A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”
Gerry’s ‘rolling of the eyes’ was such a show of disrespect, the look on his face though realising he had lost all control of the House was priceless. Did the Seymour really expect the Opposition and especially TPM to just sit there and take this. This is the best thing I have seen in Parliament is years, the gallery standing and joining in solidarity, as we all must.
I found this post particularly poignant as just last week I was at tangihanga for my daughter in law and her unborn moko of Ngatai Whatua descent. A deeply tragic loss for all the whanau but the Tangata Whenua process of grieving and farewell is so very very therapeutic. My other four mokos are steeped in kapa haka and their school did them proud with waiata and haka. There was also a powerful haka performed at the graveside by just two men. As Tangata Te Tiriti we were embraced and comforted by Te Ao Maori - why should I stand for any dilution of that by the machinations of Seymour et al. Quite simply I won't stand for it!
Deep sympathy for your loss David. As an import myself raised with a British stiff upper lip, 10yrs living in the real Far North taught me so much; how valuable and therapeutic the tangi process is, and so much of Maori tikanga. The haka makes a primal connection. Noone who hears one can deny it. Some mistakenly interpret their gut response as a fear but it is not. It is a call to union. A call to the fundamental human connection. To let go of the masks we all wear and to be one with the greater wairua connecting us all to each other and to the planet.
Yesterday’s haka was magnificent. Opposition speeches were passionate and logical but TPM really ‘took it’ to Seymour - we all owe them our gratitude. The icing on the cake was the obvious impotence of Gerry, bet he was a crap teacher too…
The look on Gerry Brownlee's face when Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke stands up says it all. He knew, we ALL knew, that Te Pāti Māori would challenge the reading of this Bill. Brownlee's expression is arrogance personified.
Huge thanks to you for all the hard work, not least in sewing together exactly the clips I spent so long looking for in vain yesterday. You star. And Viva Chloe, well done, gal!
These few days have been intense . . . emotions running high, hearts spilling over. And still, to look at Seymour's smug, self-satisfied face, somehow a looming feeling that this really ain't over yet . . .
They are working hard, and I called early in the year around February that these types of anti-Maori rights battles would be coming - so they are well prepared and moneyed up. There are many astrosurfers working the internet to spread lies and division - so it's true that the country is up against not a small matter.
National are now conclusive they will vote it down. But movements like this are about creating a cohort of people so that their future efforts can succeed - that is the nefarious nature of such actions and activities. It creates more who think like them - and it's an extraordinary opportunity for Atlas Network, Hobsons Pledge and the like to enact their agenda.
Still, we can't lose hope and we can only each do what we can while maintaining space and balance too - for sanity I mean!
Oh it all plays so efficiently into the machine. The poison remains in the air, settles in the minds of people who know very little. Who ‘don’t know what to think’. Haitians eat your dawgs, cats, pets, right? And the seemingly countless slappable rent-a-crowd Reddit folks (troll bots?) asking fatuous questions such as ‘aren’t equal rights what we all want?’
Two points of comfort, maybe - - first, the intense will of the folks who oppose this, including those we might call New Zealand’s ‘great and good’ (what’s left of ‘em), and the rousing voices of ‘ordinary’ people just saying, no, I’m not going to let this happen. Second, yes, Luxon has said emphatically now that it’s not to go past the select committee stage, even though that stage itself will be divisive and bitter, and waste countless thousands of hours of people’s time and effort. Yet somehow Seymour’s snide expression makes me cautious.
But you’re so right about not being worn down, to allow some space for simple joy.
👏🏾Tautoko! The haka ALWAYS does it for me, no matter how many 1000's of times I have seen/heard it, in person or on TV. At gravesides; at sports events; when the Black Ferns win; to honour decorated warriors; to honour guests on the Marae; Hapa Haka performances; spine tingling always. Kamate is the most famous but I love the Haka written specifically for the group who is performing it - lovingly crafted to tell their story & incorporating meaning & actions that lift it up beyond "performance" each time 👏🏾💪🏽
Thank you for putting the 3 together - I 😁💓 when the despicable Bill was ripped in half & thrown on the floor at the start, & like others just couldn't stop grinning at the look on Brownlie's face when he realised he could do NOTHING to stop the magnificence 💪🏽👏🏾😜
Some years ago I went to a memorial service for a 42 year old. She died leaving a husband and two boys, aged 10 and 8. The Tainui haka done in her honour included the boys. Spine chilling, reverential, and tearful.
Gerry’s ‘rolling of the eyes’ was such a show of disrespect, the look on his face though realising he had lost all control of the House was priceless. Did the Seymour really expect the Opposition and especially TPM to just sit there and take this. This is the best thing I have seen in Parliament is years, the gallery standing and joining in solidarity, as we all must.
