The Journey is the Destination: Some Tiriti worker’s insights into Tiriti-led Organisational Transformation

Lashings of Tiriti workers at the AWEA – 100^th birthday celebration in 2014.

Last year we were lucky enough to interview a cohort of senior Tiriti workers about Tiriti-based organisational change. We were lucky to spend time with: Jen Margaret, Dr Rangimarie Mahuika, Takiwai and Chris Murphy, Dean Adam and the late Christine Herzog. The following blog is a taster of the article we wrote. Full details of article at bottom of blog.

The journey toward Tiriti-based organisational change is far from a simple destination or a final box to be checked; rather, it is an ongoing process of vigilance and recommitment. For too long, Tangata Tiriti organisations have operated within a cycle of symbolic drift, where beautiful mission statements and Māori motifs in the lobby mask a failure to redistribute actual decision-making authority. When we look at why transformation often stalls, we see a recurring reliance on charismatic individuals or lone Māori staff members to carry the entire weight of an institution's responsibilities. 

This approach is fundamentally unsustainable because when those key people move on, the institutional knowledge often vanishes and the momentum for justice stumbles with them. Sustaining genuine change requires embedding Te Tiriti into the very culture and structural logic of the organisation so that responsibility is shared collectively by all staff. Tiriti-led organisational change must engage heads, hearts, and hands to dismantle the colonial structures that continue to produce systemic inequities. 

This means Pākehā and Tauiwi must take responsibility for our own "house" by upskilling in Tiriti-based practice and developing authentic allyship that moves beyond a fear of losing control. Meaningful progress should not be defined by the organisation itself, but rather by the Māori partners who determine whether the relationship is healthy and whether the benefits are actually being realised. This work demands a shift from monocultural, linear models of governance toward an emergent praxis that values humility and the importance of taking (imperfect) action. 

Ultimately, Tiriti-honouring change requires a redistribution of power and a deep, heart-led commitment to healing the colonial trauma that still permeates our institutions. It is about reclaiming our humanity by liberating ourselves from the rigid, racist structures of the past to imagine a Tiriti-honouring future. 

This article is dedicated to the memory of Christine Herzog, who spent over forty years as a tireless advocate for social justice and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Read the full paper here. 

Came, H., Barnes, A., Heta-Morris, T., Woodard, W., & Adam, D. (2026). Reflections from Tiriti workers: Insights into Tiriti-led organisational change. Ethnicities, 0(0), 14687968261446346. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968261446346