Making connections: ethics, kaupapa, topics, communities

I want to look at cultural appropriation of the Moko in Aotearoas Tattoo industry, I want to investigate why Pākehā are not entitled to a moko and why the process is so important and is a right to the māori culture.

How this relates to the Treaty:

Wai262 claim is a claim to restore and enhance Te Ao Mauri. Wai262 directly relates to Whakapapa and Tino Rangatiratanga and how from whakapapa, comes the rights and responsibilities of “Tangata Whenua- people of the land.” Which is a way of existing to tikanga, customs and laws. Wai262 is a claim to the authority of Tino Rangatiratanga which is guarentee’d under Te Triti o Waitangi, which is central to the mauri of Māori culture, Reo, Matauranga and identity of Whanau, Hapu and Iwi. This relates to my topic as Moko is deeply representative to your whakapapa and needs to be reclaimed as such, instead of just a piece of body art ( Kirituhi.)

In evidence given for the Wai262 claim, Mrs Del Wihongi (Hema-Nui-a-Tawhaki Whihongi) said “I wish to explain the holistic relationship between the cosmos of the universe, the gods, the plants, animals and māori. This relationship discribes the rights and responsibilities maori have to the other partners within this relationship. This relationship is particularly important to our customary practices and norms.” and also by Mrs Saana Murray, “Māori control over things Māori”. These statements are important to one of my case studies of pākehā using moko which is genetically a māori right, and one that should be preserved and respected in Māori culture for it’s relationship with whakapapa, ancestory and whanau, and all indigenous flora and fauna.

https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/news/ko-aotearoa-tenei-report-on-the-wai-262-claim-released/

https://wai262.weebly.com/

Context of my Topic

Purpose of the moko:

  • Face and body tattoo as a sign of cultural identity
  • Holds menaing that cannot be understood with out a knowledge of the history of the bearer, which is why moko artists work so closely with the client, so they portray the correct meaning and keeping the history as true to their whakapapa as possible.
  • Identity, about being Māori in a Māori place, in a foriegn place, being Māori on Māori terms, survival and resiliance.
  • Holds pieces of history and whakapapa, worn with the mana of the bearer and their whakapapa.

Cerimonal Process of the Moko

  • Surrounded by Whanau, iwi/hapu, to give aroha, would hold or touch the reciever to give strength.
  • Seen as a journey of honour, in memory of ancestors and their values and culture. Imparted to the wearer.
  • Birthright as wāhine Māori (moko worn with mana).

Right to Recieve a Moko Tattoo:

  • Relates to what the moko represents which is:
    • The physical representation and manifestation of whakapapa
    • Affirmation of whanau, hapu and iwi
    • Acknowledgement of tūpuna (ancestors)
  • Decision may be influenced by the blessing of your whanau or kura, but is a fundamental and genetical right for Māori.

When it’s not okay:

  • Cultural Appropriation for commercial gain(sally aderson case)
  • “Pākehā are not entitled to the right of any Māori- Be they Wāhine or tāne- irrespective of what has gone before. – Merg Lee-Penehura
  • White Privilage for Pākehāis to think that they should be allowed to wear Tā Moko, as Māori have been trying to reclaim this for generations.

Changes in Tikanga surrounding Tā Moko:

  • Revival in 20th century, traditionally using Uhi (chissles), moko is now often done using tattoo machines.
  • Māori has always adapted and acknowledged new technology and materials, when steel tools became available in the 19th century, traditional tools improved and adapted. The moko did too- designs became more intricate and have evolved from those of tūpuna and will continue to do so

Moko vs Kirituhi : Moko = whakapapa, Kirituhi= Skin Art.

Information leads – find deeper information

Ethics and Kaupapa Worksheet Q’s and A’s:

Avoidance of Harm: Potentials of physical or phycological harm for participants resulting from the investigation? No. For me conducting the investigation?

Benefit : What benefits can your investigation have for participants?  Learn more about indigenous culture of Aotearoa and it’s traditions. Their communities?  How to avoid appropriation and understand the different rights to culture that the māori have, and to the māori community to reclaim their culture. You? To learn and engage in a culture that I have been sheltered from for most of my life and reconnect with my country.  

Justice: To what extent will the benefits and burdens of the research be fairly distributed? Mostly be fact based regardless and backed up by treaty claims and the investigation analysis I have learned.

Kaua e Takahia te Mana o te Tangata : How will the investigation feedback to the participants/communities involved? Openly challenge the thought of cultural appropriation and how cultures can emerse and connect.

He kanohi kitea : In what ways can you make yourself a familiar face with participants and communities? Talk and be open with people as much as possible. I was writing this at the bar and a Māori Woman saw what I was writing and came up to chat to me about how she feels about pākehā appropriating her culture and her own suggestions of things for me to look up, such as the Sally Anderson Case.

