be honest there was a difficult 100 days over the summer… and with the war in Ukraine and in Palestine things remain grim. Rather than mope around the house we decided to be constructive and formed a nationwide network of radical sewers. We make banners, radical bunting, patches and other crafting things, prepare snacks and engage in fellowship. If this sounds like you and you need a lift for the next three years scan the QR code and join us!

STIR – Speaking Truth to Power & Keeping your Job Webinar

Heather is delighted to be chairing a forthcoming STIR webinar in partnership with the Tertiary Education Union, Te Rau Ora and New Zealand Nurses Organisation on the evening of June 5th. The session focuses on how to speak up about racial justice and keep your job! 

The webinar features Riki Nia Nia – serial Crown official, currently CEO of Te Rau Ora, Kerri Nuku Kaiwhakahaere of the NZNO - staunch mana wāhine union leader and Peter Cranney experienced and savvy employment lawyer. 

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