I know most of tumblr is thinking about the USA right now. but fuck the nz government right now too. tomorrow, the treaty principles bill, the 'worst, most comprehensive breach of Te Tiriti in modern times' is being introduced to parliament early, because there were activations planned country wide and the cowards decided to pull it forwards. fuck this government. a friend of mine had to go home early, crying. I've been in shock all day since it came out.

check on your Māori friends, e hoa mā. see what they need. see how you can help. everyday, we see and experience racism. from people around us, up to our government. community care will save us.

Here's a good summary of the bill and the issues.

The political party that secured this in their coalition deal has definitely been taking lessons from the US Trump years. And though every other party has already committed to voting against it later in the process so it won't become law, it will still do a huge amout of damage just by giving voice to people who want to ignore and assimilate. David Seymour is a twat. Sigh.

From the article above:

"The new principles would advance the discredited agenda of assimilation, as they are designed to end the distinct status of Māori as the indigenous people of this country"

Hey, what the actual fuck.

They’ve got another one on the go! I’m so interested in the thought process about which one to do next and how they make links to different Māori dialects - in this case:

Did not know that! Anyway, I really liked Coco so I’m glad it gets another release this way - and no doubt the choice also reflected the huge tradition of guitar music in Māori culture.

Arianna Alfonzo has lived in the Philippines apart from her father while he has worked in New Zealand for the past six years. In 2018, Arianna’s application for a visitor visa was rejected after it was determined that she did not meet “acceptable standards of health.”

New Zealand’s immigration policies state that an individual with a disability or illness is unable to reside in the country if they require health services that cost more than $41,000 over five years.

While Arianna’s father works as a construction industry worker in Auckland, the 12-year-old and her mother, Gail Alfonzo, have continued living in the Philippines as they fight to get Arianna accepted into New Zealand.

“It’s been very difficult for us,” Gail told The New Zealand Herald. “She needs both parents.”

Gail also said that she and her husband have spent thousands on consulting specialists and lawyers to help approve Arianna’s visa and prove that they would not be a burden to New Zealand’s economy.

“We are in our early 40s and we are very sure both of us will contribute [to] the growth and economy of New Zealand,” Gail wrote in a public plea. [...]

In 2014, a woman by the name of Juliana Carvalho was similarly denied entry into New Zealand due to her condition as a parapelgic and having lupus. It took six years for her to be approved for residency after having spent time in New Zealand under a student visa. She described the policy as destroying “people’s lives'' and causing “humiliation.”

Carvalho submitted a petition with 35,000 signatures to change the disability immigration policy in 2021; however, the New Zealand government stated that it had no plans to revise the current policy.

“The current settings are not specifically discriminatory against disabled people, but instead focus on assessing the public health impact an individual will have,” New Zealand’s government stated.

international people start calling our country aotearoa instead of new zealand challenge

aotearoa is the te reo name for our country, commonly translated as "land of the long white cloud" as the story goes Kupe was guided to our whenua by following a long white cloud in the sky. new zealand is a name which was forced on us by colonizers who stole our precious land less than 200 years ago. by reverting back to the māori name you are metaphorically giving the land back to the tangata whenua, the people of the land, and we can begin to normalize using the proper names for things that should have always belonged to māori

heres a link to a good pronunciation, i recommend practicing saying it along to the video. but please remember that even if you cant get it perfect, say it anyway!! its better to try and get it slightly wrong than not try at all

here’s another pronunciation guide that goes into more detail about how vowels are pronounced in te reo and the structure of the correct pronunciation!

Adding that it's okay if your pronunciation isn't great, even with practise. Babies are born fully open to every speech sound of every language in the world. At around six months, they begin to tune into the nuances of the primary language spoken around them, and disregard subtle changes in sound that don't impact meaning. It's called perceptual narrowing or perceptual reorganization. This is why it's such hard work to achieve fluency in new languages as an older child and adult: your brain has pruned away some of its capacity to process auditory information. It's also part of why it's critical to defend the linguistic sovreignty of Indigenous and marginalized peoples: so babies can grow up fully attuned to the precious and irreplaceable ways of making meaning through sound, expression, and gesture that belong to them and their kin. Even if you high-key fumble the pronunciation (oh, to have such gentle Ts and Rs!), calling Aotearoa by its name is a necessary (though not sufficient) defense of cultural sovreignty, and an important step in healing the wounds of colonization.

