A ‘Christmas tradition’ featuring photos of urology consultants in dark brown makeup and afro wigs has angered members of the public. It’s at Christmastime that New Zealanders buy more mince pies and glazed cherries. It’s at Christmastime that New Zealand’s spirit lifts. And it’s at Christmastime, apparently, that New Zealanders get back into blackface. Zwarte … Read more
Need some last minute Christmas present ideas? Why not support Māori-owned business while you’re at it? Cards, prints, art and stationary There are lots of artists and designers making beautiful products that not only look great but also showcase te reo Māori. Tuhi make planners, and maramataka journals to record your low and high energy … Read more
British Caribbean documentary maker Jay Hall — who sat down with the owner of Dutch Delights and convinced him to do away with the blackface tradition — talks about Zwarte Piet, or Black Pete, and its racist history. In November 2016, I was out in Birkenhead where I was living at the time when a vintage … Read more
We are entering the fourth phase of summer and the teoteo are calling out to let you know their chicks have hatched. Read on to find out what else Hakihea (December) holds. Welcome to the maramataka for Hakihea (December). Heading into the beautiful sunny season you can expect to see new tohu depending on whether … Read more
In the age of advanced genetics, whakapapa is a powerful tool against hereditary illness. Don Rowe talks to Dr Karyn Paringatai, the stomach-less doctor reconnecting whānau to save lives. Dr Karyn Paringatai has lived eight years without her stomach. After the organ was completely removed in 2010, Paringatai’s oesophagus was sewn to her small intestine, creating … Read more
Two Auckland friends have combined their love of tea with their passion for te reo Māori – and turned it into a business. In India, chai wallahs are an institution — you’ll find one in every alleyway, on every street corner and railway platform, making and selling tea to thirsty customers. Half a world a way … Read more
Aren’t Can’t Don’t: 125 years after New Zealand women won the right to vote, we take a look at what the first polling day looked like for Māori women… sort of. Today is the 125th anniversary of women taking to the polls to vote in the general election for the first time, 10 weeks after … Read more
Aren’t Can’t Don’t: As a formerly incarcerated person, I know that denying the right to vote violates respect for human dignity, sending the message that absolute rehabilitation is impossible, writes Awatea Mita. It’s 11.00pm and I am returning to Auckland Region Women’s Corrections Facility as a “release to work” prisoner. I’ve earned a position of … Read more
Emilie Rākete on the issue that many of the Pride sponsors and participants have overlooked – it’s not just about a history of transphobia and homophobia, it’s also about racism. In 2015, People Against Prisons Aotearoa (then No Pride in Prisons) disrupted the Auckland Pride Parade to call attention to the brutal, racist, homophobic, and … Read more
Philip McKibbin remembers a man who dedicated his life to realising our Treaty partnership. Sir Pita Sharples remembers his old friend Harry Dansey well. He was teaching taiaha classes for prisoners – a new concept back in the ’70s – when Dansey said to him, “I used to do a bit of taiaha.” Sharples was sceptical, “’Cos … Read more
Leonie Hayden went in search of the people behind community access radio station Planet FM, and their newly minted and very silly Twitter account. She discovered a group of people who love their jobs and the communities they help. Community access radio station Planet FM gives good content. If you had any investment in this … Read more
Whānau Ora is under review, with the findings being released this month. Dr Chris Tooley speculates on what the future holds. Whānau Ora was set up by the Māori Party in 2010. It is an intensive intervention programme aimed at and defined by whānau, delivered upon kaupapa Māori frameworks. Kaiārahi (navigators) work with whānau to … Read more
The refusal of a Serco prison officer to take his shoes off at a marae, for the tangi of a prominent New Zealand musician, has been labelled disrespectful and rude, writes Leigh-Marama McLachlan for RNZ. Tensions were running high last week for the whānau of the late Tama Renata from the reggae band Herbs – not … Read more
Vegan, kaimanga, kapa kaiota, whekana – whatever you call it, a movement towards a harm free, plant-based lifestyle is being championed by Māori looking to protect Papatūānuku. Across Aotearoa, people are ditching dairy and moving away from meat in an effort to live healthier and more sustainable lives. Plant-based diets are becoming more popular, and … Read more
For three weeks in October, the Waitangi Tribunal started its long task of hearing claims that are part of Wai 2575 – the Kaupapa Inquiry into health services and outcomes for Māori. Gabrielle Baker reports. This is not intended to be newsy analysis, nor is it an insightful history essay. I’m simply not qualified to … Read more
