By next Tuesday, 19 Grade 7 and 8 Chief Little Pine School students, along with six adults, will be in northern New Zealand on an educational trip.
Mr. Lamarr Oksasikewiyin is leading the trip, which he said culminates in experiencing Waitangi Day. Waitangi Day is a New Zealand national holiday that celebrates the signing of treaties between colonial officials and a number of Maori chiefs in 1840.
Oksasikewiyin is teaching his second year at Chief Little Pine School. Among his specializations are land-based learning, treaty education and traditional games. He said he knew fellow educators in New Zealand that would welcome a class if they were ever in New Zealand.
“I wanted to take our students to visit the Maori for years,” Oksasikewiyin said. “This year things lined up.”
The itinerary involves activities on New Zealand’s North Island. The group will land in Auckland, then visit Turangi and Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which was a location in the Lord of the Rings film series. In addition to staying in marae, which are ceremonial halls and the focal points of Maori communities, the group will visit sacred Maori sites and see a specialist in traditional games of Maori culture.
Oksasikewiyin said he wants students to see the world and to see the connection between themselves and the Maori, which he said “have similar histories.” Oksasikewiyin cites colonial policies and the influence of the church, along with the same symptoms that appear decades after the colonization project, including alcoholism and abuse.
“When [the Maori] talk about symptoms in their home communities we can relate to that, and that’s what I want the students to see as well,” Oksasikewiyin said.
Oksasikewiyin also said he wants the group to understand the role of the Maori within New Zealand’s political situation. New Zealand government and Indigenous people have a different relationship than Canada and Indigenous people. In 1867, New Zealand established four Maori seats in parliament. Additionally, the Waitangi Tribunal was established in 1975. According to the Government of New Zealand’s Waitangi Tribunal website, “the Waitangi Tribunal is a permanent commission of inquiry that makes recommendations on claims brought by Māori relating to Crown actions which breach the promises made in the Treaty of Waitangi.”
When the students return, Oksasikewiyin said he wants them to “know that there’s a bigger world, but there are people on the other side that they can relate to. We’re all kind of in the same boat.”
Oksasikewiyin wants students to seize the opportunity.
“And I always tell my students, if you get a chance to go, go. Home will always be there.”
