A long time ago – 1978, to be precise – I wrote an article
for The Listener that began something
like this: “A funny thing happened at the Department of Maori Affairs recently.
They put a Maori in charge”.
The article was about Kara Puketapu, who had the distinction of being only the second
Maori to be appointed as head of the department charged with looking after
Maori interests.
Today it would be unthinkable for Te Puni Kokiri, as it’s
now known, to have a non-Maori in the top job. To appoint a Pakeha would be
seen as an intolerable affront to Maori and a throwback to the days of
patronising colonialism.
