Editorial: Military flags potent symbols

OPINION: Taranaki has passed another significant milestone on its provincial journey with the consecration of St Mary's Cathedral on Saturday.

Well-wishers packed every pew for the dedication and consecration of the stone-walled church which was built in 1845. But what does this all mean?

In simple terms it means Taranaki Anglicans essentially gain dominion over their own affairs. The church and those associated with it now form their own clerical nucleus which is presided over by Philip Richardson, Taranaki's first bishop. But the occasion is also an opportunity to re-define what the physical presence of the pile of stones signifies.

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, touched on this during the service.

He said: "We are not to be like stones lying around. Come and be built into a spiritual house." The church has taken the first step by installing Tikituterangi Raumati as Cathedral Kaumata. This new position should go a long way towards addressing the negativity that Maori feel about St Mary's and its association with the Land Wars.

One hundred and fifty years down the track and the building causes some to shudder at the memory of it containing the cannon balls and munitions that rained down on local Maori. Indeed Bishop Richardson said Maori regard the church as being on one side of the conflict so now is the time to begin reconciliation "for that breach of trust". Key to this, it seems, is Archdeacon Raumati and the Cathedral Chapter, which will immediately start to determine how the people of the land will share the "oversight of the Cathedral Church".

One of the starting points might be to remove the military standards that hang in the church. It has been suggested that the flags, at least one of which was flown during the Land Wars, are deeply offensive to Maori. Although some Pakeha might find this difficult to understand the flags could be said to represent oppression, pain and treachery.

Do they belong in a church just because they have always hung there? Perhaps, but not if some parishioners find them offensive.

But the guardians of St Mary's would do well to remember that many of their flock might see removing the flags as nothing other than revisionist history. And they would be right if Bishop Richardson and Tikituterangi Raumati, the Cathedral Kaumata, do not openly engage with parishioners on the issue. Constructive debate will go a long way to diffusing the concerns, if any, some locals might have.

The flags are potent symbols of our colonial history and as such they deserve to be flown. Battle scarred they are an evocative reminder of a chapter in our collective history that has since closed. The next is about to be written.

- © Fairfax NZ News