The Next Generation of Māori Protestors

(The following is a creative writing piece submitted for a year 13 English assignment)

As the wind sat silent, the stillness left our banners protruding.  Swiftly, the wind picked up again, the whistling roar seeping through the thickness.  This was no regular up-draft.   Banners and flags visible in the distance, showing our colours in full.  Perhaps one of the most formidable and distinguished, the Tinorangatiratanga standard.  To some it represents trouble-makers rebelling against the state, while to others, it is a sign that there are still people who care about our very survival.  ‘He toka tū moana’ like a lone rock standing in the ocean, staunch, hardened, stubborn and unflinching, sure not to compromise with the violent waves that dare smash upon it.   Our presence was obvious, we did not hide, we did not whither. 

Today was our day.  It was a day marked by the next generation of young Māori protestors who took upon the mantle of their parents who fought valiantly so we may live.  The dreams they dreamt were realised, some still to fulfil.  Succeeding their works, it was up to us the products of these works, the survivors, to ensure the survival of generations to come.  With pride and compatriotism, today we learnt about ourselves.  Today our ‘mana tipuna’, ‘mana whenua’, ‘mana tangata’ was reaffirmed and realised.  Today we learnt what it truly meant to be Māori.  Today we learnt what it meant to be tangata whenua.  Under a hail of pride shone a brightness scalding the shackles of historical grievance and torment, the sun had casted it raise over our national flag.

For it was the projection of the black, the white and the red gliding across the skies, the colours of the Tinorangatiratanga banner permeating the heavens, enriching those who embrace its message of unity and oneness.  Bestowing its humble, yet intensive vibrations among its audiences.  So vibrant in its nature.  A longing to reconnect with our ancestors, who did what they did in the hope that our way of life may continue to live on.  That motherly love committed to us by them, committed to those colours portrayed upon our national flag.  To forfeit anything for the preservation of that flag and the people it represented.  Leaders of tomorrow they said and tomorrow had come!

At the darkest depths of my abyss, the roaring fire of my rage you provoke.  I charge you the crown, with the stench of this littered body, a rotting corpse still being prodded at from the safety of your cave, in the cowering walls of your Parliament house.  The embodiment of a peoples freedoms, rights and liberties you rejected, oppressed and murdered.  Blinded by the falsehoods of your twisting tongue, misguided by the brittle state of your moral conscience with which you choose to use reluctantly – your people are of the artificial belief that these acts are ok, that they can be justified.  It was these that drove the strength of our knees to march on.  They filled our hearts with the hope that from our efforts would spring forth better circumstances.  We understood them and for that we were empowered.

Pushing me forward, the carcass of my freedoms, rights and liberties you neglect like compost left laying in the mud of your disgrace and your sympathy for the crimes of your actions, just as clear as that very mud that I cannot properly cleanse myself of.  These things I am reminded of, with no ease I may forget, for you compel the strength of my arguments that oppose you, stiffening the untired hand that raises the Tinorangatiratanga banner.  The stories of my elders shared with me and others of my generation, gracious as I am in the appreciation of my fortune to have heard these stories, of the subjugation we have faced for the past 170 or so years at the bloody hands of the crown and her barsted agencies. 

Sent like crows to pick at the eyes of our great Māori leaders and prophets who foresaw the same visions our ancestors did.  Fuelling the device of a generation’s determination and tenacity to make a change, to bring forth, uphold, bind, lash and animate the steadfastness of the ancient ones who saw differently.  That banner we carried with pride and prestige, marking the validity of our existence.  For it was Rewi Maniapoto who stood in defiance of the crown, marking the spirit of the Māori; “Ka whawhai tonu matau, ake, ake, ake!” – we will fight, forever!  Therefore our actions, on that day, in this circumstance we have faced since long ago, there is still some reassurance that we are still alive, that we have continued to live on. 

Tikanga, Kaupapa, People and Stability

To all who hold a belief in principle, I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Friday the 24th of June 2011 on the eve of battle!