Titiro, Whakarongo… Kōrero : How will you introduce yourself and your investigation in a way that allows you to look and listen before speaking? Understand some people may have been a part of appropriation through their whanau and respectfuly portray my points.

Disputes about the meaning of the treaty.

Two of the issues of the treaty that was addressed in this lecture was the dictation of the Pākehā and how it has warped how todays community has addressed and learned about our history and also the blatant racism from the crown that came after the treaty was signed and the drastic affect it’s had on the indigenous people of New Zealand.

These were surprising to me as I have been a Pākehā who has been sheltered from the racism presented in the treaty and it’s reflection on modern day society, from neglection in the education system and my whanau’s background presenting an ill-informed mind set to the treaty I genuinely had no realisation of background white-supremisy in Aoteatoa. This is especially highlighted in the text on pages 3 and 5 where prof. Margaret Mutu writes about the british attitudes towards race and claims, and european civilisation jusitfied stealing land from the indigenous people of Aotearoa by saying their religious, uncivilised and coloured society made them superior and gave them the right to determine another races laws and sociatile manner. And on page 5 she continues with the back up of how māori culture is met with violence, and also with dismissal of integrity. This still carries through today with the treaty claims and how we respond to Māori culture (i.e teaching Te Reo Māori in schools, the hāka, ect.). While things are now being openly discussed – an important step for change and equality- there is still a long way to go in the way we identify and accept our national culture of Māori people.

Another thing that surprised me was how greatly the māori have suffered in terms of government, economical and social support, due to the misinformation and racist views of pākehā.

statistics from the census, Professor Margaret Mutu, Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu and the University of Auckland , page 7.

Black and white facts of lower school qualifications, population of Te Reo Māori speakers, incredibly low income, high unemployemt rates, low life expectancy, high prison population, is thrown in your face and it shows how dire their experience with the government and social economy really has been. Colonisation and capitalism has plummeted their ability to grow as a culture and created the misdemeaner of poverty.

It’s helped me to see where Aotearoa’s society has failed our national culture and where we need to step up to bring us back to an equal society.

Reflection and Consolidation

Te Mata Aho collective, the collaboration of four Māori women to produce large scale textile works that portray the complexity of Māori lives and culture. All four women have post graduate studies in textiles, history and the arts, and their heritage has given them the knowledge and right to share their knowledge with the greater community. They have worked with materials that are relevant and prevalent to the contempory māori experience, which connects a younger generation and is familiar to the māori community, but still honors the history.  

The Calypso Sculpture in Maryland was formulated for public engagement to impact on the waste in our oceans, using plastic bags, the public were to tie it on to the pre-framed sculpture. As the sculpture is interactive, it targets the younger community and visitors to the aquarium (families) to contemplate and think about what was needed to help the earth and endangered species.  

In my own project, the communities I am targeting is the tattoo artist and collectors, some of who are indiginous, however many would be artists and collecters who struggle with the challenge of putting the line through art and cultural appropriation. Moko tattoos hold a significant and meaningful process to both artist and the holder, it is said to hold mana and to hold knowlege, so why is the community of the tattoo industry so contempt with the apropriation if they dont have the right to put that on to someone’s body? Ways i could research this/access knowledge to this is:

  • interview tattoo artists who recieve requests from clients who dont have any heritage and hear why they think they should be honoured with the moko.
  • WAI 262 Claim
  • MIPS Context in sharing knowledge and ancestral history.

Partnership and knowing New Zealand Culture

Context of the Treaty

Te triti worksheet:

  1. At the time that The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, approximately how many Māori and Pākehā lived in New Zealand? Pākehā: 2000 permanent settlers, Māori: 150,000 to 200,000
  2. Which version was signed by both the Rangatira and the representatives of the queen? Māori version.
  3. Māori version of treaty promises māori “tino rangatiratanga”.
    1. What did this mean at the time? Absolute sovereignty.
    2. What document established it’s meaning internationally? English Version
    3. What world powers would recognise it? The United Nations
  4. Was there any type of government or parliament for NZ before 1840? Not a government as such, but there were other documents and agreements that outlined peace, trade and ownership such as the Magna Citra of 1215
  5. Māori were increasingly concerned with lawlessness at the time of The Treaty. Who were they worried about in particular and how were they being lawless? The Pākehā- violence and taking land due to their different laws and how trade was done.
  6. Māori participation in __________ before 1840
    1. International trade :
      1. French and American settlers had trade interests as they had treaties in other parts of the pasific, however the Māori chose to strengthen their dealership relationships with the crown. The french still settled here (Akaroa, SI) but mostly used their own independent trade and agriculture, such as whaling and vegetation growth.
    2. International Travel:
      1. Māori travelled around the world to trade, resulting in adapting technology and commerce, gained literacy which meant they could increase trade in english inhabited countries and were able to trade even further through the world.
    3. Agriculture:
      1. Main form of trade
        1. vege’s
        2. wheat
        3. lifestock (sheep and cows)

Difficult work of maintaining a community

Part 3:

One vacant wellington building I thought of is the Museum stand at the basin reserve, a grandstand that was opened in 1925, and forced closure in 2012 due to earthquake risk.