For the first time ever, New Zealand is celebrating Matariki as a Public Holiday!

It's so exciting and wonderful, in my opinion

Matariki is both the name of a star cluster (also known as Pleiades or the seven sisters) and of the celebration of it first rising in the sky. It marks the start of the New Year in the Māori lunar calender.

It is a time of coming together, reflecting, and as with all big human holidays, sharing kai (food). I'm really happy our government has decided to finally officially recognise this major holiday of our mana whenua.

The following is from Te Papa's website about Matariki

Matariki is the star that signifies reflection, hope, our connection to the environment, and the gathering of people. Matariki is also connected to the health and wellbeing of people.

Waitī is associated with all fresh water bodies and the food sources that are sustained by those waters.

Waitā is associated with the ocean, and food sources within it.

Waipuna-ā-rangi is associated with the rain.

Tupuānuku is the star associated with everything that grows within the soil to be harvested or gathered for food.

Tupuārangi is associated with everything that grows up in the trees: fruits, berries, and birds.

Ururangi is the star associated with the winds.

Pōhutukawa is the star associated with those that have passed on.

Hiwa-i-te-rangi is the star associated with granting our wishes, and realising our aspirations for the coming year

Mānawatia a Matariki!

international people start calling our country aotearoa instead of new zealand challenge

aotearoa is the te reo name for our country, commonly translated as "land of the long white cloud" as the story goes Kupe was guided to our whenua by following a long white cloud in the sky. new zealand is a name which was forced on us by colonizers who stole our precious land less than 200 years ago. by reverting back to the māori name you are metaphorically giving the land back to the tangata whenua, the people of the land, and we can begin to normalize using the proper names for things that should have always belonged to māori

heres a link to a good pronunciation, i recommend practicing saying it along to the video. but please remember that even if you cant get it perfect, say it anyway!! its better to try and get it slightly wrong than not try at all

Shögun Defeated

BOY (2010) dir. Taika Waititi

In Māori tradition, Hatupatu was the youngest of four sons, cruelly treated by his elder brothers, who despite this grew up to become a chief of some note among the Te Arawa. He gained great respect and mana, and set himself on the path to becoming one of the most famous of all Māori warriors. Legend tells of his wily escape from Kurangaituku, the fearsome bird-woman, by hiding inside a rock and then jumping over hot springs, leading Kurangaituku into a boiling mud pool burning her to death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatupatu https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1519/hatupatu-and-kurangaituku

Ngātiwai tribal leaders formally listed as official naming authorities for the tiny creature

Wholesome fact of the day: The Maori language of NZ has just expanded to include a term for people with ADHD Aroreretini: Attention goes to many things

Click here for more info

it’d be super cool if you could take a minute to follow this link and sign a petition to government to help ngati paoa of aotearoa new zealand to resist the building of a super marina in putiki bay without their support or permission (international friends and allies can sign)

Support #ProtectPūtiki here - petition and gofundme available!

Indigenous Ink 

time for a final push!!!!

with all donations combined, we only need 50k more to have enough for a tender! we can do this!

remember that it is in NZD so if you are american your money goes further! $1US is worth $1.42NZ

any amount donated makes a difference, this is sacred land with key burial sites, water, and mountains, and the iwi deserves it back

Greeting Hakka by Tony

NZ traditional haka for black lives matter, video posted june 3rd 2020

For those of you who don’t know, this specific haka was written by a father to acknowledge his son’s wrongdoing and basically tell him to get his shit together. It is also modernly used as a haka tautoko, or acknowledgement, in some contexts.

Y'all see how symbolic this is, right? It’s both acknowledging current events as a show of solidarity, but also calling for world leaders to get their shit together and admit their wrongdoings and try to change things. This shit is powerful.

The user quobbo on tiktok did a little rundown analysis of it here:

for some reason this ^ reblog isnt showing up in the notes? maybe it’s the link, but for those looking to explains the significance of this from a closer maori experience - what the dance means and why the video is so culturally epic (if interested in knowing more, pls click this reblog)

y'all i am so excited for this course