#Māori rights

[xclowniex]

So if you are not from NZ, you may not be aware, but the Act party, one of 3 parties in government, is wanting to up haul Te Tiriti O Waitangi, our founding document to redefine what it means, with a new bill called the treaty bill.

Their reasoning behind this is that everyone should have equal rights, and we need to stop giving Māori "extra rights".

And whilst I do agree with the fact that everyone should have equal rights, which we already do have, equal rights are a separate thing to reparations and fixing the wrongs of the past, as well as making sure everyone has equal outcomes, which is what those "extra rights" are.

The Māori Health Authority which the government has gotten rid of, existed to help better the health outcomes from Māori as they have the worst health outcomes out of our population. This was not some fancy new fangled thing which have Māori so much more benefits than the Healthcare system for the rest of the country, it was there to have Māori health outcomes reflect the same level that other ethnicities have here in Aotearoa.

The bill also wants to get rid of Māori seats in councils. It has already been changed so councils recently could vote if they want to get rid of them, and some have whilst others have kept them. Maori seats are mandatory seats in council, which means that Māori are always represented in local councils.

This part counts as self governance, which was promised in te tiriti. Changing this, changes a major part of te tiriti which Act party is claiming its not doing. This is not Māori having more rights, it is part of reparations, allowing Māori to have a voice in what happens with the land taken from them.

Those are just two things which the bill will implement.

Whilst the National party and NZ first party, the two other parties in government have voiced that they don't support the bill, actions have already been taken which implement aspects of the bill prior to the bill being read. The other parties in opposition have also voiced that they do not support the bill.

The government has also played dirty.

There was meant to be a peaceful protest, going from different parts of the country to parliment, planned for when the bill was originally supposed to be proposed and potentially have a first reading, in 2ish weeks. The bill was moved up to today.

This undermines the Waitangi Tribunal, which is a Tribunal that protects the rights of Maori which was preparing a case to prevent the proposal of the bill. The change of the proposal of the bill means that the Waitangi tribunal can't do anything. And this isn't the first time this has happened this year.

It is incredibly disgusting what this government is doing to Māori.

[foxglovevibes]

As a Māori woman, seeing all these idiots talking out of their ass about how the incredible Haka performed in protest, started MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and continued by the rest of Te Pāti Māori, in the chambers of parliament this past week, saying how it was "unprofessional" and "cringe", I just have to say:

You lot don't seem to think it's fucking "cringe" when the All Blacks do it before a rugby match.

Anytime I see footage covering Haka performed before rugby, I see how people all like to harp on about how Haka is meant to be a call to arms, a declaration of war and challenge to opponents when being met across the field of battle.

And yet.

The very second it's being utilised as it was always intended to be, in an unbelievably crucial time in our country's recent history, you all turn your noses up. You all start talking absolute fucking horseshit simply because it isn't being used in a way that's convenient for you, because it isn't being given to you in the microdoses you like to delight in for some cultural exposure.

And it all boils down to the fact that we are simply done with giving you to option to turn away, to give us a false sense of empathy and interest. Boils down to how Māori are challenging you to truly LOOK. To SEE. And UNDERSTAND just what this all means. And if you can't handle seeing how we are undaunted in our unending fight to be heard in the land that is rightfully ours, how unafraid we are to draw strength from our culture, our people and the stories of our ancestors that have survived countless attempts to be washed away?

Then you know that this challenge is meant for YOU.

[crabussy]

Happy Waitangi Day, if you celebrate!

thank you!!! I'd like to take this opportunity to make people aware that the current government of Aotearoa are attempting to change the treaty in a way that puts decades of work towards Māori rights at risk.

this article provides some excellent info on the situation. please notice how they're framing it- saying that "all new zealanders will be treated the same" is their way of saying "we don't think the oppressed indigenous people deserve special protection of their land and taonga". it is fucking nasty how they are reframing it as a positive thing for equality when they are simply destroying attempts at equity. it sssuuuuuucks and its bad and I would love for more people to know about it. the article also touches on the other shit things they're doing like forcing organisations to remove the te reo māori translation of their names, and withdrawing from the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous people.

basically!!!!! it sucks really really really bad and it goes so much deeper than this but I won't get into it here. happy waitangi day and let's hope future amendments of te tiriti o waitangi are made that support Māori rights!!!!

[xclowniex]

Literally this.

