Absolutely magnificent: Rawiri Waititi Maiden Statement. In a very powerful speech, he insisted that Te Tiriti o Waitangi must be honoured, colonialism must end. He spoke of his ancestor who was wrongly hanged. Waititi removed his tie (noose) and replaced it with a tāonga. 🙌🏼
Jan Erik Moström A few questions: what is the significance of the tattoos that the woman behind him have? What is the significance of the tāonga? How common is that people speak/understand Māori? (people seem so laugh/understand some of the jokes(?) he makes in Māori)
Is the conflict between Māori and non-Māori "big"? The audience seemed to do something similar to a "haka", what was that?
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom Great questions, but wow, they could take a while to answer. Māori women may have a chin tattoo called Moko Kauae. Watch www.youtube.com/watch for more info on that. It's a mark of honour.
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom Tāonga is a general word for something of high value and significance. “Treasure”, essentially. They take many forms and can be intangibles such as language. He symbolically removed the 'noose’ of colonialism — the tie that male MPs are required to wear in the house — and replaced it with a Māori treasure of great significance, worn around the neck and dangling close to his heart. The item may have been specially carved for him and its shape will have meaning and significance.
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom How many speak or understand Māori isn't easy to answer. Many MPs have some knowledge and many are Māori. The Māori language is returning to Aotearoa New Zealand after being pretty much erased by the colonisers. There's so much more to say about that. In NZ we have 3 official languages: Māori, English and NZ Sign Language.
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom I’m so proud that in our Parliament at moments of significance, such as these Maiden Statements, audience in the Gallery may offer support by means of waiata (singing) or haka. It's a mark of support, approval, community and more. It reflects and adds to his 'mana’ or loosely translated, status and authority.
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom As to 'conflict’, yes and no. I need to leave that till later.
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom Glad to hear. I haven't finished watching it myself … must get back to it.
Jan Erik Moström interesting, that was the first time I've heard about Tāonga. Sweden has the following languages Swedish, Finnish, Meänkieli, Sami, Romani and Yiddish - unfortunately I only speak one of them 🙁
Jan Erik Moström to me, who doesn't understand the cultural significance, it sounded/looked quite nice ... and kind of powerful
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom There's always time to start to delve into another language and culture. 😀 Just to be clear, the word tāonga isn't the name of a language. It's a Māori word that refers to items of cultural, spiritual or other value, so the English word ‘treasure’ would apply.
Miraz Jordan @jemostrom I realised when I wrote my replies to you that I understand more about the significance of such things than I did a few years ago, but that there’s way more I need to learn and understand. Until Europeans arrived in the mid 1600s the only language spoken in this country was Māori. BTW: there was no writing, but concepts, history etc could be passed on through weaving, carving, tattoos as well as orally.
Miraz Jordan @a_seagull_story I believe it is. We still have a very very long way to go, but it’s gathering momentum. For example, just the other day a major news company apologised for how they’ve represented Māori for the last 160 or so years and committed to change their ways. www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki...
Jan Erik Moström Tattoos also ... I find it interesting how we humans try to tell stories and keep history in various ways.