The F.I.R.S.T Foundation

Tuatahi Nga Kaitaunaki Rangahau

The Foundation for Indigenous Research in Society & Technology

The F.I.R.S.T Foundation is a philanthropic >> trust that aims to commission and facilitate research into issues of interest and concern to indigenous people everywhere, and to promote informed public discussion of these same issues, at which indigenous voices are heard. 

In Aotearoa, the Foundation has embarked upon an exciting and ambitious programme NGAI TATOU 2020 (ALL OF US TOGETHER, 2020) which will involve commissioning research papers from leading-edge thinkers and practitioners, and arranging future wananga where these are publicly addressed and discussed by informed people of goodwill, whether indigenous or non-indigenous. 

NGAI TATOU 2020 will encourage indigenous people to articulate the Aotearoa/New Zealand they want their mokopuna to inherit. In the public arena, such views will be open to discussion and critical analysis. More >>   

 

The Waitangi Rua Rautau Lecture Series

Waitangi Rua Rautau (Waitangi Bicentenary) was launched by the New Zealand Maori Council in 2001 for Maori, individually and collectively, to set long-term goals, monitor, evaluate and respond to them. It is a commitment by the Maori Council to develop a programme to rebuild harmonious relationships between Maori and Pakeha, culminating in the bi-centennial of the nation in 2040.  Each year, an eminent speaker will deliver a public lecture on a topic related to this goal. Click here to read the launch by Sir Graham Latimer >>>

2009 Emeritus Professor Dr Alan Ward 

A Social Democrat's View of the Treaty 

I fear that, sadly, in the last twenty years many New Zealanders have come to doubt whether the Treaty in fact does promote that ideal.  The great surge of claims under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975, heard in adversarial proceedings before the Waitangi Tribunal, has caused many to regard not only the Treaty of Waitangi Act, but the Treaty itself as divisive, a bone of contention between Maori and Pakeha........  More >>

2008 Dame Anne Salmond

TWO WORLDS: TANGLED HISTORIES

As Waitangi Day approaches, time spins around us.  As we gaze back into the past, we also look into the future.  It’s a time for celebrating our successes, and honouring our ancestors.  What were the dreams that drove them when they forged this nation, and what are the things that still bind us all together?  What kind of a future are we hoping to shape for our children and grandchildren?.......  More>>

2006 - Sir Howard Morrison

"Tu Tangata - Whaia Koe Te Matauranga Hai Whitiki Te Iwi, Kia Toa Ai - Seek ye from the Fountain of Knowledge So the People may Thrive and Prosper" 

This quote is by Kepa Ehau. Kepa Ehau was a member of Ngati Tarawhai of Te Arawa and has been hailed as the greatest Te Arawa orator. He attended Te Aute College.....In my address, I want to honour Kepa's whakatauki about the fountains of knowledge from the past, creating fountains of knowledge in the present to prepare the fountains for the future..... Listen & Read here>>  

Sir Howard stood as a link between past and future generations, a link between the values of the past and the values of the future, between the expectation of those past generations and our expectations for our future,  he stood as a major link with the past generation of Kepa Ehau, Sir Apirana Ngata and  Manuhuia Bennett. 

Haere atu ra e te rangatira Ta Howard, haere ki Hawaiki nui, ki Hawaiki roa, ki Hawaiki pamamao. Hoki ki o tupuna, ki te ringa kaha o te Atua

2005 -Professor Whatarangi Winiata

"The Reconciliation of Kawanatanga and Tino Rangatiratanga  "

This lecture is given 35 years ahead of the 200th anniversary of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi.  It is about the major and natural source of tension between the two signatories.  We will refer to this as the co-existence between käwanatanga and rangatiratanga. This relationship has been under strain from the early days of the Treaty until now with the latest point of contention being the claim of rangatiratanga over the foreshore and seabed and the assertion of käwanatanga over the same spaces........ More>>   

2004 - Dame Joan Metge DBE

"Ropeworks - He Taura Whiri "

On Wellington's Anniversary Day in 1990, a Maori friend and I joined the crowd streaming on to Petone Beach to witness a re-enactment of the arrival of the first British settlers and their reception by the tangata whenua. Covering every square inch of the beach we picnicked, sang and waited patiently until two tall ships emerged from behind an island and costumed "settlers" disembarked into the ships' cutters. Two carved waka dashed out from the shore, literally ran rings round the cutters and escorted them towards the beach. Descendant of Scottish settlers who arrived in Auckland in 1842, I experienced an unexpected rush of pride and identification - with the settlers being landed on the beach, yes, but even more with the friendly, rainbow crowd and the waka cleaving the harbour waters with such panache........ More>>

2003 - Sir Rodney Gallen KNZM

"Encounters & Responses"

The vision which led to this lecture was contained in a proposal from Te Tai Tokerau District Maori Council put forward at Waitangi in 2001.   Sir Graham Latimer in putting forward the proposal said "In signing the treaty our ancestors committed themselves to building a place where Maori and Pakeha would look to each other with love, dignity, and respect. In the name of Waitangi and in honour of our signing ancestors The Tai Tokerau District Maori Council seeks to ensure that the dream of harmony is made true in our time by drawing deeply on established wells of courage and tolerance to make the vision a reality by the year 2040." ...............More>>

The Voice Of Te Puea Herangi

The Voice of Sir Apirana T Ngata

The Voice of Sir Peter (Te Rangihiroa) Buck 

& 

Bishop Frederick Augustus Bennett ( Bishop of Aotearoa)

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