In 1840, the British Crown and Maori rangatira (chiefs) across Aotearoa New Zealand signed a treaty that promised indigenous Maori sovereignty over their lands. In the 1980s, the government moved towards the view that the treaty signing symbolised two races coming together in 'partnership'. Partnership is a point of contention in settler-indigenous relations, with claims that state institutions favour the interests of the dominant culture. This paper draws on the experiences of Maori teachers of English in secondary schools, to examine how everyday classroom interactions reproduce an imagined partnership between Maori and Pakeha (descendants of European settlers). Findings reveal that teachers and students enact a bicultural narrative that maintains lop-sided notions of partnership to advance Pakeha group interests. The paper concludes by arguing that breaking the silencing of violent colonial histories would authorise a new narrative of biculturalism; one with the potential to transform the idealism of 1840 into practice.