“Position and status are not ornaments but instruments of service”. In a world often captivated by accolades and titles, we are invited to shift our gaze from self-importance to shared responsibility. Professor Patrick Vakaoti Dean of Te Tumu School of Maori, Pacific & Indigenous Studies, Otago University in New Zealand, during his introductory yesterday to the Toloa’s shared this profound statement with them.
The roles we occupy—earned through education, professional achievement, or inherited tradition—hold meaning not in isolation, but in how they enable us to contribute to the collective good. These roles are not a finish line, but a point of departure. He talked about how Identity is deeply contextual, fluid and relational, how our titles may change depending on the room we’re in or the people we’re with—but what endures is our responsibility to relate, to connect to uplift. An introduction is more than a name or a credential—it is an opening gesture, a social commitment, and a step toward reciprocity. To say who we are is to affirm that we are part of something larger than ourselves.
Indigenous relationality reminds us of our interconnectedness. It teaches that identity is woven through kinship, place, and reciprocity—not through hierarchy. Every title or position we hold carries not prestige, but a promise: to honour those connections and to serve with humility.