Snap!
I found this post particularly poignant as just last week I was at tangihanga for my daughter in law and her unborn moko of Ngatai Whatua descent. A deeply tragic loss for all the whanau but the Tangata Whenua process of grieving and farewell is so very very therapeutic. My other four mokos are steeped in kapa haka and their school did them proud with waiata and haka. There was also a powerful haka performed at the graveside by just two men. As Tangata Te Tiriti we were embraced and comforted by Te Ao Maori - why should I stand for any dilution of that by the machinations of Seymour et al. Quite simply I won't stand for it!
Deep sympathy for your loss David. As an import myself raised with a British stiff upper lip, 10yrs living in the real Far North taught me so much; how valuable and therapeutic the tangi process is, and so much of Maori tikanga. The haka makes a primal connection. Noone who hears one can deny it. Some mistakenly interpret their gut response as a fear but it is not. It is a call to union. A call to the fundamental human connection. To let go of the masks we all wear and to be one with the greater wairua connecting us all to each other and to the planet.
Well done MT! You have expressed the essence of what real Kiwis feel about the Haka. It’s ours! It unites us!
Yesterday’s haka was magnificent. Opposition speeches were passionate and logical but TPM really ‘took it’ to Seymour - we all owe them our gratitude. The icing on the cake was the obvious impotence of Gerry, bet he was a crap teacher too…
The look on Gerry Brownlee's face when Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke stands up says it all. He knew, we ALL knew, that Te Pāti Māori would challenge the reading of this Bill. Brownlee's expression is arrogance personified.
Toitū te Tiriti ❤️ 🤍 🖤
Huge thanks to you for all the hard work, not least in sewing together exactly the clips I spent so long looking for in vain yesterday. You star. And Viva Chloe, well done, gal!
These few days have been intense . . . emotions running high, hearts spilling over. And still, to look at Seymour's smug, self-satisfied face, somehow a looming feeling that this really ain't over yet . . .
They are working hard, and I called early in the year around February that these types of anti-Maori rights battles would be coming - so they are well prepared and moneyed up. There are many astrosurfers working the internet to spread lies and division - so it's true that the country is up against not a small matter.
National are now conclusive they will vote it down. But movements like this are about creating a cohort of people so that their future efforts can succeed - that is the nefarious nature of such actions and activities. It creates more who think like them - and it's an extraordinary opportunity for Atlas Network, Hobsons Pledge and the like to enact their agenda.
Still, we can't lose hope and we can only each do what we can while maintaining space and balance too - for sanity I mean!
Oh it all plays so efficiently into the machine. The poison remains in the air, settles in the minds of people who know very little. Who ‘don’t know what to think’. Haitians eat your dawgs, cats, pets, right? And the seemingly countless slappable rent-a-crowd Reddit folks (troll bots?) asking fatuous questions such as ‘aren’t equal rights what we all want?’
Two points of comfort, maybe - - first, the intense will of the folks who oppose this, including those we might call New Zealand’s ‘great and good’ (what’s left of ‘em), and the rousing voices of ‘ordinary’ people just saying, no, I’m not going to let this happen. Second, yes, Luxon has said emphatically now that it’s not to go past the select committee stage, even though that stage itself will be divisive and bitter, and waste countless thousands of hours of people’s time and effort. Yet somehow Seymour’s snide expression makes me cautious.
But you’re so right about not being worn down, to allow some space for simple joy.
Strawberries . . . 😉💗
👍 🍓
Daiquiris!
👏🏾Tautoko! The haka ALWAYS does it for me, no matter how many 1000's of times I have seen/heard it, in person or on TV. At gravesides; at sports events; when the Black Ferns win; to honour decorated warriors; to honour guests on the Marae; Hapa Haka performances; spine tingling always. Kamate is the most famous but I love the Haka written specifically for the group who is performing it - lovingly crafted to tell their story & incorporating meaning & actions that lift it up beyond "performance" each time 👏🏾💪🏽
Thank you for putting the 3 together - I 😁💓 when the despicable Bill was ripped in half & thrown on the floor at the start, & like others just couldn't stop grinning at the look on Brownlie's face when he realised he could do NOTHING to stop the magnificence 💪🏽👏🏾😜
Mountain Tui, I'm glad you mentioned Brexit in one of the videos.
I've been saying this often, to other people & myself in the last few months.
This will be our Brexit moment & I'm truly worried that it will pass.
I have never seen so much Malice in our countries government & amongst our fellow countrymen, in my 37 years on this earth.
The Hikoi & Haka in Parliament gives me some hope. There are still some good in our country.
Some years ago I went to a memorial service for a 42 year old. She died leaving a husband and two boys, aged 10 and 8. The Tainui haka done in her honour included the boys. Spine chilling, reverential, and tearful.