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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 8, 2005 |
Colonization: The fight for equality between Maori and Pakeha (white people) – Tanya and Harley Kaihe |
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| Harley doing the Haka with GET teacher Chris Massey (photo by Shunya Mizumoto) |
Thousands of years ago, long before the arrival of James Cook in the Southern Hemisphere, tribal people were expertly navigating the great oceans of the world in double-hulled canoes. Deeply spiritual people, with undying faith in the stars to guide them, they founded the land of Aotearoa or “Land of the long white cloud” and became known as the Maori people. For centuries they inhabited the island and developed their own cultural and spiritual practices until they came under threat in the early 1800s when a British fleet arrived and wanted this beautiful, sacred land for themselves. Tanya and Harley Kaihe (mother and son) belong to the Maori population of the land now internationally recognised as New Zealand and joined Peace Boat to talk about the struggle of their indigenous people since the colonizers’ arrival. |
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| Harley and Tanya Kaihe at their debut Peace Boat lecture |
Tanya, Chair of the South Auckland branch of the Maori party, explained to a captivated audience that the very crux of the social and economical inequalities between the colonized and the colonizers can be traced back to the famous Waitangi Treaty. In order to protect themselves from being taken over by the arrival of the “white man” (otherwise known as Pakeha), the Maori people made their own flag and created an internationally recognised declaration of independence. Unfortunately gross misconduct and violation of the declaration swept over the whole country resulting in stolen land, raped women and alcohol abuse. At the sacred place of Waitangi, therefore, an exchange of promises took place in 1840 to outline the rights of the people inhabiting the land. This was known as the Waitangi Treaty.
The Treaty was written in both English and Maori and highlights one of the most brutally mistranslated documents of all time, which resulted in disastrous consequences for the indigenous people of Aotearoa. The English version states that the Maori people were to give up control of their land, give full possession to the British, agree to become subjects of the British Queen and denounce traditional Maori culture and identity. The Maori version testifies that the Maori population would govern their own land, have absolute control over the land and seas of Aotearoa, are an independent state and are allowed to preserve traditional Maori culture and customs. This gross miscommunication led to the establishment of a British parliament with its owns sets of laws and systems, claiming all “unoccupied” land crown land and setting up projects to educate and ‘civilize’ Maori people. |
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| Harley, Tanya and Mick Martin with Maori enthusiast Obayashi |
After 160 years of this imposed government, the Maori people are still fighting for equality amongst the people of New Zealand. Tanya explained some of the effects that colonization has had on the Maori people and what they are doing to prevent their culture from dying out altogether. Assimilation into a Pakeha way of living was the pivotal element of New Zealand governance in the early 1900s. All teachers and role models were of European descent, students were punished for using the Maori language and sacred land and ancient traditional practices for taking care of the fisheries and land were discarded. This resulted in loss of pride, frustration, depression and lack of purpose among the Maori people, which in turn lead to alcoholism, violence, ill-health and low self-esteem. The Maori people therefore featured highly in every negative statistic of the social structure of New Zealand: Highest unemployment rate, lowest academic achievement rate and highest rate of illness. |
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| Harley teaching the Haka |
In response to these harsh conditions and social exclusion, Maori leaders stepped forward in the 1980s to bring back their language and culture which was under threat of extinction. They began to initiate Maori-language recovery programmes, such as the Kohanga Reo movement seeking to immerse Maori infants in a Maori-language learning environment from infancy to school age. By 1994 there were 800 Maori pre- school establishments, which later led to the setting up of 61 primary schools by 2002. In creating this formal educational space, indigenous Maori people are able to take control of their own lives and ‘legitimize’ the culture of their ancestors.
Having received an exclusively Maori education until recently going to university, Harley expressed how most Maori are afraid of going to a Maori only school for fear of not being able to live and succeed in New Zealand. He only learned written English at the age of 12 and believes that most Maori youths find themselves in cultural limbo. He, however stands proud of his cultural upbringing and respect for his ancestors. While onboard he created Peace Boat’s own Haka (traditional dance) and he explained the importance of not abusing this ancient ritual as the All Blacks New Zealand rugby team had done. |
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| Tanya with her usual captivated audience – even in the jacuuzi |
Their lectures on Peace Boat were inspirational and emotional. Many Peace Boat participants felt moved by the fight and achievements of the Maori people in preserving their cultural identity. “However there is still a lot of work to be done to stop people being racist and to enable the Maori to have an equal footing in all decisions made, at local, regional and national levels of government” explained Tanya. Some years back she had decided to prioritize educating the Maori youth about their own traditional culture first and foremost. She broke this promise and came onboard Peace Boat to expose Maori issues to a much wider audience and was rejuvenated from the positive attitude she was welcomed with. While Tanya and Harley’s message was political, the energy they brought to the ship clearly showed a celebration of life as Maori, the people of the ‘land of the white cloud’. |
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TE WAKE RANGIMARIE (PEACE BOAT HAKA)
Kaea: Taringa whakarongo kia rite kia rite kia mau (Listen to the leader and get ready)
Katoa: Hi! (Rally)
Kaea: Anei matou nga tangata mai te waka rangimarie (Here we all are, people from the Peace Boat)
Katoa: Iahaha, ka huri haere tatou te ao ki te puta te kupu Rangimarie (We have travelled around the world spreading the word of peace)
Katoa: Iahaha, ko te mea nui kia tatou ki te whai i te matauranga mai tera (Our main aim is to gain knowledge from all the lands we have visited)
whenua mai tera whenua me te hono nga iwi o te ao (and to unite different cultures of the world)
Nga mihi nui kia koutou katoa (Greeting to you all )
Hi aue hi! (end)
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