The stability of the people relies on the tikanga/moral and ethical behaviours, the kaupapa/policy agenda and their understanding of these two things by way of aronga/interpretation.  They are the blueprints to what I consider to be the necessary conditions from which the fundamental make up of which the existence of a truly great people and a truly great country is possible.  They provide us with a sense of direction, explaining the genesis of where we have come from, where presently are already and where are about to go.  Tikanga and kaupapa give our people stability, therefore, the forfeiture of our kaupapa or tikanga to another agenda MUST be challenged vigorously!  And the people’s stability MUST be defended!

Principles MUST NOT be compromised.

Wellbeing MUST NOT be compromised.

Stability MUST NOT be compromised.

Politicians in general are often swallowed by the empty, insatiable appetite of the distasteful ogre we call ‘greed’.   Poisoned by the toxic views the capitalist mode places upon them and global society,  combined with the feeling of the $20 bill rubbing up against the thighs of our so called ‘leaders’ becomes far too intense to ignore.  Tikanga and Kaupapa that originally intended to liberate and transform the people then become victims of perversion.  Perverted to the point where exploitation and concession-based talks on principle is largely ill-justified in the pursuit for monetary and material wealth. 

We now live in a world where morality, principles and ethics is now saleable.

We now live in a world where the identity of a people now has a price tag.

Resources, people and environment are the subject of economic exploitation.  This is the direct result of a people lost without tikanga and kaupapa.  This is the direct result of a people lost in the darkness of society’s rejection or misunderstanding of what is really important.

Hone Harawira & Mana Movement

Before us is a man who refuses to break principle under the heat of societal and governmental pressure.  A man committed on combating the explicitly immoral and unethical practice of comodofying the principles that prop the foundations upon which a people stand.   A man who has consistently risen to the challenges that threaten our fundamental makeup and our integral wellbeing. 

Hone fights for REAL progress!  Much to the philosophy coined by Malcolm X in his reference to the idea of ‘progress’ when he said;

"You don't stick a knife in a man's back nine inches and then pull it out six inches and say you're making progress ..."

The people will continue to bleed even if the oppression is moderated.  It stands to remain that the oppression still exists and our people, this country just doesn’t need it.

VOTE MANA AND VOTE FOR REAL PROGRESS!

VOTE MANA AND VOTE FOR REAL STABILITY & WELL BEING!

VOTE FOR HONE AND COMMIT YOURSELF TO A MAN COMMITED TO YOU AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR!

OUR PRINCIPLES ARE NOT FOR SALE!

OUR TIKANGA AND KAUPAPA ARE NOT FOR SALE!

THE PEOPLES WELLBEING CAN NOT BE BOUGHT!

VOTE MANA AND VOTE FOR LIBERATION!

Are We Ready Yet?

To all who dream of a greater Aotearoa – New Zealand, I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Thursday the 23rd of June 2011.

What is it that prevents this country’s future from societal progress and prosperity? 

This country is plagued by a generous decay of ethnic tolerance and acceptance.  There exists an entrenched subculture of social-unwritten apartheid.  The racially motivated undertones that exist among our society look to punish a people hopeful of any real societal solidarity. 

That people is us. 

Colonial influences and resistance against those influences has lead to the division of what Brash meticulously needs to understand as ‘the real reason why race relations in this country are going nowhere’.  The continued practice of colonial assimilation and media bias can be seen right across the governmental establishment, as these are all acting agents of the crown (e.g, health system, education system, judicial system, etc).  Their job is not to help Māori pursue tinorangatiratanga, nor is it to help Pākeha pursue tinorangatiratanga and therefore societal progress and prosperity for all New Zealanders.  It serves only to propel the wealthy who have a steak in the oppressing of all peoples across the ethnic, economic and social spectrum. 

I believe that it is increasingly important to understand that racism is the sub product of misunderstanding, fear and competition, but more important is its close correlation with that of economic development.  That racial oppression indeed has an economic value.  A genesis of logic, where subjugation of tinorangatiranga protects and furthers most economic causes.  Because ethnic liberation is uneconomic in the sense where the morale of progress is abundant and the entrance of new competitors becomes more likely.  There is an interest in racial subjugation as it is simply another smoke-screen for other types of mass oppression (namely, in the example given above; economic oppression).

