Deeply saddened by the tragic death of Tere Livingstone, a league rugby player Papamoa. It's just devastating and heart-wrenching to see a young life tragically cut short in an accident involving a rugby game, so I'd like to express my deepest condolences and thoughts to his whanau and friends at this really difficult time. However, I'm glad to hear that the young man donated his organs. Again, my sympathies are with his family at this difficult time.

So for anyone who doesn’t keep up with nz politics, which i’m assuming is most of you, our new radical right government have decided one of their main aims of their term will be to re-interpret the Treaty of Waitangi.

The Treaty is an agreement between Maori and the Crown, now the NZ government. It is the founding document of new zealand and is recognised as a constitutional document today; it is the only treaty of its kind/time still honoured, and it is the steps we’ve taken through the Treaty to provide restitution and build an ongoing relationship with Maori and their iwi (tribes) that has allowed the relationship between Maori and the government to thrive where other indigenous groups have struggled to achieve recognition of their rights.

This is going to be entirely undone. Not only is this issue inflammatory and a threat to race relations in Aotearoa, leaked documents show the proposed “reinterpretation” wants to negate pretty much the entirety of the legal rights provided to Maori under the treaty. For example, the treaty article that guarantees land rights for Maori will be reinterpreted to guarantee land rights for “all New Zealanders”. Which means this article would be essentially meaningless for Maori.

By removing Maori from the context they are trying to put Maori on an “equal footing” with all New Zealanders; they are riding the idea that Maori have special rights and privileges above that of the average New Zealander. Obviously this is bullshit but it’s effective rhetoric and there’s a grain of truth to in that the extent of Maori rights hadn’t been clearly defined due to the ongoing nature of the process. So this has got a lot of people with a poor grasp of the issues very upset and baying for change.

There is a hui (meeting) being held today for all the iwi to begin discussions of how Maori will respond to this. New Zealand politics isn’t very interesting usually, but our progress on indigenous rights, until now, has been absolutely ahead of the field. If you care about indigenous rights globally, you should care about this, because in the same way Australia’s referendum loss has spurred on this action, the loss of rights here will spur other right wing governments to be similarly bold to their own indigenous groups.

Indigenous rights in New Zealand are under attack. They are meeting today to discuss it, and New Zealand will be listening, but I want the world to be listening. Because our government needs the shame of being called out by more than just the people who they’ve already decided don’t vote for them.

Maori have a long and proud history of fighting for their rights, and they’ll do it again here. And I’ll be on the pickets beside them, but there’ll be plenty of my own pickets to attend, because this government is radical in every sense of the word.

So please, even if you’re very far away, stand behind them in this. Keep your eyes on us. Amplify their voices. Don’t let the racism drown them out.

This stupid bitch is going to court over a 90 minute course

Also the course is specifically on maori world views in regards to land and working with iwi and maori clients, so it's not even like she's being taught about maori "religious" beliefs that could conflict with her own.

When indigenous and formally colonized people from ALL OVER THE GLOBE are showing solidarity with Palestine, ask yourself why you chose to stand with the occupation

New Zealand considers changing its name to Aotearoa to confront its past : NPR

Māori child, Aotearoa/New Zealand, by Maania Tealei

happy waitangi day, if anyone wants to help a māori move out of a violently racist living situation i've been stuck in for the past year any help would be appreciated lmao. money will be put aside so i can make bond once i find a place that actually gets back to me

pāypāl.me is hoodypet, please leave a note saying it's for irawhiti since it's my friend's account. don't tag as anything thanks. ngā mihi arohanui

Elizabeth Kerekere

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: Born 1965

Ethnicity: Māori, Irish

Nationality: New Zealander

Occupation: Politician (Independent/Green), activist, artist

Note: In Māori language Elizabeth identifies herself as someone who is Takatāpui.

"Maori woman with cat and kittens" Ca. 1909. Source.

Recently extinct species make me sad for all the usual and normal reasons (loss of life, biodiversity and unique life forms that experienced the world wholly uniquely and acted in it like no other, to name three), but a big thing that also makes me so sad is the forgetting that comes right after. Many endangered species are greatly ignored to begin with whilst alive of course, which is awful, but the way that extinction also causes us to forget. A species could’ve been so abundant a hundred years ago, people would’ve used a fish species or a tasty plant for food, or parents would’ve warned their children to not put a poisonous toadstool or insect in their mouth, a diver would exclaim, “Aha!” after emerging from the shallows holding an especially big bivalve, or someone making a species diary would sketch out a local bird or fasten a single flower to the page. But.. then the species goes extinct. It doesn’t exist anymore. None of these events, these actions happen anymore. Not with these species. The people who had these experiences dwindle out and they may not even realise that their experiences were among the last of their kind. And we forget.

y'all please check out my friend alex's book!! its a free online resource for learning māori, the endangered indigenous language of new zealand, and we hope that it can help spread this beautiful language to even more people!

(plus this book is a blast hehe)

A Maori woman in New Zealand, 1914.

Now that National and ACT look like they're set for an awful term for new zealand, do not let yourself forget.

Don't forget how mainstream media accepted blanket national ads on news websites without question. How they promoted David Seymour and other right politicians as guests on comedy panel shows, pushing their profile and image. How they insisted on describing threats of genocide, violence and terrorism as "jokes", "opinions", and "honest mistakes".

Don't forget the national party members accepting saluting nazis in their midst. David seymour's "jokes" about violently murdering Pacifica people. The female maori politicians receiving death threats, being physically assaulted and having their homes invaded . Christopher luxon describing the poor as "bottom feeders". Their allyships with destiny church. Their attempts to frame queer people as predators. Their clear and ongoing attempts to redress antisemitic conspiracies into "maori elite" ones; and saying we should be literally exterminated.

And most of all, you BETTER not forget to take action. We have years to make sure this doesn't happen again, to ensure they can get as few of their disgusting plans accomplished as possible. We have to make change wherever we can and ensure that marginalized voices are accepted, supported and lifted up in our communities.

Fuck National. Fuck ACT. Fuck NZ First. And fuck all their pathetic little cronies.

We won't be silenced.

I know this is old news about Taika being a brainwashed zionist dick who uses his Māoriness as a cash cow, but Jemaine Clement (also Māori) has just signed a ceasefire letter with Aotearoa Artists 4 Ceasefire. More attention on the more talented one in the duo please.

waitangi dildo incident 2.0 incoming

the girl who threw the dildo at new zealand politician steven joyce has been spotted in this shirt