b'INTERNATIONAL POLITICSsays Tupara. And it made us feel a lot of pride to be amongst them. But it was also awe-inspiring because the women were really strong in themselves, in their own identity. At the end of the day, The MWWL is the only national charitable Ma-ori womens organization in Aotearoa and has remained committed to advo- we do need a seat at the table cating for and protecting the well-being of Ma-ori women and their families.The Ontario Native Womens Association (ONWA) attendedas Ma-ori. We do need to be the MMWLs 70th National Conference in October 2024, held in Hamilton, New Zealand. ONWAs first formal agreement with another Indigenous womens organization, the Manaakitangainvolved in all these decisions and Gizhewaadizi Agreement, was created at this time and represents a collective commitment to working together in a waythat have been made because if that is grounded in culture. The agreements name symbolizes this commitment, with manaakitanga, which is a Ma-ori concept that includes kindness, care, hospitality and generosity, andwe look back to what our tpuna gizhewaadizi, meaning to be kind in everything you do in the Ojibwe language.According to Cora McGuire-Cyrette, CEO of ONWA, a crucialwere doing, our ancestors, they component of reconciliation means empowering Indigenous womens leadership in common areas of concern at internationalknew how to look after this land platforms. We need to reclaim our voices as Indigenous women and reclaim our leadership, and we need to be at the forefront of the implementation of our own solutions, she explains.and look after one another.Indigenous women have a right to participate in decision-making processes on all issues that impact our lives. McGuire-Cyrette asserts that the current global environment is not favourable for Indigenous womens rights, whether its- Kararaina Te Puniin Aotearoa, Canada or the United States. There is a growing anti-far-right sentiment, not just in New Zealand but globally; in Canada, here, too, she says. This is why its so important to continue the advocacy to build connections with other Indigenous women, because were stronger together, and growing Indigenous connections like were doing with the Ma-ori Womens Welfare League and others is a positive way to extend our energy in the current political environment that were in.In Aotearoa, co-governance is a model of shared decision-making that has emerged over the past 40 years. Primarily co-governance has arisen because of settlement between Ma- ori tribes and government to resolve tribal grievances over historical breaches by the government of the founding constitutional agreement, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Te Tiriti). Co-governance is an equal share of decision-making used for management of rivers, mountains and forests, which enables the different worldviews of Ma-ori and the actors of government to come together in the best interests of the natural resource they are responsible for protecting.Te Tiriti is the only agreement that provides for settler nations to be in Aotearoa in the first place. Te Tiriti provides the constitu-tional blueprint for shared power and the co-existence of nations. Co-governance over natural resources is a logical consequence of Check out our Tiriti settlements because the current Westminster system that is amazing post- characteristic of the constitution of Aotearoa is not enabling of secondary programs! nations to work together because it only recognizes one.The previous New Zealand government commissioned a report called He Puapua to understand how the country might imple-snpolytechnic.com ment UNDRIP. Strong negative reaction from opposition parties to He Puapua led the government to stall further progress. The current coalition government of New Zealand has introduced 52Fall/Winter 2024'