Mitzi Nairn

Elizabeth Frances (Mitzi) Nairn (1942–2023) was an advocate for women's rights and an anti-racist worker in New Zealand. She spoke about Pākehā respecting Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. She was a founding member of Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD) and Tāmaki Treaty Workers, and part of setting up Project Waitangi/Network Waitangi.

Early life
Nairn was born in London in 1942 and came to New Zealand when she was four years old. Her mother was an English migrant to New Zealand with unorthodox views about New Zealand's past which influenced Nairn. She went to school in a rural area in New Zealand.

Community contributions
She started being active in anti-racist work in New Zealand in the 1960s. Nairn was part of the Student Christian Movement in New Zealand which according to Nairn involved discussions about social change and revolution including South American liberation struggles. She was a Christian feminist, and she and others started a magazine in 1978 called Vashti's Voice that supported a 'national feminist spirituality network'. Nairn became the Director of Programme on Racism of the Conference of Churches in Aotearoa NZ, (formerly the National Council of Churches).

Nairn was a founding member of the Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD), a Pākehā group working as Pākehā with Pākehā which started in the early 1970s. Nairn attended Te Reo Mihi marae, Te Hāpua in 1977 along with other members. She was a founding member of Tāmaki Tiriti Workers.

In 2010 Nairn recorded a series of interviews with Jen Margaret about social justice and liberation.

In her anti-racism work Nairn has taught many Tiriti o Waitangi workshops around New Zealand. She advocated for Pākehā to come to terms with history, and recognise Pākehā 'attitudes' and 'current presuppositions' so that there can be justice in New Zealand.

Nairn was a speaker at a rally supporting Māori fishing rights under the Treaty of Waitangi organised by Halt All Racist Tours (HART), ACORD, Pākehā coalition against racism (PCAR) and others. Other speakers were Peter Turei, Milton Hohaia, Waatara Black and Archdeacon John Mullane. In the early 1990s Nairn outlined thinking and methodology of Paulo Freire as a strong influence amongst Pākehā Treaty workers.

In 2011 Nairn said... "there is hope for Pākehā like me that this country could be a place to be proud of - for its social policies, its inclusiveness, its biodiversity and conservation, its research and development, and its thriving economy, all under Te Tiriti o Waitangi." She wrote about the transitions in Pākehā thinking in regards to antiracism and Tiriti workers over the 1970s and early 1980s.

Nairn alongside Robert Consedine presented at the week long online Te Tiriti-based Futures & Anti-racism 2020 conference supported by Action Station.

As an influence on others Catherine Delahunty described her as "a great teacher and Pākehā anti-racism pioneer" (2021).

Death
Nairn died quietly on Sunday 17 December 2023.

Selected publications

 * Nairn, M. (1989). Changing my mind - transitions in Pakeha thinking. In H. Yensen, et al. (Eds.), Honouring the Treaty: An introduction for Pakeha to the Treaty of Waitangi. Auckland: Penguin Books.
 * Nairn, M. (1990). Some liberation theory. In J. Margaret (Ed.), Pakeha Treaty work: Unpublished material (2002) (pp. 201–202). Manukau, New Zealand: Manukau Institute of Technology Treaty Unit.
 * Nairn, M. (1990). Understanding colonisation. Auckland: Workshop material distributed by CCANZ Programme on Racism.
 * Nairn, R., & McCreanor, T. (1990). Insensitivity and hypersensitivity: an imbalance in Pakeha accounts of racial conflict. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 9(4), 293–308.  311
 * Nairn, R., & McCreanor, T. (1991). Race talk and commonsense: patterns in Pakeha discourse on Maori/Pakeha relation in New Zealand. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 10(4), 245–262.
 * Nairn, M. (1992). Changing and adapting. In M. Nairn (Ed.), Programme on Racism collected newsletters 1985-2002 (Vol 27, pp. 1–2). Auckland: Treaty Conference Publications Group.
 * Nairn, R., & The National Standing Committee on Bicultural Issues (NSCBI). (1997). Cultural justice and ethics in psychological practice. In H. Love & W. Whittaker (Eds.), Practice issues for clinical and applied psychologists in New Zealand (pp. 127–135). Wellington: The New Zealand Psychological Society.
 * Nairn, M. (2000). The future of the Treaty of Waitangi. In I. Huygens et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Treaty Conference 2000 (pp. 9–13). Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland: Treaty Publications Group.
 * Nairn, M. (2001). Decolonisation for Pakeha. In J. Margaret (Ed.), Pakeha Treaty work: Unpublished material (2002) (pp. 203–208). Manukau, New Zealand: Manukau Institute of Technology Treaty Unit.
 * Nairn, M. (Ed.). (2002). Programme on Racism collected newsletters 1985 -2002. Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland: Treaty Conference Publications Group, Private Bag 47904, Ponsonby, Auckland.
 * Nairn, R. (2007). Ethical principles and cultural justice in psychological practice. In I. Evan, J. Rucklidge & M. O'Driscoll (Eds.), Professional practice of psychology in Aotearoa New Zealand. Wellington: New Zealand Psychological Society.