let them walk

I saw the headline, "The Treaty of Waitangi on the move" and I thought great, the treaty is being moved around this country and maybe discussions on the treaty and tangata whenua and how we sort out the foundational problem of this country, where the treaty has not been honoured, could be facilitated. I imagined events and community involvement when the treaty comes to town, as people use the opportunity to create connections. I thought about the debates we could have that would not be adversorial but cooperative, the insights we would gleen, the maturity as a nation we could attain. And then I read the article about moving the documents to another building to preserve them. It reminded me of when I went below Te Papa and saw the cloaks of our ancestors - the kahu kurī , kahu kiwi, and korowai. Can we really understand without wearing? The feel, the smell, the weight - these cannot be understood while the taonga is lying in a draw. Why not take them out to the people - let them experience the power. And in the same way take the treaty out of its museum and let it walk among the people.