The only spontaneity was that Hana wasn't the MP which was supposed to rip up the bill and lead the haka, it was Rawiti. But the bill ended up being put in front of Hana.

This was planned sooooo much in advance.

Even the hikoi protesting the bill was planned so much in advance, that the government changed the date of the proposal and first reading off the bill to fuck over those who had planned the hikoi and also the Waitangi tribunal who planned to make a case against the bill.

There was so much planning and coordinating with everything, that it is the largest single protest NZ has either ever had or in decades (depends on the numbers as different news outlets report different numbers of attendance).

It was honestly so cool and amazing to watch out of the window. I wish I could have attended but I needed to save my leave for when my sister gives birth.

I think there's something very frustrating about how so many activist events, like the haka in the New Zealand parliament, are brushed off as spontaneous acts of passion instead of carefully planned and coordinated efforts. I see it a lot of with indigenous activists especially, and it feels like a lot of people lean on that idea because they like the romantic idea of activism being spontaneous passion but it's incredibly infantalizing to ignore the efforts that these activists and protestors and politicians put into making these things happen, making their voices heard and preparing their communities and allies to stand as a united front when it's time.

[guerrillatech]

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clark addresses a crowd on the steps of Paremata

[in-nihilo]

8 hours left to make a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill!

[words-and-coffee]

Alice Te Punga Somerville, Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised - Kupu rere kē

[ID: A poem titled: Kupu rere kē. [in italics] My friend was advised to italicise all the foreign words in her poems. This advice came from a well-meaning woman with NZ poetry on her business card and an English accent in her mouth. I have been thinking about this advice. The convention of italicising words from other languages clarifies that some words are imported: it ensures readers can tell the difference between a foreign language and the language of home. I have been thinking about this advice. Marking the foreign words is also a kindness: every potential reader is reassured that although you're expected to understand the rest of the text, it's fine to consult a dictionary or native speaker for help with the italics. I have been thinking about this advice. Because I am a contrary person, at first I was outraged — but after a while I could see she had a point: when the foreign words are camouflaged in plain type you can forget how they came to be there, out of place, in the first place. I have been thinking about this advice and I have decided to follow it. Now all of my readers will be able to remember which words truly belong in -[end italics]- Aotearoa -[italics]- and which do not.

Next image is the futurama meme: to shreds you say...]

(Image ID by @bisexualshakespeare)

[fwitolei]

This just feels so POWERFUL i have mad respect for these people

much better footage of the haka that shut down parliament today

[merelygifted]

Māori rights protests in New Zealand draw tens of thousands : NPR

[mayasaura]

did you see te pati maori declared independence??

I DID NOT! Holy shit! Thanks for the news!

Okay, now reporting back from one research deep-dive, the recent context as I understand it is this:

Last November, a conservative right-wing Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, assumed office. He's got a lot of less than stellar right-wing policies, and that includes making cuts to the Ministry of Social Development and opposing co-governance with the Waitangi Tribunal and other Māori leadership organisations over the administering of public services such as education, health, and infrastructure. He's been openly critical of Māori seats in Parliament, though he hasn't (yet) opposed them. Over the course of his administration, there's been an initiative to omit or cut mentions of the Treaty of Waitangi, the foundational document of New Zealand that forms the basis of arguments for Māori protections, from official language.

Which brings us to yesterday, May 30th. Budget Day. The day the new administration would announce their first budget and a day of mass action for supporters of te Pāti Māori protesting the treatment of Māori under the new government. I don't have any concrete numbers, but RNZ reports thousands of protestors, while the NZ Herald estimates "tens of thousands" turning out nation-wide, and a walking protest that delayed rush-hour traffic in Auckland for hours.

You may have already guessed that the budget was Bad. As I understand it, the budget effectively cut any kind of targeted funding for Māori health or education, and decreased funding for Māori cultural festivals and celebrations. And again, I cannot stress enough how much I am not an expert on this topic, so there's probably a lot more in there I don't know about.

In response to the new budget, Māori Party MP Rawiri Waititi issued a Declaration of Independence to the New Zealand Parliament, (video of his speech in link) with the support of his fellow te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

There doesn't seem to be any concrete plan in place yet for the organisation of the new Māori parliament, but MPs Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer met with protestors to collect signatures for the Declaration, which they plan to bring to a hui taumata (meeting of congress) today, Friday, May 31st. The text of the Declaration can be found on te Pāti Māori website, in the form of a petition. You do not have to be Māori to sign, but I believe you do have to be kiwi.