The fact that these oppressive attitudes still large exists still (conceivably in the private sense) among everyday New Zealanders suggests that perhaps this country just isn’t ready to move forward yet?  But I would disagree.  I believe that many New Zealanders are ready and have been ready for a long time now, and that it is only a minority of the colonial ‘redneck’ societal facet that belittles our nation who find themselves constantly halting progress.

In this speech I have chosen to make an example of one attack that was made upon me in an effort to truly exemplify this ‘…entrenched subculture of social-unwritten apartheid.’  That all though the individual being made an example of is exactly that, an individual, I ask that the reader seriously measure the degree of her racial assaults.

Here is what a miss Melina Shroder had to say;

“Just look at all you stupid maoris. Respect is earned and maoris have earned nothing but contempt by all the rest. Europeans, Asians and Indians alike look down upon you dirty maoris. And yet they constantly come crawling back to us holding their hands out begging for more welfare money. Between their ugly faces, dancing around in grass skirts, poking their tongues out, committing crime, eating KFC, gangs, alcohol and drug abuse, bashing and killing their kids; maoris have absolutely nothing to be proud of. My race however is the creme of the crop. Just look at the way were constantly leading the world in industrialization and innovation. If my race didn't arrive here you'll still be jumping around in grass skirts eating each other like the dirty ugly savages you are. “

This comment clearly spell three things;

1.  The importance of a vote for the Mana Party in their quest to liberate both Pākeha AND Māori from the grasp of colonial oppression and moral injustice

2.  Somewhat, a conceptual variant, a parameter measuring the depths of societal racial discrimination in this country 

3.  The importance of an adequate education

This naïve individual in my view represents the type of character that continuously and purposefully moves to unfasten the fabric of race-relations who so many work so hard on so that we may live in a more productive co-existence in tune with each other.  Enforcing the notion that Brash’s idea of ‘oneness’ if condoned by the redneck community at all, is ‘his’ idea of ‘oneness’ and not ‘ours’.  And that the idea of progress is simply that of your own, shaming the good will of this country.

And so I ask, are we ready yet? 

This country is great because of our differences NOT our similarities!

This country is great because of our distinctive identities NOT our identity forfeitures!

This country is great because of our great belief in cooperation NOT amalgamation!

Because amalgamation does nothing but erase the rich and vibrant pasts that a great people have evolved from.  And the idea of abandoning the fundamental make up of a nation should not be encouraged or embraced.  Instead we should value an adequate amount of tinorangatiratanga afforded to different ethnic tiers. 

Because it is our differences and our ability to work together that makes this country great.

We CAN achieve ‘Oneness’ united under the Te Tiriti O Waitangi and not the mythical fairy-tale Brash preaches either!

VOTE FOR TINORANGATIRATANGA – MĀORI AND PĀKEHA!

VOTE MANA AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE BUILDING OF A STRONGER NATION!

VOTE MANA AND EMBRACE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A BI/MUTLI-CULTURAL NATION!

VOTE MANA AND LIBERATE THIS COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE!

VOTE MANA - A VOTE FOR ALL NEW ZEALANDERS!

Liberate Yourself

To all Conservative Māori Voters, I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Wednesday the 22th of June 2011.

Kaumātua/Elders

Long have we enjoyed the tradition of the Māori-Labour vote, an electoral convenience we still seem to be practicing today and there indeed was a time where the Labour Party signalled hope for Māori due to slight concessions the party has made in regard to Māori and the idea of ‘Aotearoa – New Zealand’s’ interests over the years.  And indeed it must be noted that the National government has also, though far minimally, have acted in the interests of Māori and again the idea of an ‘Aotearoa – New Zealand’.  The conservatism we place in the Labour party Māori vote seems to be travelling with high velocity in one direction and the needs of the people another.  That is if our voices are being heard at all, as the Foreshore and Seabed ‘meltdown in Māori rights’ saga cleared the last of the remaining fog that disguised the party’s true agendas.  Perhaps there was some good that came of the bill why many of us still vote Labour today – But the questions I ask our people now is;

Is the conservative Māori vote still working for us?  Which further begs the question; ‘Do we know why we still practice this tradition?’

