Teanau Tuiono
2) What is the name of the people that you are from? Where were you born and when?
I am a Maori, my mother comes from the Ngapuhi and Ngai Takoto Tribes and my father comes from Ngati Ingatu and Ngati Toki tribes, I was born in Tamakimakaurau here in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
3) What are your interests? What are your goals for the future?
I’m interested in Indigenous self-determination politics, ICT as a means to help support Indigenous development, conscious music, and when I say conscious music I mean music with a political message. I’m actually a bit of a fan of dub, reggae, and dancehall music, but I listen to punk and hip hop, and the occasional bit of metal (if it’s nasty enough).
Most of my time is taken up with either one of those three things – that’s working, organizing, putting together, and running, ICT projects, Indigenous self-determination politics forums, and of course the occasional music gig. My main goal is continue doing this but in a more coordinated focused manner.
4) What do you want the world to know about you and your people?
I think people globally are just beginning to learn about Maori people especially with Maori movies like ‘Once were warriors;’ and ‘Whalerider’, with also huge interest in tamoko (traditional Maori tattooing). But of course this stuff is at one level and there are many facets and a huge amount of diversity to us as a people.
I guess the main reason why I’m always interested in connecting with other people internationally and in particularly other Indigenous peoples is that a lot of the issues we face are systemic in the same way that colonization was a system that disposed Indigenous peoples in global scale. So seeing how other Indigenous peoples are facing similar issues is that recognition of the commonality of the Indigenous struggle worldwide. Non-Indigenous peoples can learn a lot from Indigenous peoples – people are just starting to realise how connected people are not only to each other but to the environment. A lot of this stuff is something that many Indigenous peoples have known since time immemorial. We are facing these issues here in the south pacific and developing our own unique approaches to these issues.
So I would say this is us, this where we are at, and this is the way that we are dealing with issues as an Indigenous people, and then use that as a platform for conversation.
5) Are there certain aspects of your culture that help shape your identity? Can you describe them?
To most Maori people, culture conveys a much wider meaning, embracing everyday life, language, beliefs, attitudes, goals and values. Two fundamental parts of Maori culture are whakapapa and whenua (Genealogy and land). Underpinning this is the theme of connection, in the sense of how a person is related to other people and to the environment itself. For example, among the Whanganui people is their saying. Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au. I am the river, the river is me.
"Whakapapa" is to place in layers, one layer upon another. Hence the term Whakapapa is used to describe both the recitation in order of genealogies, and also to name the genealogies. Whakapapa includes not just human genealogies, but also how humans are connected to other living things, the earth ands sky (Papatuanuku and Ranginui), the connection between night and day, and concepts of consciousness that reach back beyond creation itself.
Another important part of Maori culture is the whenua, the land. Beyond economic utility, land has emotional and societal value, land is the giver of identity, a symbol of social stability, and a source of emotional and spiritual strength. Maori have strong spiritual bonds to the land, Papatuanuku, Earth Mother. She provides unity and identity to the people and sustains them. So much so that Maori people refer to themselves as Tangata Whenua or ‘People of the land’.
6) What are your reflections on the past between your people and the government of the land you live in? Are there certain anecdotes you would like to share concerning the historical and/or present relationship of your community and the dominant society?
Maori have a long tradition of struggle and resistance against colonisation and the government sponsored theft of Maori land and resources. This struggle has come to be known as the struggle for Tino Rangatiratanga.
There are many different meanings for Tino Rangatiratanga and the concept itself is part of a rich and ongoing debate in Maori society. The word 'tino' is an intensifier and the word 'rangatiratanga' broadly speaking relates to the exercise of 'chieftainship'. Its closest English translation is self-determination -although many also refer to it as 'absolute sovereignty' or Maori independence. Such a concept embraces the spiritual link Maori have with 'Papatuanuku' (Earthmother) and is a part of the international drive by Indigenous people for self determination.
This ongoing tension between Maori and the NZ government has its basis in history. NZ was established as a British Settler colony, which resulted in the dispossession of Maori people.
For more info see:
http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/back/quick.htm )
7) What is your hope for your people in the future?
Colonisation has had a negative cumulative effect on Indigenous peoples worldwide of course these are events that happened in the past. So given that the past is the past how can we then move forward in way that is progressive for our peoples.
Disconnecting from the past I think is the wrong thing to do, but in this process of revitalizing our language and cultures and traditions, it is not easy to step back into the past into pre-colonial times. I think that culture is a changing dynamic we are different from our ancestors from 200 hundred years (Hey, I’m typing this in English on a computer) in the same way that they were different from their earlier ancestors.
Culture in that sense is an organic dynamic and the main point about learning about ones cultures and traditions is to maintain that evolving flow.
I also think there are serious flaws in the current system, and when I mean system I mean the current capitalist system that has been running the world too long.
It doesn’t take a genius to realize that environmental damage and ecological disrespect for the planet are directly linked to the worst excesses of the capitalist system. A system based on want and waste.
So I think viewing the system from an Indigenous worldview, in particular the flaws of the capitalist system, is something that I would like to see more clearly articulated and acted upon by Maori people; in particular Maori leaders and politicians with an emphasis on challenging people that continue to perpetuate these excesses.
Beyond consciousness I guess my hopes would be that every Maori person had at the very least those bare basics of life. Food on the table, a roof over your head, and a healthy family.
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