[shiverandqueeef]

Rūrangi S1E4 (2020) dir. Max Currie

[alwaystochocolate]

This is a powerful performance of the Ka Mate haka, a traditional Māori dance composed by Ngāti Toa rangatira Te Rauparaha - it's internationally known because the All Blacks (national Aotearoa rugby team) perform it before games.

When you watch this, please also understand its context.

The ramification of Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke leading this haka was censure and a temporary suspension.

Expressing her outrage and challenging the injustice of the Treaty Principles Bill being presented and moving into its first reading - in a traditional Māori way - was deemed a "disgusting" disruption by the Speaker of the House.

This is about a Bill that, alongside other steps that the government has taken over the last year, seeks to undermine Maipi-Clarke's culture, and her language, and her right for self-determination and sovereignty in Aotearoa, and her ancestors' involvement in fighting for these rights.

The Treaty Principles Bill dishonours the decades of hard-won progress that has been made in Aotearoa, and Seymour's talk of "equality" in Aotearoa fails to take into account the multi-generational harms that colonisation has wrought on Māori, the colonial systems which continue to disadvantage Māori, and the institutionalised racism that they have to overcome every day.

I'm pretty darn sure I know what the disgusting thing is here, you know?

If you can, please turn up to the nationwide hīkoi to demonstrate your support for te Tiriti and itks principles.

Pākehā, tauiwi - we are tangata Tiriti. We are here because of te Tiriti. We need to be marching alongside Māori at this hīkoi. This is about all of us.

https://toitutetiriti.co.nz/

Please sign the petition opposing the Treaty Principles Bill. You can do this from anywhere.

https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/kati-stop-the-introduction-of-the-treaty-principles-bill

Please share and amplify the hīkoi organisers' and other Māori voices about what NZ govt's actions mean for our future.

And please keep an eye for the next activations.

te pāti māori haka in response to the first vote on the racist anti māori treaty principles bill introduced to parliament today by david seymour and the act party. toitū te tiriti

[takataapui]

Want to materially support indigenous rights within 10 minutes?

Make a submission against the New Zealand's government's proposed bill that will take away Māori rights. You don't need to be from Aotearoa New Zealand to submit.

You have until 7th January New Zealand time.

FAQ about the bill here, from a trustworthy organisation.

Guide to writing a submission here. (It's more aimed at people based in Aotearoa, but is still valuable.)

Submit here.

Examples of international submissions. Please make it your own, as repeated submissions will not be counted.

In 2025, we should all strive to support indigenous rights, and here's an easy way to do that.

[the-quiet-fire-of-defiance]

The Māori tino rangatiratanga [sovereignty, self-determination] flag flying alongside Palestinian flags. The tino rangatiratanga flag is black at the top and red at the bottom, the two colours separated by white lines forming a koru (spiral). The Palestinian flag has three horizontal stripes (black, white and green) with a red triangle on the left.

"Pro-Palestine protest at Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Rarotonga"

A young child holding an ili (Samoan woven fan) that says Samoa for Palestine

A young boy holds a sign reading Justice the seed, peace the flower / Ko te mana whakaaiko hei kākano, kia puawai mai te maungarongo. Beneath is artwork of a fist breaking free from chains below blooming flowers.

Left: the 1975 Māori Land March. Right: the 2018-2019 Palestinian Great March of Return.

If we want to free Hawai'i... [Hawaiian flag] we must also free Palestine [Palestinian flag]. Credit to @ainamomona

A young Māori boy holding a sign that reads MANA MOTUHAKE [independence/autonomy] 4 PALESTINE

A Fijian woman holding a sign that reads Food is not a weapon of war! Stop starving Palestinians! Behind are two more signs. One says CEASEFIRE NOW and the other says DON'T STOP TALKING ABOUT GAZA

A group of Fijians holding candles and wearing shirts that read STOP THE GENOCIDE

Left: a diagram of Palestinian land loss between 1946 and 2009. Right: a diagram of Māori land loss in the North Island of Aotearoa between 1860 and 2000.

