Monday Musings: Why I'm Standing in Solidarity with My Māori Cousins

& Why You Should Too

I saw the video for the first time on Instagram in mid-November. A Māori woman tearing up a bill in parliament and performing the Haka whilst others around her rose their voices to join in. To me, “the Haka heard round the world” felt like a beautiful and entirely fitting way to protest a bill that would lead to further encroachment on the rights of the Indigenous people of New Zealand (the tangata whenua or “people of the land”).

The woman featured in the video is Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke and, at just 22 years old, she is the youngest MP to ever be elected to parliament in New Zealand since James Stuart-Wortley’s 1853 election at the age of 20. Maipi-Clarke represents Te Pāti Māori, a political party in NZ focused on advocating for Māori rights. And, as I wrote in this note, despite people worldwide celebrating her act of defiance, Maipi-Clarke was subsequently suspended from parliament.

Maipi-Clarke in parliament, protesting the bill

In the video, we see Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee tut and sigh as Maipi-Clarke begins her protest. He is clearly, thoroughly inconvenienced by it all. But that is entirely the point of protest. To inconvenience, cause upset and create discourse. Would I even be writing this piece right now if I hadn’t seen that video? Perhaps not. I have six Maori first cousins who are seriously concerned about the issues surrounding the bill and have been out marching against it. But I live thousands of miles away in the UK so I might not have known or asked them about it had I not seen the video.

When we did talk about it in the family group chat, my cousin Mon made a salient point: When the All Blacks perform the Haka before rugby matches - it’s celebrated. But it seems Māori culture is only celebrated when it comes to sport, tourism and occasions where it serves to boost the economy. Meanwhile, almost 60% of Māori people have experienced serious racial discrimination in their lives, 40% live in the most deprived areas of New Zealand and Māori children are almost twice as likely to live in poverty than kids of other ethnicities.

This is because the Indigenous people of NZ have been subjected to extreme marginalisation over the two centuries that has included a deliberate and systematic denigration of Māori language and customs. Some examples of this include:

• Cultural Suppression

  The Native Schools Act 1867 introduced policies that discouraged the use of the Māori language in schools. Māori children were often punished for speaking their native tongue, contributing to the decline of the language and alienation from their culture. My cousin’s grandfather on their mum’s side was caned in school for speaking Te Reo so his children grew up with only English. When they were old enough, my cousins decided to attend night school so they could learn the language and keep it alive.

  The English, of course, have a long track record of using brutal tactics in order to impose their language on others. My Dad grew up in North Wales and his family there are all Welsh speakers. When I go back to Wales to visit my Mum, Uncles and Aunts, it’s so nice to hear Welsh spoken when I’m out and about but I’ve always been so aware that it has long been a language under threat. Just like Māori kids, Welsh school children were caned for speaking their own language throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. This was due to a horrendous practice called the Welsh Not. Its ramifications have echoed through the decades since and significantly less Welsh people speak the language as a result.

• Prohibition of Native Medicinal Practices

  The Tohunga Suppression Act was just as bad as it sounds. Created in 1907, the law aimed at restricting the practices of traditional Māori healers (tohunga) in favour of promoting Western medicine. Although the act was repealed in 1962, the damage it did during the 55 years it was in place is unquantifiable. It contributed to the decline of traditional Māori healing practices and spiritual knowledge and lead to tohunga facing criminal charges and huge fines.

• Political Marginalisation

  Although the Māori Representation Act 1867 created four Māori parliamentary seats, this was disproportionate to the Māori population, leading to under-representation in governance. Additionally, Māori were restricted from switching between Māori and general electoral rolls until 1975, limiting their political influence.

• Racial Discrimination and Stereotyping

  It’s worth checking out this film for a more in depth exploration into the segregation Indigenous New Zealander’s have suffered over the last century. Spoiler alert: a lot of the practices in the film will feel familiar given they’ve historically been used to treat African-Americans and Palestinians as second-class citizens too.

  Māori are still subjected to persistent racial discrimination and negative stereotyping. Media portrayals have often depicted Māori in a negative light, contributing to societal prejudice and systemic racism. Studies have shown that racism against Māori is pervasive, affecting various aspects of life, including interactions with institutions and access to services. And, of course, this has led to…

• Socioeconomic Disparities

  Māori communities have historically faced higher rates of unemployment and poverty compared to the general population. These economic challenges have led to social issues such as higher incidences of alcoholism, which in turn have reinforced negative stereotypes and racial discrimination against Māori.

It’s a tale as old as time: Colonisers co-opt the best part of our culture for economical gain whilst simultaneously oppressing the Black, brown and Indigenous people who actually own/created that culture. We see it world over. And that’s a big part of the reason the Māori struggle isn’t just their fight. It’s ours too.

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Let’s get into the treaty…

1835: After years of European explorers visiting New Zealand, the tūpuna Māori (ancestors) put out the first official document stating their sovereignty. Many of these European visitors weren’t exactly following the way of life in NZ (think: Brits abroad) so the tūpuna Māori felt there needed to be a friendly but official reminder that they were the sovereign tangata whenua and the land was also sovereign. The document was called the He Whakaputanga and was formally recognised by Britain, the US and France.