How is it used/ who uses it?

Currently abandoned, recent photos from urban explorers Urbexcentral: “https://urbexcentral.com/” “https://urbexcentral.com/2016/06/03/abandoned-wellington-grandstand/#comments” , suggest that it is being used for storage and for refuge to ‘dynamic’ people.

Social History:

The Basin reserve where the museum grandstand is located was built by prison labour from Te aro gaol in the mid 1800’s and paid for by the wellington cricket community, so in 1866 after drainage and maintanence was completed the basin became the home of cricket for wellington. In 1925 the grandstand was opened for spectators of cricket matches in the basin, and was used as a cricket museum in more recent years, finally closing due to earthquake risk in 2012. It has been left abandoned and holds many valuable trophies and photographs of the buildings history and souls who came through the building, it is still being debated if it will be demolished.

The building’s grand interior and deep history of slavery, racism, capitalism and community shows it has had the purpose of display and curiosity, why could we not strengthen and re- open with a new space to show the impacts of society and the violent history of prison labour that New Zealand brushes over. I would like to see the space utilised to impact the people who come to the basin to remember who gave the cricket community their own space. Educate their community through art and display.

Difficult work of maintaining a community.

Part 1:

“Rasquache” Culture, decending from working-class Mexico. A Visual culture reflective of a crafting and repurposing aesthetic. Also associated with shared heritage and sustainability, done effectively through economic pressures and hardships.

Economic and political hardship provides the raw materials for the visual aesthetic and to be repurposed, and it also allows for value of creativity over regularity. “mocks the border” of the social tier groups.

While it is a culture thats origins are distant from New Zealand, my mind drifts to the Cuba Street culture of Wellington, and how the rough-housing community have their own flare for repurposing and some weaving, drawing on boxes, making music and body art are reflective of a path of generations who have gone in many different directions, but kept the Rasquache culture alive.

You don’t have to look far to see the protesters and people fighting for change through street art and creative statements. Rasquche culture has travelled far and may have been altered to fit our own communities, but its values of community, rawness, originality, political and social challenge has remained the same, but adapted and evolved into a movement around the world.

Hidden Life of Public Buildings.

In the interview with Lee, he brought up points which showed why it was a hard but rich history of New Zealand and one that really reflected the attitude of other communities towards the Homosexual (LGBTQ+ came much later) communities in the 70’s.

  • Homosexuality was illegal and often met with violence from both law enforcement and the general public, which drove the community to “cruise” and were driven to (literally) underground. With so much uncertainty of PDA’s (Public displays of attention) and secrecy around homosexual behaviours, Public toilets were often used to connect with other men, and a curious culture emerged.
  • Public Toilets had such a stigma of “horrors” and “sin”, it came up in conversation, i.e. removal of the toilets” and concerns of the behaviours but it also became a safe space for homosexual activity, as you couldn’t meet anyone any other way with out being in danger from the surrounding community. This also brings up the point of lack of physical education growing up, so the bathrooms became a place for the AIDS Foundation to distribute material and education around AIDS, HIV and STD’s. Once the community could be more open, there were now other networks such as gay bars and saunas to convey the importance of safe se and regular checks.
  • Using Public toilets to engage in physical connection with other men (or other people now) is a centuries old practice, however now NZ’s attitudes towards homosexuality and the LGBTQ+ community have changed and the influx of homelessness now use these facilities as a form of shelter or a safe space.
  • Brings up an investigation of queer social spaces and how the community percieves it.

Materialism and Historical Analysis

Can the Mosquitos Speak?- by William Mitchell

Notes:

  • Nial was damed, therefore the natural environment was changed and the normal flow of bacteria and other organisms were halted.
  • The war meant that there was a larger amount of human traffic in the area, mostly from boats and planes. Also means they travelled quickly, making it so new diseases foriegn to the foriegners also passed on quickly.
  • The sugar-cane plantations meant that workers weren’t getting the correct food ad were being exploited (long hours, poor neutrition, poor living conditions) meant that their immune system was weak, and high blood-sugar levels attracted the mosquitos that carried the malaria virus targeted the working-class demographic. This also impacted plantation owners, however they would have had better treatment options and correct neutrition.
  • War, Disease and Agriculture is a triangle, which honestly boils down to capitalism and questions where the line is drawn with profit, and welfare.

Conceptualising My Project

Two topics that interest me or I found while searching spaces/ interests:

  1. The tattoo industry and the appropriation of cultures or how it elevates cultures and connects communities
  2. Wellington Hospitality workers and the sexist movement with in.

See attached mind maps: