I wish to make a few observations about the heated debate about compulsory education about tikanga, as proposed by the New Zealand Council of Legal Education.

I do not wish to add my opinion about the legality of the proposal. But I think the debate has become unmannerly, running against the precepts of tikanga and civilised western discourse alike.

As is often the case in life and in the law, seeing the debate in a wider context can help avoid misunderstandings and speaking past each other in spiralling discourses of bile. Cicero said we should avoid attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do: I elaborate on that theme.

In 2022 I reported on an engaging presentation on tikanga given by Dr Robert Joseph at the New Zealand Bar Association’s annual conference. I reported that Joseph explained that tikanga is derived from the Māori word ‘tika’ which means ‘right’ or ‘correct’, connoting a tradition to act and behave in a way that is culturally proper or appropriate.

Mauri is a part of understanding tikanga: it teaches us about the need to respect and care for all things on earth. Joseph spoke with conviction about the possible role of tikanga in the delivery of justice; his was a forward-looking vision of our social and justice problems, calling for understanding through awareness of tikanga, followed by adjustment through bringing tikanga to life in our justice system.

As professionals, lawyers and judges, we must try to communicate effectively with each other, particularly as we are dealing with the vital interests of other people. True understanding comes only from first-hand experience and there is no recipe for instant cultural understanding, which takes time.

Force-feeding of culture or te reo will not work. What may work is showing lawyers and judges why tikanga is important and encouraging them to embrace it: encouraging, not coercing.

I add that merely expecting people to respond to the use of te reo in formal settings like courts when its use is potentially misunderstood is not a sensible way to proceed: the use of te reo in such settings can be unexpected and can give rise to embarrassment, and to possible misinterpretations about the motives of the speaker, or to inappropriate responses or silences (which I have seen and experienced in court).

If we are to regularly use te reo as part of formal processes in courts, then everyone needs to be alerted to its use and taught how to appropriately respond. At the moment, the use of te reo in courts is ad hoc, inconsistent and often appears to be superficial, which to my mind does not respect kawa (protocols). This might be a useful topic for procedural reform and legal education of undergraduates, judges and lawyers.

Hiwi and Pat Tauroa’s book Te Marae: A Guide to Customs and Protocol (Heinemann Reed, Auckland 1986) has sat on my bookshelf since I commenced practise at the independent bar more than 30 years ago.

It has been a useful resource. While I have stood on many different marae and pā, both in a formal capacity and as a visitor, it pays to remind oneself of the basic kawa, since while I am Māori, I am not ‘immersed’ in māoritanga.

Sir James Henare said in his forward to Te Marae: “knowledge is the dawn of understanding. Understanding is the first sign of tolerance and tolerance is the bright light of racial harmony…. Barriers are created unnecessarily by the hypersensitivity of Māori and the insensitivity of the Pakeha to Māori aspirations.”

Whenever I read that passage there comes to mind the image of Norman Kirk striding across the mara-atea at Waitangi on 6 February 1973 hand in hand with a young Māori boy (coverage I watched on television when I was nine years old).

Importance of marae

Building on this theme, the authors of Te Marae say a culture cannot be learned from a book or, I add, a course of instruction. It is only when Māori are gathered on marae that Māori fully express themselves as a people. A marae is a waahi rangatira mana (a place of greatest mana), waahi rangatira wairua (place of greatest spirituality), waahi rangatira iwi (place that heightens people’s dignity) and waahi rangatira tikanga Māori (a place where Māori customs are given full expression).

A marae is a special ‘standing place’ and a place of refuge for people now and into the future. Yet tangata whenua (the hosts on a marae) need manuhiri (visitors), since marae are pre-eminently places where all people are welcome. Seen in this light, if you go to such a place, you want to know how to behave.

Marae nowadays may be found in different settings. There are hapu marae (marae of the descendants of its founders), iwi marae (marae open to all in a district) and urban marae (marae set up by groups for use by all in a city or town). There are also a few pā founded on a non-tribal basis, such as the Ratana pā near Whanganui. Marae may have some protocols in common and some which are unique to that place.

My experience is uniformly that everyone is relaxed on marae about those who unintentionally breach protocol. Gentle guidance is usually given; visitors need not worry. While a marae is not a public place, it is a place where people are welcome. Most visits will occur through Māori who belong to a marae, friends or whanau; visits can be arranged by contacting one of the members of a committee who oversee the marae. Nowadays, many marae have websites which enable such contact to be made.

Be prepared to say a few words in te reo, which if like me your vocabulary is limited and your diction is embarrassingly poor it pays to practise in advance. Even poor attempts at te reo are welcomed, although you may once in a while engender goodnatured laughter.

No compulsion

If lawyers and judges are likely to have to visit marae or be involved in litigation involving Māori interests, then a grounding in the basics of tikanga and kawa will be of value.

But I am against compulsory education about tikanga, kawa or matauranga Māori. Coercive instruction sits uncomfortably with tikanga itself. Coercive instruction in cultural matters can lead to resentment – I saw this occur in my primary school at East Tamaki.

Based on my experiences within the legal profession up to the present day, I am not sure we have progressed that far since my school days. Circumstances where feelings of resistance or resentment can brew up are to be avoided; such emotions do not respect or value tikanga Māori and risk breeding negativity instead of encouraging lawyers, judges and law students to take an interest in and embrace such cultural knowledge.

Universities could include components on tikanga as part of other courses, such as the introductory course on legal systems, courses on land law and constitutional law; no doubt optional courses specialising in the Treaty of Waitangi, fisheries and litigating against the Crown could usefully include tikanga components.

Content should be left to each university to decide. I would like to see voluntary visits to a marae as part of every law student’s education: such visits would be fun and illuminating, and could be organised by Māori students, funded by koha.

Turning back to Cicero, in the end what good are we doing society if we in the profession are seen to resort to coercion in matters of culture, rather than cultivating understanding through experience, in the spirit of Norman Kirk all those years ago? ■

Warren Pyke is an Auckland barrister ■