If it is so, that we have locked ourselves into a cycle of continual vote for a party who doesn’t always and/or acts against our interests, then I ask now that you set yourself free!  Relinquish all votes unanswered!  And transfer them to a movement who can guarantee fair representation of your best interests and the interests of your tamariki mokopuna. 

Our love for our Labour party Māori politicians does not remove the fact that they can not be domineered by their own Labour party leaders/superiors whos interests are that yours are suppressed and forfeited.  We often dream of an independent voice in government that best represents the people who appoint it.  Not only do we look at the Labour party for these voices but we look upon other parties to do the same.  But as long as those politicians are accountable to colleagues and leaders who significantly don’t share the same interests, we the people… will continue to dream, as it is not a truly independent voice after all. 

And so I ask the question once again, ‘is the conservative Māori vote still working for us?’

Mātua/Parents

I recall a time where our people refused to vote at all.  A time where our confidence in the system had plummeted dramatically as the pinnacles of information and enlightenment had cast its humble message of consciousness over us which lead to the awakening of a people.  But still the days of our parents were ones filled with unfaithfulness to Māori rights and interests.   And born from the upheaval of the Labour Party’s support for the Foreshore and Seabed Act was the Māori Party – symbolising a new era of Māori leadership in this country.  A leadership that was relatively well received, one with hope and eagerness.  The people of this era had become inspired to head back to the voting booths, as the prospect of a brighter future had appeared upon the horizon.  And so the Māori Party was looked upon with ambition as our people had lived through the times of Labour Party oppression.

Māoridoms recent breakdown with the Māori party moved to split the Māori vote and many of the adults who had refrained from voting in years previous either reverted back to the same practice or even worse, they begun to leave their votes idling by, recklessly searching for something new that might best represent their interests making them vulnerable to exploitation.

But all hope is not lost.  The emergence of the groundswell movement has reached the farthest corners of our communities.  Traditionally divided socio-political/economic and ethnological cleavages have all joined in a belief of unanimity that;

MANA IS THE MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE!

Yet the conservative Māori vote stands to challenge the Mana Movement and a compellingly achievable way forward. Hone Harawira has lead the charge to liberation!  He has begun the retaliation against National’s policies of social, political, economic and ethnological subjugation.  That a divided people are conquered people and that a people with no voice are a people who surrender tolerance to the harms inflicted upon them.

NO MORE!

JOIN AND VOTE MANA AND LIBERATE YOURSELVES!

VOTE MANA IN THE UPCOMING BYELECTION!

Challenged By Opportunity

(A dedicatory speech to Māori Party supporters and the Mana Movement)

To all Māori Party and Mana Movement supporters (and the relationship we share), I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Tuesday the 21^th of June 2011.

A great wave of opportunity is upon us!  Amongst the tides of uncertainty we have at last reached the clearing of what might possibly ensure a momentous victory.  A victory; 

Not for one person,

Not for one party or movement,

But for a victory in which a people will benefit!!

The relationship between Maori Party and Mana Movement supporters is being tested beyond the limits of comprehension.  The opportunity with which I speak is not one of an idling Māori Party vote, no.  The opportunity with which I speak is one of reunification, the mending of a contentious and problematic split that has shaken the foundations upon which we thrive.  We are being challenged because the opportunity to come together again, united under one kaupapa currently seems to be looking us straight in the eye.

We have been confronted by the prospect of reconciliation between a recently divided people.  We have now come to the crunch of what appears to be a ‘sink or swim’ political phenomenon, where our people are now limited to two crucial, history-defining decisions that will determine the lengthy path ahead upon which our children will have to walk.

SINK:  Split the Māori vote between Māori & Mana.  Keep you vote for the Māori Party candidate and place further strain on the vice of division forcing the futures of both parties to Labour party and eventually National party absorption. 

