That was energising – and deeply moving. I’ve just come back from the Hikoi – and I feel more Māori than ever before. Yes, I’m probably all Pākeha, but I think that most of Aotearoa is part Māori and part Pākeha these days – we are a mixed blood nation, although still deeply riven in two, whether ethnically or financially. We are definitely a nation of Haves and Have-Nots. The rich elite of the older pale people, and the poor underclass of many of us – including a vast majority of Māori. I hear the voices and the songs and the haka, the speeches that are bubbling over the waves of my favoured domain (more seabed than foreshore) – “Goodness me Nemo, why are you talking about the Treaty? Isn’t this meant to be a blog about matters architecture and urban design in Wellington?”
Well, the RNZ website puts it thus: “The Treaty Principles Bill architect, ACT leader David Seymour, says he supports the right to protest, but thinks participants are misguided and have a range of different grievances.” So, Seymour presumes to be an Architect does he? Yet another reason to protest against him! And while Seymour seeks to legalize the feeling of “we are all one people” in his deeply misguided attempt to wade into the murky waters of the Tiriti, I’d say that the Māori people are doing that themselves in this hikoi – apart from a few people still keen for race war and class war – this has been a massively peaceful protest so far in every way.
That’s the way that Aotearoa differs so much from the USA – now set to no longer be a proper democracy, but more of a fascist dictatorship – here, our native tribes are still empowered, and today more powerful than at any time since 1840. Of course, because Seymour has started the conversation, that perhaps many did not want to start, I think there is now more of a chance than ever before of our one nation separating into two – and we know how that will end. The cries of “Māori never ceded sovereignty” are louder now too, louder than ever before.
When a march from Waitangi Park (wonderful open space design, thank you to the designers from all those years ago) up the Golden Mile of Courtenay Place, Willis Street, Lambton Quay – that Universities happily walk down the opposite way, and that Mayor Whanau wants to dig up / widen / plant bigger flower beds in, when that march has 35,000 people, almost every one with a flag, then that’s an expression of faith in public space.
I just heard them say at Parliament – “Let’s make this a One Term Government”. Amen to that!
Our house had a flagpole for nearly 100 years, disappeared some time in the 2000s, I think.
I’m putting up a new one this week – just so I can fly those flags.
Starkive ! Are you getting into vexillology? It is a fascinating topic that you can get lost in. Fun fact – the white ensign so favoured by many in the Māori movement, is actually the same as the early flag of the Shaw Savill shipping line – not entirely sure which came first, but Shaw Savill used to ship the early settlers out here. Ironic, no? The Tino
RangatinatangaRangatiratanga flag is much more recent, although I do not know the designer. A lot of people unwittingly fly it upside down, as it is not clear which way up it goes…The tino rangatiratanga (best check your spelling there) flag was designed by Hiraina Marsden, Jan Smith and Linda Munn in 1989. Google told me so.
Google also told me that the United Tribes Flag was designed here in 1834 and subsequently gifted to Shaw Savill (in 1858) for their New Zealand trade – they seem to have modified the stars somewhat.
What a marvellous facility is this website! Spelling mistakes corrected and Years of flag designs checked !
Re your house – hasn’t it got three or four little gables? Each deserves its own flag? (Going from memory from a magazine in the past – could well be wrong). So what flags are you going to put up?
The Gonville pool buildings were designed by Thomas Battle in 1911 or thereabouts and featured a flag pole – probably obligatory on Edwardian public buildings. Those were replaced by a jaunty three-gabled number from Earles, Lamont, Bycroft and Partners in the 1970s – they might all have been playful regional modernists, but they still kept the flagpole.( https://gcur.org.nz/styled-4/ ).
I fancy one of those bendy poles with both the tino rangatiratanga and United Tribes flags on it, flexing in the westerly.
Three gables – one each for Earles, Lamont, and Bycroft. One flag each.
Yes, those United Tribes flags and Tino Rangatiratanga flags looked amazing fluttering in the stiff breeze.
RNZ says Seymour said: “There’s a bit of saying going round that when you’re used to entitlement, equality feels like oppression. Well, certainly, if you believe that because of your birth, you are tangata whenua, you have a special right to have seats reserved at the table in public institutions, and consultation expectations under resource management and so on – different from other people on the basis of your ancestry – then I guess you might be annoyed that we’re not going to fulfill that expectation. It’s not a question of an individual being entitled, it’s a question of public policies that say this is a position that is in place for somebody who is Māori. This is a consultation obligation where you must consult somebody who is Māori. Now a person who is not Māori … does not qualify for that position, and that is the key issue here.”
Link to the Spinoff’s coverage on the best signs at the hikoi…
https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/19-11-2024/the-best-signs-from-the-final-day-of-the-toitu-te-tiriti-hikoi