You’re right, but it’s pretty cringe sometimes. I’ve seen a video call full of white people having a meeting about something that has nothing whatsoever to do with Maoridom start a meeting with a Karakira. It’s very performative a lot of the time.
It’s kinda hard to describe the attitude some people have.
There’s performative bullshit because someone gets it in their head that a karakia is some from of “support”. It’s our version of “thoughts and prayers”. A token gesture requiring no actual effort or investment to tick a box.
IMHO one of the best things to do is just lean our actual history, and not just post European contact history: there’s another six centuries of history before that just in NZ. Though 19th century is the most important to learn.