When History Becomes a Weapon Against Māori

How the Right-Wing Weaponises History

By Dr Harpreet Singh | drhsinghnz.substack.com | FB: @DrHSinghNZ | IG: @DrHSinghNZ

Erasing the past erases the people who lived it. -Dr Harpreet Singh

Author’s Note: History is a battlefield where power is won or defended. In Aotearoa, Hobson’s Pledge, along with other right-wing groups, backed by sympathetic voices in National, ACT and New Zealand First, is driving a political project that sanitises colonisation, misreads Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and casts Māori claims as illegitimate. By elevating selective translations, nostalgic myths and legal reinterpretations, right-wing groups reshape public memory to protect old hierarchies and justify policies that weaken Māori rights. Genuine unity and justice require confronting the full truth of our past, not rewriting it to serve present politics.

The Power of Historical Storytelling

History is never neutral. It shapes how a nation sees itself and how it understands its obligations to those it has harmed. In Aotearoa New Zealand, disputes over colonisation, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and national identity reveal an ongoing struggle over whose version of the past is allowed to dominate. Recent years have seen renewed attempts to revive sanitised, settler centred histories that minimise colonial violence, undermine Māori rights, and legitimise existing power structures.

The Myth of Benign Colonisation

For generations, public storytelling framed colonisation as a peaceful and mutually beneficial process. This notion of benign colonisation reassures the settler majority that New Zealand’s national character is inherently fair and tolerant, even though this framing glosses over warfare, land confiscation, and the systematic erosion of Māori sovereignty.

Research into collective memory shows that Eurocentric narratives were deliberately shaped to validate the settler project while pushing Indigenous experiences aside.

The Claim That Māori Histories Create Division

Some argue that including Māori histories creates division. This framing positions truth telling as a threat to national unity. In reality, integrating Māori perspectives strengthens national identity and supports efforts to address historical injustice.

The idea that acknowledging harm divides society is a political tactic, not a historical truth.

Te Tiriti and Selective Interpretation

Another distortion centres on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Some narratives attempt to diminish its constitutional significance by portraying it as outdated or unclear. This has contributed to widespread Māori led protests, fuelled by concerns that recent political shifts relied on selective interpretation of history to weaken Treaty protections.

Te Tiriti remains a foundational document that defines the Crown and Māori relationship, grounded in its historical context and long established role in public life.

Nostalgia for a Past That Never Was

Nostalgic visions of a supposed golden age also influence public attitudes. These stories present earlier eras as harmonious and united while erasing the realities of colonial conflict and racial discrimination. They revive xenophobic ideologies and conspiracy theories once used to justify anti-Chinese policies and acts of violence.

Such storytelling reinforces monocultural ideals that were never true reflections of Aotearoa’s past.

Minimising Racism by Treating Extremism as Isolated

A recurring tactic is to minimise racism by treating extremist violence or discrimination as rare or isolated. Yet the historical record, including anti Asian legislation such as the poll tax, shows enduring patterns of racial inequality.

Calling racism an aberration prevents honest engagement with its structural roots.

Why It Matters

These distortions shape national conversations and influence decisions that affect the lives of all people in Aotearoa. When colonisation is sanitised, policies that weaken Māori rights become easier to justify. When Māori histories are portrayed as divisive, Indigenous perspectives can be dismissed rather than recognised as truthful accounts. When Te Tiriti is selectively reinterpreted, the foundation of Crown and Māori partnership is eroded. When racism is minimised, institutions evade scrutiny, and inequality continues. When nostalgic myths replace honest historical engagement, the nation becomes trapped in comforting stories instead of confronting the responsibilities of truth.

In Aotearoa, distorted histories, sanitising colonisation, downplaying racism, and undermining Te Tiriti are used to protect old power structures. Telling the whole truth isn’t what divides us; refusing to face it is.