E oho! Ruth Ross, history, law and te Tiriti o Waitangi

Join us for an enthralling talk by Professor Bain Attwood, author of 'A Bloody Difficult Subject: Ruth Ross, te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Making of History'.
In 1972 a remarkable Pākehā woman, Ruth Ross, published a scholarly journal article about the Treaty of Waitangi. Most articles of this kind are rarely read beyond academic circles. Ross’s was. In fact, her painstaking lifelong work on te Tiriti o Waitangi was taken up in ways that helped to transform public understanding of the Treaty and make te Tiriti o Waitangi central to Aotearoa New Zealand’s law, politics and culture.
Find out more about this event or read the transcript - natlib.govt.nz...
This talk is part of our E oho! Waitangi 2023 events held at the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Māttauranga o Aotearoa. The E oho! Waitangi 2023 events aim to lay the foundation for all people living in Aotearoa by exploring key events that shaped the nation we call home. It's a series for everyone; hear amazing speakers from diverse backgrounds focussing on historical events, contemporary consequences and collective understanding. Each event entails inspiring talks and the opportunity to kōrero further afterwards.
Find out more about the series at natlib.govt.nz...
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Contents of video
0:00 Mihi and acknowledgement
0:44 ‘A bloody difficult subject’
3:46 Works of history should surprise
5:09 Ruth Ross
6:41 Ruth Ross’s article and its impact
8:44 Ruth Ross’s main argument
9:44 Ruth Ross’s other argument
10:41 Reception of Ruth Ross’s article
12:23 Ruth Ross’s life
17:18 Two different strands in Ross’ article
20:12 Reception theory and examples of different readings
22:40 The reading of Ruth Ross’ article changes radically
23:56 Crisis
26:32 A new history required
29:05 Seeing Treaty through legal lens
30:22 Historians followed suit
32:54 A new constitutional history
34:18 What would Ruth Ross respond?
37:47 Democratisation of history
39:14 Pressures on the disciple of history
40:25 Example from Alan Ward regarding Bishop Manu Bennett and Ngai Tahu oral tradition
42:14 Histories and sovereignty
44:36 Challenges of truth-telling
46:20 Michael P. Lynch
48:16 The flawed project of ‘shared history’
49:13 A new project: ‘sharing histories’
52:22 Sharing histories as difficult work
52:58 Q and A
53:30 Solution for sharing complex history?
58:21 How is not sharing history endangering democracy?
1:08:40 Only few Rangatira signed the English version of the Treaty
1:18:22 Maybe the people that need to learn the most about sharing history are those in power?
1:23:20 Politics of recognition vs politics of redistribution