Aotearoa New Zealand Association for Mission Studies

Tangata Whenua or Manuhiri?
Aotearoa/New Zealand’s Contribution to Cross-Cultural Mission in a Globalized World. 

Traditionally Aotearoa/New Zealand has sent the highest number of mission partners overseas, per head of population, of any country in the ‘Western’ world.  What are the characteristics of this small South Pacific nation of 4 million people that have made this possible?  This paper explores our unique history and bi-cultural context as well as our current multi-cultural context to see what New Zealanders can offer to a globalized world in the 21st century. 

New Zealand historian, Dr Michael King claims that “New Zealand history sometimes seems extraordinarily compressed and close at hand.”[1]  Our history, contemporary issues surrounding the 19th century Treaty of Waitangi signed by Maori, the tangata whenua, in good faith with the Crown, and peculiar issues of national identity arising from our particular cultural and ethnic context as well as from our geographical isolation will be considered.  The paper will also discuss the impact of postmodernity, emerging youth culture, the rise of technoculture, the role and place of women and our attitude to the environment with the aim of discovering how our context shapes our particular contribution in mission to this globalized world.

 Kirstie Macdonald

Cathy Ross

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