Geoff Parker: The Politicisation of Indigeneity and the Mythologising of New Zealand’s Past

In modern New Zealand politics, few concepts have been stretched, reshaped, and weaponised as dramatically as “indigeneity.” What was once a descriptive anthropological term has evolved into a powerful political label, invoked to justify constitutional preferences, resource allocations, and competing visions of national identity. But as the term has gathered political force, it has drifted further from the actual historical record — and further still from the material realities of when human beings first reached these islands.