MD
- May 17, 2016

Sidestep: The question of Maori descent

This is a revisit of the post of 27th February and asks a controversial question. