Despite the convenience of reductionist histories, recognition of the partisan interpretations is important both to our commemoration and our evolution. Grappling with similar issues as those curators of the Enola Gay exhibition, Ms Mackintosh of the Auckland War Memorial Museum staff describes a tension between the celebration and criticism of war. Such tension is advanced by motives informed by oppositely different experiences of the same shared history. It addresses the fundamental purpose of these spaces and how new generations ought to be introduced to their forebears.
I do not posit any truth regarding the matter, it is a necessarily complex debate that demands appreciation of others’ experiences I simply do not possess. Rather, the issue would be aided by compromise: a receptiveness that allows for the coexistence of both intentions in a shared space that facilitates their interaction.
For generations that become increasingly isolated from the firsthand experiences of war, a trend of apathy alongside objectivity emerges. While culturally this may represent a failure to retain our genealogical care, it may equally be an opportunity to reassess the historical factors without bias.
If we are to capitalise on such an opportunity, there also exists the ability to refresh this scholarly staff with diversity. Especially in a multicultural society that has been framed by colonial values, such diversity is necessary to adequately represent minority perspectives within dominant institutions. Particularly for Māori, where British hegemony suppressed Māori movement within social and economic structures thereby segregating their experiences from Pākeha society, perspectives of our shared colonial history–and how this impacts and motivates contemporary society–are necessary to fair socio-political debate.
Such has been attempted by journalist Ms Forbes, who frames the history of the New Zealand Wars in a distinctly Māori style. Indeed it was the restrictive nature of the traditional media structures that was the impetus to create her own programme in the Hui. This can only reflect the restrictions on Māori voices within institutions that ought to have a duty to promote them.
There ought to be no perceived detriment to commemoration when we choose to critically analyse those partisan histories that become dominant. History has a crucial role in shaping contemporary society as both it passively influences our perspectives and we actively use it to inform political debate. For this reason, it cannot remain frozen in the perspectives which chose to uncritically commemorate it. It is a tool that deserves diverse representation in its scholarship to adequately represent it.
