Ngā Pūrākau Ture o Aotearoa: Stories of Law in Aotearoa
A free, online, New Zealand legal stories project accessible to the general public, through a fresh and modern multi-media approach.
About the project
The law, and the people who made it, have shaped the country we live in. Law is a foundation on which we’ve built institutions, cultural norms, and day-to-day habits. It is an ever-present force in our society. Yet, we rarely see history documented with a lens focused specifically on law.
This project set outs to explore topical questions about Aotearoa New Zealand’s legal landscape, through stories from our legal history, including recent history.
The stories will be captured through a series of eight short videos. The series will be created with the intention of providing a long-lasting resource that can be used to inform and educate lawyers, law students, high school students and the general public. Increasing community knowledge of our legal history can encourage participation in society by helping people to understand the role and value of the law.
The first series – for which this grant has been provided – will explore tikanga Māori and the arrival of colonial British law. Potential future series may explore other topics in the law.
Grant amount
$200,000 over 2 years for work in 2021 – 2023
About Project Leads
Natalie Coates and Milon Tesiram are leading this work.
Natalie Coates (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Tūhourangi, Tūhoe, Te Whānau a Apanui) is a partner at Kahui Legal. She has worked at the University of Auckland Faculty of Law where she taught papers on the Treaty of Waitangi, jurisprudence, tikanga and the law, legal ethics, and law and society. She also spent time working for her iwi and at an international human rights organisation. Natalie holds an LLM from Harvard University, and an LLB (Hons) and BA (Hons) from Otago University.
Milon Tesiram is a co-founder and director of Chillbox Creative – a video production company based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Milon holds an LLB from the University of Auckland, and has a particular interest in storytelling in relation to law and justice. Milon and Chillbox have worked on documentary and commercial video projects for clients around Aotearoa. In a voluntary capacity, Milon has also worked on several videos for charities and social justice causes, including I, Too, Am Auckland – which has been used in Universities to teach about unconscious bias.
Contact
Milon Tesiram, Director at Chillbox Creative