It’s important to note the New Zealand economy was booming at this point and every citizen was well looked after. Few people spoke English and by 1840, there was still around 80,000 Māori people and only about 2000 settlers. It’s fair to say the tūpuna Māori were living their best lives and both the land and the people living on it were thriving.

1840: As the British settlers grew more and more out of control, the Te Tiriti o Waitangi was created with the intention of granting the Queen of England (Victoria) the right to form a government to manage her people in NZ. This is where things started to get messy. The idea was that the Waitangi Treaty would work with the He Whakaputanga and therefore would not affect the Māori people’s mana (power). Around 500 tino rangatira (ancestral chiefs) signed the Māori version of this document. But then the English snuck in their own version and managed to get 30 rangatira to sign that draft. Those who signed it definitely didn’t understand it. How could they? It was written in a language they barely spoke a word of.

The English draft states that the Māori people were willing to cede all land and power to the English Queen for free - a ludicrous ask that obviously no one in their right mind would ever agree to.

1865: As if the English draft wasn’t bad enough, it’s follow up was arguably even worse. The Native Lands Act of 1865 aimed to convert Māori communal landholdings into individual titles, making it easier for settlers and the Crown to “purchase” (read: steal) land. It established the Native Land Court, which imposed complex and costly processes on Māori, leading to widespread land loss and economic disempowerment. The Act undermined Māori collective ownership and culture, becoming a key tool of colonial dispossession.

If you’ve watched even a tiny percentage of the number of Instagram and Youtube videos I have explaining this issue in depth, you’ll have heard the word rangatiratanga countless times by now. It translates as “chieftainship, independence, self-determination and the right to exercise authority”. It’s this that Māori people have been forced to fight a losing battle for for so long now, despite the fact that rangatiratanga should be an inalienable right of a people, especially those native to the land.

The bill that Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke tore up in parliament seeks to enshrine the English draft of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This idea rewrites history, establishing the false narrative that the Māori people gave away their mana and their land. It also attempts to destroy any pre-existing Māori rights under the guise of creating true “equality” with Pākehā (the descendants of settlers). But don’t be fooled by this. Equality does not equal equity in a system that has already taken away so much from the tangata whenua.

Picture this: You live in a beautiful house. A house that you have worked your entire life to build, brick by brick. Your children play happily in the yard. The fridge is always full. Life is good. Then, one day, a couple of kids show up at your door. They are ragged and hungry, begging to be allowed in. So, out of the goodness of your heart, you give them a room and food and tell them you’ll take care of them as long as they follow house rules.

But they don’t. They sneak in alcohol and get drunk. They damage the furniture. They have terrible fights and sometimes drag your kids into them. Eventually, you start to wonder… where are their parents? And what would they think to all this? You manage to contact their parents, who for whatever reason, cannot come and help out. However, you agree to allow a friend of theirs to stay. The friend will be acting as a sort of proxy, working on behalf of the parents to make sure that even if the kids don’t follow your rules per se, they aren’t totally lawless.

Then, one day, you come home and find that your children’s room has been given to some kids you don’t recognise. Apparently, they are friends of the scrappy kids you let stay. You kick back against this but soon almost every room of your house has been taken over and you and your family now live in the windowless basement. Without the attention it used to get, your beautiful garden starts to die. Your kids begin to struggle at school. You reach for some comfort in a bottle. And, to make matters worse, you are continually blamed for your misfortune.

Then, someone comes along and tells you to stop moaning about the loss of your house, forgo any rights you ever had over it and accept that the people who have stolen it from you have equal footing there.

This is what the bill is suggesting to the Māori people right now. It’s insulting, degrading and totally enraging. No wonder Maipi-Clarke reacted the way she did to it.

What many people don’t know, is that Maipi-Clarke had been debating the bill in question for almost a year before this video was filmed. There had been many conversations that she’d been a part of, discussing exactly what the proposed bill would mean for all New Zealanders. Before she tore up the bill in parliament, she stood up and clearly stated that she was against it. The Haka wasn’t premeditated, it came about because she suddenly felt the mana of her ancestors flow through her. In so doing, she put NZ on the world stage, bringing a hugely important issue into the limelight in the process.

I have no doubt the tupana are proud.

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Anyone in the world can submit against the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. You do not have to have any connection to NZ whatsoever, just the belief that further marginalisation of indigenous people should not stand.

The closing date for submissions is 11.59pm Tuesday, 07 January 2025 (NZ time).

Guidance on how to put together a submission can be found here. It’s totally up to you how much time and effort you put in but you can do it in as little as five minutes.

If you’re still unsure of why you should take a stand, look again at the video of Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke in parliament. If you haven’t already, you might be able to spot someone wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh who rises up to protest alongside Maipi-Clarke. A reminder that the international struggle against settler-colonialism is entirely interconnected. Fighting against an ideology is far from easy but, with collective effort, I believe we have a chance of winning.

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If you only share one of my posts in the next few months, make it this one. It’s so important we spread the word so that more people can learn about this issue and consider submitting in solidarity.

As always, the simple act of clicking the heart button at the bottom of this post means more readers will see my work. I’m also never happier than when I’m reading your thoughts in the comment section. See you there.

Merry Christmas (to all who celebrate), from my whanau to yours. Hope your plans for the next week are full of warmth and light.

With love,

xK

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