SWIM:  Consolidate the Māori vote from Māori Party to Mana Movement, serving not your own future and individual interests, but the future and interests of your people and your tamariki mokopuna as a whole.  Rethread the growing gap that polarises a truly a great people.

Te Taitokerau/General Election Voting Logic:

Mana vs. Māori = Labour Party Absorption Of The Two

Labour party = National Party Absorption

National Party = Continued Social, Economical & Ethnological Oppression For A Further Three Years…

The time now has come to rethread the fabric that once interwove a great people.  The great fog of segregation between Mana Movement & Maori party supporters MUST clear in order for our people to effectively co-exist and permeate the days of our tamariki with the fruits of our campaign!  More than ever, it is time now to comfortably embrace our brothers and sisters we once stood alongside in total solidarity.  It is time now to rekindle the past fires that lit our hearts afire with the flame of deliverance and more importantly a vision of and for tomorrow!

Yesterday I wrote to Mana Rangatahi asking the future of our movement to make great sacrifices in order to ensure and further the success and survival of our movement.  Today I ask the whole of Te Iwi Māori to consider such a sacrifice. 

I ask now that you vote Mana and contribute to the building of better future!

I ask now that you vote Mana and renew the vows that represented a people in union with their leaders!

I ask now that you vote Mana and re-bind the threads of camaraderie that once symbolised what it meant and still means to be Māori.

I ask now that you vote Mana and re-sew the fabric of socio-cultural and political harmony that has devastatingly become undone.

Mana Movement;  I ask now that you call upon our Māori party brothers and sisters and invite them to effectively co-exist based on the principle where there was once a time where our peoples lived side by side and that it is possible still.

Māori Party;  I ask that you reposition your vote toward the Mana Movement and enjoy the security of a sufficient working ground-roots movement who returns to frequently meet with the people, vesting power in the people and not single wayward groups or individuals.

VOTE MANA AND JOIN THE GROUNDSWELL MOVEMENT LIBERATING OUR COMMUNITIES!

We are being challenged by opportunity.

The opportunity to recreate a world where our political survival continues to exist sustainably.  That opportunity awaits us in the voting booths.  It is expended by the simple stroke of a pen and with that stroke, a future will be determined by a people who truly want it.  A mouldable future, an achievable future, a future totally dependent on the box we tick come this Saturday 25^th of June 2011.

‘E rere e te huata hopukia, e rere e te manuka tomokia’

‘When the opportunity passes you by, take it!’

VOTE MANA AND ENJOY THE FRUITS OF UNITY WE HAVE LONGED SO MUCH FOR!

Ensuring Our Victory - A Dedicatory Speech to All Mana Rangatahi

As I sit at the base of the poutūārongo of my ancestral meeting house, I feel the roar of a Northerly wind enter the whatitoka of my whare as it passes through me…

I know that a great day is upon us!

Kia whakarongo au ki ngā pātū, ki ngā poupou me ngā whakawhakairo, ki te tangi o ngā pakitara whakairi kōrero e haruru mai nei i te pupuhi o te hau o te Raki, he rā nunui e whai ake nei!

To all Mana Rangatahi I dedicate this dedicatory speech to you on this day, Monday the 20^th of June 2011.

The time has come for us to seriously reflect on our own individual commitments to the development of this movement

The time has come for us to seriously consider the type of future we want to build off this movement…

The time has come for us to seriously ask ourselves how much we want to win this by election and how much we are prepared to make sure we do…

The future of this country belongs to us!

Not only will we cast our own individual vote for Hone of the Mana movement when reach the ballots, but we will also encourage our friends and whānau to do the same, why?  Because it is our duty to ensure this movements continued existence!  We determine the future of this movement and it will not survive off nodding heads and happy smiles!  We will make the necessary sacrifices to protect what so many have worked so hard for from collapse.  We will succeed the legacy of our parents.  And so I say;

We will make our way out onto streets, spread the word via phone and internet  and we will take the movement to the people!

