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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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Comments
He mihi Manu Caddie | Feb 1st, 2004
He mihi nui, mihi aroha, mihi mahana ki a koe. Pai tou korero i tenei wahi. Great to see some tuturu Maori perspectives being expressed in this awesome web resource.
GREETINGS OF PEACE! Esnaen M. Catong | Sep 20th, 2005
I learned a lot about you and your people... Keep up the good work!
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