Indigenizing military citizenship: remaking state responsibility and care towards Māori veterans’ health through the Treaty of Waitangi

Abstract

How does militarism reshape indigenous peoples’ relationships with settler states? In this article, we explore how military service both opens up and forecloses avenues for indigenous groups to claim new modes of responsibility, care and relationality from the state. Through a discussion of New Zealand Māori nuclear test veterans’ recent legal claims through the Waitangi Tribunal, we detail the range of ways that Māori veterans utilize and rework ethnic identity categories to encompass wider notions of citizenship, care and responsibility, and challenge neoliberal models of reparations. Claimants argue that their ongoing wellbeing sits at the centre of their partnership with the state, revealing how uneasily the Māori military body fits within mainstream logics of Treaty claim-making. Seeking healthcare and wellbeing here does not demand greater autonomy or independence, but requires ongoing interdependence, practices of care and attention to ongoing intergenerational obligations that, like radiation harm, have no clear endpoints.

Belonging in the “Big Picture”

“…Th at's recognition: that someone takes responsibility for deploying people. " Explicitly defi ning recognition as society "taking responsibility" for wounded veterans, Th omas reiterates what many veteran studies show: that veterans make claims on the state and expect to be recompensed for their service (e.g., Bryers-Brown and Trundle 2017;Wiegink 2019;Wool 2015). As a citizen of the welfare state, state-citizen reciprocity is ingrained in Th omas from birth.…”

It’s a Matter of Trust: Ngāi Tahu Democratic Processes and Māori Pākehā Research Partnership

“…Some authors note that the transferal of financial resources to iwi (a Māori community or people) have enabled tribes to address some of the cumulative disadvantages of colonization policy and practice (Bryers-Brown & Trundle, 2017; Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu Annual Report, 2015). However, Reid et al (2016) findings remind us that whilst material wellbeing has improved, the situation for cultural wellbeing may not be so clear cut.…”

“…The changes involved were complicated and have required a great deal of attention to ensure sustainable cultural governance within changing legal and policy frameworks, alongside ongoing building trust between Treaty partners. Some authors note that the transferal of financial resources to iwi (a M aori community or people) have enabled tribes to address some of the cumulative disadvantages of colonization policy and practice (Bryers-Brown & Trundle, 2017;Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu Annual Report, 2015). However, Reid et al (2016) findings remind us that whilst material wellbeing has improved, the situation for cultural wellbeing may not be so clear cut.…”

Kangaroo Mother Care: Participatory Action Research within a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…Educational barriers in nursing for Māori students have been identified, with poor recruitment and retention strategies, lack of cultural competence, and insufficient academic and financial support found (Foxall, 2013). Some scholars discussed how neoliberalism contributes to racially discriminating practices, such as those present in New Zealand's child protection practices (Bryers-Brown & Trundle, 2017;Came, 2014;Hyslop & Keddell, 2018;Nairn et al, 2006). Currently, Māori children are overrepresented in all areas of child-protection work, one theory positing that it is the social construction via neoliberal ideology that places "parental responsibility for child well-being in a society riven by systemic social inequality" (Hyslop & Keddell, 2018, p. 2).…”

“…Māori-centred research, policy and practice frameworks (Barton, 2018;Bryers-Brown & Trundle, 2017;Came, 2014;Oda & Rameka, 2012;Richardson, 2010).…”