Free Te Tiriti books for all NZ high schools after donor’s gift

Author and barrister Roimata Smail (left) and bookstore owner Carol Beu.
An author talk on Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Ponsonby’s Women’s Bookshop sparked an extraordinary act of generosity – an anonymous donor has offered to provide free copies of Understanding Te Tiriti – A Handbook of Basic Facts to every high school across New Zealand.
A special presentation of the first of the donated books will take place today at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o te Raki Paewhenua in Rosedale, Auckland.
At the same time, hundreds of books are being dispatched by a logistics centre in Rangiora to all high schools around Aotearoa.
“I met the donors at my bookshop talk, where I gave a brief 20-minute presentation and signed copies,” said author and lawyer Roimata Smail.
“They went home, read the book, and were struck by how easy to understand it was. Inspired, they decided to help others discover it too.”
The busy barrister has spent two decades specialising in cases about Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The now bestselling author self-publishes thanks to the help of her whānau, and a small supportive team behind her educational enterprise, Wai Ako Books.
Last week, she uploaded a tool for people wanting to make a submission to the Justice Select Committee over the controversial Treaty Principles Bill.
“The offer to put a book in every high school was a complete surprise – a dream come true. I’ve met so many wonderful people at talks and book signings since launching in January, but this was different. Out of nowhere, I got an email with an offer to help. It was absolutely amazing,” she said.
Owner of the Ponsonby’s Women’s Bookshop, Carole Beu won’t name the benefactors who she knows.
“But what I will say is the timing of this book is crucial, because we have a flourishing of everything Māori and Pākehā gaining new understandings of Māori values and Māori language – during a period when there is a Government who is trying to do the complete opposite,” Beu said.
“It was delightful to have Roimata in our bookshop. She was so gracious and gentle and inclusive, unlike some of the people in power who are doing the opposite.
“This book explains Te Tiriti clearly and simply, so many things that members of the current Government don’t seem to understand.”
Smail’s vision of strengthening and supporting this next generation with Treaty knowledge is now on a fast track.
“It is my hope now with this generous support, that all high school students will get an opportunity to know what it took me 20 years to learn,” Smail said.
“They’ll get access to the clear, correct basic information before they leave high school.
“Looking back, I knew nothing before I began working as a lawyer specialising in Te Tiriti. It didn’t need to be that way, because what I have learned in my career about Te Tiriti is not complicated.”
Local Members of Parliament have been invited to the gifting, including Minister of Education Erica Stanford, the local MP.