At the beginning of November, The Spinoff published an article looking at the story of the Māori prisoners taken from Taranaki and imprisoned in Dunedin. The piece reported new research by Toitū Otago Settlers Museum curator Seán Brosnahan that challenged the accepted kōrero, brought home to whānau by survivors, that the prisoners were kept in … Read more
The Spinoff is proud to present the latest in our Frame documentary series produced by Wrestler and funded by NZ on Air. Under The Korowai looks at Te Whare Marie, a kaupapa Māori mental service provider that is combining tohunga-led cultural therapy and clinical methods to help young Māori understand, rather than fear, their gifts. … Read more
Last Tuesday, High Court judge Justice Timothy Brewer asked a lawyer if she was making a political point by introducing herself and her client in te reo Māori. Sociolinguist Vini Olsen-Reeder unpacks the bias underpinning those comments. Headlines about things Māori often seem to miss the point. “High Court judge asks if interpreter needed following lawyer’s … Read more
When we remember the Armistice, remember what happened here too. The ‘two-worlds’ analogy retains its stubborn hold. Two worlds mapped onto Niu Tireni, sharing space, differently placed. You say Raowmati, I say Raumati; You say Oohtackie, I say Ōtaki. Or as poet Robert Sullivan put it: You say Treaty and I say Tiriti, … Read more
A 1999 Waitangi Tribunal report said Māori have rights to the radio spectrum, what we know as the 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks. The Crown disagreed. Now, 20 years on from the original claim, the government has the opportunity to right past wrongs when it makes its 5G allocation. Next year will mark 20 years … Read more
From better access to New Zealand Sign Language on the marae, to being visible in Parliament – disabled Māori need to be better represented in our democracy, argues disability rights advocate Kera Sherwood-O’Regan. There’s something about making your mark on that clean sheet of paper. It’s the chunky felt tipped markers that hark back to primary … Read more
In this excerpt from the new book Mountains to Sea: Solving New Zealand’s Freshwater Crisis, Tina Ngata talks about the whakapapa of life-giving freshwater. Ko wai tēnei When I speak to wai I speak to myself – and that is not only to acknowledge the inherent understanding that many Māori carry, which is ‘Ko wai … Read more
As we enter the third phase of summer, the pōhutukawa are flowering and mullet are leaping. Want to know more? Check out the maramataka for November. Hopefully you picked fun activities from last month’s column and maybe even started your veggie garden. For those who did and planted on the maramataka dates your garden should be … Read more
A new programme being rolled out in 111 schools teaches students how to manage money – and the difference between good and bad debt. In Porirua East the houses look like Monopoly hotels. Two-storied, sturdy state houses that are more giant blocks than anything else. They’re good homes, with beautiful wooden floors (if you happened … Read more
Physiotherapist Ricky Bell pursued groundbreaking research into holistic approaches to obesity and Māori because that’s what his community needed… even if it meant his reputation as a fisherman had to suffer. Ngāti Hine rangatira Te Ruki Kawiti initially refused to sign Te Tiriti o Waitangi, believing it would lead to further loss of land for Māori. … Read more
With government officials, community leaders and the Crown coming together on the day of commemoration for the New Zealand Wars, it could have been a time to examine the wounds of colonisation. Instead, everyone patted themselves on the back, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira. One hundred and eighty-three years ago, on October 28, northern rangatira signed He … Read more
Horatio Robley witnessed the most famous battle of the New Zealand Wars, he fathered a child with the daughter of a sworn enemy, his sketching helped end a war and his book helped save the art of Māori tattooing. But mostly he’s famous for his grotesque collection of nearly 40 human heads, writes William Ray for RNZ. If … Read more
No-nonsense 31-year-old Māori/Samoan woman Monique Fiso is behind one of the most anticipated restaurant openings in years. Get ready, Wellington. Wood-fired kareao and asparagus with salted buffalo curd, pine dust and a pine needle vinaigrette. Kina panna cotta with smoked kahawai, green-lipped mussels, caviar and kawakawa oil. Kaipara oysters with horopito mignonette granita and koromiko … Read more
Today’s housing crisis is the fruit of successive governments failing to put the time, effort and funding into sustainable housing solutions, says Bernie Smith, a frontline social housing worker from the Māngere-based Monte Cecilia Housing Trust. This is an abridged and edited version of the Bruce Jesson lecture, delivered last week This government has spent 11 … Read more