We are no less the than 5 days out from voting day…

And on the 6^th day we will see the dream that our parents, our grandparents and our tipuna have dreamed for so long finally come become a reality!

On the 6^th day we will see history in the making, as the tides of liberation finally wash upon us!

On the 6^th day we will see the course of time bow at our feet, affording reverence to the struggle we have long but pertinently fought for!

On the 6^th day we will see the final product of a people united under one movement!

Ka tika rā e hoa mā, a great a day is upon us!

But it is time now to ensure our victory, its time not to ensure the 6^th say belongs to us.

Malcolm X said that; “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today”

While movement leader Hone Harawira says; “Happy are those who dream dreams and a prepared to pay the price to make those dreams come true.”

TODAY RANGATAHI,

Today we prepare ourselves and we are more than willing to pay the price to make our dreams come true!

MAURI ORA,

KIA KAHA HOKI TATAU AND VOTE MANA!

Address To Te Tai Tokerau In Support of Hone Harawira

Tēnā rā koutou katoa e ngā whānau, ngā hapū me ngā iwi katoa o Te Taitokerau.

To the people of Te Taitokerau,

I write to you on the 8th day advent of the Te Taitokerau By- Election.  I write to you asking you to seriously consider your vote on June 25^th to be a vote for Hone Harawira of the Mana Movement. 

As we know;

A vote for Hone is a voice demanding the end of poverty within Te Taitokerau

A vote for Hone is a people united under the Treaty of Waitangi

A vote for Hone is a force driving the move toward liberating the masses

A vote for Hone is a working order of commitment and dedication to Te Taitokerau families

A vote for Hone is a compliment of appreciation for the needs and aspirations he has already delivered on

A vote for Hone is an acknowledgement that he is a politician who lives amongst his people and not above them

A vote for Hone is a gesture recognising the love and compassion he has for what he does, which is to give the people of Te Taitokerau a working voice within central government.  A voice that can never be snubbed, bought or silenced.

He has committed his life toward the progression of the people.  That the people of Te Taitokerau may determine their own paths and that this government has an obligation to liberate the people of Te Taitokerau, not oppress them. 

At the institutional level he reminds this government of their inherent responsibility to work with and in favour of the Te Taitokerau people, policing them in their constant dismissals and self-appointed pardons with which they regularly and blatantly insult the very document upon which this nation is forged.

He works tirelessly to dismantle the chains that commit our people to a life of ruin through the current taxation systems that just seem to leave us getting poorer and poorer, therein presenting disadvantages and unwanted health and education issues currently affecting the Te Taitokerau people.

Principally, he serves all peoples of Te Taitokerau and he has done exactly that in the very fact that his life was and still is dedicated to this principle which has given him purpose.

Servicing the people – NOT the rich,

Servicing the people – NOT the white,

Servicing the people – NOT the government,

Servicing the people – NOT himself.

Remember this letter when you reach the polling booth.  Remember the stolen voice Hone has returned to you in past years.  Remember the honesty and integrity he has bought to contemporary Aotearoa - New Zealand politics.

Finally, a vote for Hone is not a vote for Hone Harawira, no. 

A vote for Hone is not a vote for the Mana Movement, no. 

A vote for Hone Harawira is a vote for the kaupapa that enriches us all. 

A vote for Hone Harawira is a vote for principle. 

A vote for Hone Harawira is a vote for the people. 

A vote for Hone Harawira is a vote for Te Taitokerau. 

A vote for Hone Harawira is a vote for you and your beloveds. 

Hone Harawira for the Te Taitokerau Electorate 2011!

Remember this and give Te Taitokerau the integrity that it deserves.  To those who still retain a distasteful view of Hone I ask you one question;

1.     Hone’s personality?  Or the kaupapa he defends?

PLEASE: Don’t forsake the value of the kaupapa because of one man.

PLEASE: Don’t put the value of one person before the value of the kaupapa.

VOTE FOR HONE HARAWIRA

LEADER OF THE MANA MOVEMENT

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are prepared to pay the price to make those dreams come true." - Hone Harawira.