Becoming Pākehā: a Journey Between Two Cultures

An evening with author John Bluck talking about his latest provocative book 'Becoming Pākehā: a journey between two cultures'.

After more than 200 years of co-existence under the umbrella of a unique treaty, you might think things would be better than ever. In this perceptive and piercing book, John Bluck argues that Pākehā and Maori worlds grow ever more separate: the Aotearoa of today is a landscape of two predominant cultures, overlaid with so many others, fractured and more likely to erupt than Ruapehu. But has it always been this way?

Becoming Pākehā follows the author's life, growing up as a Pākehā in a Maori village in the 1950s, and illustrates how New Zealand used to be, the history and shared experience that shaped it. The book also discusses the discomfort of being Pākehā today, and how Pākehā might live with their past and get used to the wearing the name, until they find a better one.

Looking at everything from failed models of bicultural harmony to what's likely to bring the treaty partners together - or push them further apart - Becoming Pākehā is a timely read for anyone who wants to understand Māori-Pākehā relations in Aotearoa New Zealand today.
--
AUTHOR TALK
6pm Wednesday 10 May
St Peter's Cathedral
51 Victoria Street
Hamilton Central
Becoming Pākehā: a journey between two cultures
by John Bluck
Entry by koha

aotearoabooks.co.nz/becoming-pakeha/
anglicanaction.org.nz/