Photo caption: Dee Tawhai, Dr Adrienne Paul, Rachael Evans, William Grant and Vice-Chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey at Hui Whakamānawa | Celebration of Success.
The ‘Indigenising the LLB’ initiative has been developed over the past two years to support Faculty of Law staff embed tikanga Māori within the Bachelor of Laws degree at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University at Canterbury (UC).
Preliminary feedback shows the project has led to strong engagement and had a positive impact on both teaching and practice in the faculty, with students observing noticeable improvements in their courses.
Led by law lecturers William Grant (Ngāi Tahu, Ngati Pōrou), Rachael Evans (Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Pamoana), Dr Adrienne Paul (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau, Ngāi Tuhoe, Te Arawa ki Maketu), and the Kaiārahi of the Faculty of Law, Dee Tawhai (Ngā Puhi), the initiative underscores their commitment to indigenising law education at UC.
Grant notes that there has been greater recognition by the courts of the place of tikanga Māori in influencing the development of the common law of Aotearoa New Zealand. “As such, legal institutions are increasingly acknowledging tikanga Māori as a legitimate source of law. The law degree must be responsive and relevant to this changing tide in the profession. This prompted the Council of Legal Education, and law schools, to implement one of the most substantial systemic changes to the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) since 1925,” Grant says.
“We were in a unique position in that we didn’t have a strong presence of established Māori Law academics at UC. With a young, early-career Māori Law academic team we had to figure out how we would approach this, all while receiving valuable support from the faculty and the Office of Treaty Partnerships.”
The project design draws on the University’s core values of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and tiakitanga.
“We’ve taken the approach based on the concepts of whanaungatanga (community). We wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without the support of the community and the faculty,” Grant says.
Tawhai, who is Kaiārahi for the faculty, says ‘He Poutama’ written by Justice Christian Whata underscores the importance of experiential learning on a marae for understanding te ao Māori. “We went on to the Rāpaki marae for a couple of days which enabled people to sense te ao Māori from something other than a textbook – it was deliberately more experiential. This approach built foundational knowledge of te ao Māori and its application to the law curriculum.”
Tawhai says the experience was so successful, they are planning another trip to the marae in 2025.
“Te reo Māori is central - everything from te ao Māori comes from the language. It’s about grasping the profound meanings within words, their origins, and cultural significance.”.
Grant says the ‘Indigenising the LLB’ initiative is not about replacing existing content but rather about integrating different perspectives, examining intersections, and fostering respectful discussions in a safe environment. This process should be collaborative and encourage open discussions. “It’s a dialogue about how this content fits in with the existing content and how the content might change. It’s a collaborative discussion and we need open minds and safe spaces to do that,” Grant says.
For their outstanding contributions, the Indigenising the LLB project team has received the 2024 UC Hapori Community of Practice Award, presented at Hui Whakamānawa | Celebration of Success.
According to Grant and Tawhai, students should leave university being able to critically question the status quo. “They should be critical of those historical structures our law degree has been complicit in maintaining, the law and the state legal system and how these engage with tikanga Māori and concepts and influences of colonisation,” Grant says.
“I see the future of legal education at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha as being innovative, bicultural and critical, yet grounded in a South Island/Ngāi Tahu context. I see our law graduates making a real impact, both in terms of jurisprudence, to how the law develops, and the ongoing dialogue between tikanga Māori and the state legal system.”
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 - Quality Education.