A sign reading TANGATA WHENUA [indigenous people] FOR PALESTINE [tino rangatiratanga symbol, Palestine flag symbol]

Three Pasifika people holding signs. The first says MAI LE VAITAFE AGA'I I LE SAMI! [Samoan: from the river to the sea] FREE PALESTINE! The second sign says FROM OUR PASIFIKA OCEAN TO THE RIVER TO THE SEA FREE PALESTINE. The final sign shows the Palestinian and Tongan flags and says 'OFA KI PALESITAINE [Tongan: Love to Palestine]

A group of Pasifika holding signs and banners. They say "HOW MANY MORE KILLINGS IS ENOUGH FOR YOU?" "KŪ'E! KŪ'E! [Hawaiian: Resist! Resist!] PASIFIKA STANDS WITH PALESTINE" "'OFA KI PALESTINE" "FROM THE PACIFIC TO THE RIVER TO THE SEA, PALESTINE WILL BE FREE" "WHERE IS YOUR HUMANITY?" "SAMOANS FOR PALESTINE" "FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA" "KŪ'E KŪ'E KANAKA WITH PALESTINE" "FREE PALESTINE CEASEFIRE NOW"

A West Papuan man holding two signs. The first says WEST PAPUA STAND WITH MYANMAR. The second says WEST PAPUA STAND WITH PALESTINE

Two signs. The first says PACIFIC ISLANDERS FOR PALESTINE. The second says #FREE PALESTINE #FREE WEST PAPUA #FREE CONGO #FREE SUDAN

A Palestinian flag decorated with Samoan patterns. Words say 'AGA'I MAI LE VAITAFE E O'O ATU I LE SAMI FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA #Sāmoans4Palestine

A tweet from Tamatha Paul (Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Awa) on 29 June 2023. Another big win this week, courtesy of @Just4Pal and @nikau4poneke, we [Pōneke Wellington] will be Sister Cities with the Palestinian city of Ramallah 😍 Free Palestine!!!

A Pasifika woman holding two signs. The first says FREE PALESTINE FREE PALESTINE END THE APARTHEID! END THE BLOCKADE! END THE ETHNIC CLEANSING! CEASE STATE SANCTIONED VIOLENCE! CEASE COLONIALISM! BOYCOTT ISRAEL! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! The second sign has pictures of Palestinian and West Papuan flags. It says pacific islanders stand in solidarity with Palestine! #FREEWESTPAPUA #FREEPALESTINE CEASE COLONIALISM

A sign that has the tino rangatiratanga flag at the top and Palestinian flag at the bottom. It says Mai te awa ki te moana [from the river to the sea] MĀORI LAW STUDENTS For a FREE PALESTINE

A Pasifika woman holding a sign decorated with Pacific symbols. It says LONG LIVE PALESTINE - PASIFIKA 4 PALESTINE - FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA PALESTINE WILL BE FREE

Another Samoan fan. This one says PALESTINE WILL BE FREE

[mueritos]

this is last minute but if you're passionate about indigenous rights/sovereignty, please take a few minutes to send a submission against the Principles Treaty of Waitangi Bill that is up for vote in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Our Māori siblings are calling for our support in this moment, as this bill could effectively strip away the rights of all Māori. The NZ government is choosing to "revise" a treaty without the consent of the Māori, a treaty which has successfully maintained their sovereignty and rights for many decades.

You have until midnight January 7th 2025 Aotearoa time to send a submission!

This instagram post can explain the treaty and the current situation, as well as how to make a submission for comment.

This site will help you generate a submission.

This is the parliamentary site where you can submit or write your own submission! Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find the blue button to submit.

Here is an example of my submission as reference if you struggle to find your words (I believe the second link may have a script as well):

"To the Justice Select Committee,

Hello, My name is Matteo and I am a detribalized mixed indigenous Mexico living in the so-called United States. I am a staunch supporter of indigenous rights, sovereignty, and life. This treaty will actively and intentionally violate the rights of our Māori siblings in Aotearoa. This treaty is unjust and does not deserve to pass. The world is watching New Zealand, and I am one of the spectators who wishes to do his small part by writing this submission to show my disapproval for this treaty. Protect Māori rights, because as fellow humans on Aotearoa, you have a responsibility of honoring the humanity of all your inhabitants. Acknowledging and honoring the cultural differences and therefore different cultural rights that the Māori have is not in any way shadowing the rights of all other inhabitants in your country.  You must involve Māori knowledge and understanding into your government processes. The preservation of Māori life in government means the preservation of all life on Aotearoa.

Thank you."

Please do what you can! Let's all do our part to protect Te Tiriti!