We’ve told you about kāwanatanga, rangatiratanga, Treaties, interfaces, and not pricking your fingers on kina.

We’ve told you about listening to culture, long journeys, transformations and aspirations.

We’ve told you about the tools of the Master, about barriers, and about how to fix them.

We’ve told you about fourth worlds, cultural justice, ethics, and cultural competency.

We’ve told you about colonising, and then about decolonising.

We’ve told you about new nets and fishing, and flourishing and growing.

We’ve told you about relationships, biculturalism and all the other ‘isms’.

We’ve told you about resistance, and detonating critical mass explosions.

We’ve told you about our babies, healing, resilience, love, hope and soul wounds.

We’ve told you about wairua, hinengaro, creation, and waiora.

We’ve told you about brains, assessments, whanaungatanga and manaakitanga.

We’ve told you our strength is in the knowledge we hold; the knowledge we consume.

We’ve stood to make a difference.

We’ve stood to lay claim to our places and to our spaces.

We’ve walked long, and often lonely pathways to gather in our kete, those random letters that hang off our names.

All around you.

We’ve written.

We’ve talked.

We’ve walked.

We’ve yelled.

We’ve cried.

We’ve screamed.

We’ve bled.

We’ve whispered.

And still.

Still. It is not enough.

Still.

We are not enough.

Still.

You tell us we do not exist.

And that.

That.

That, is just not right.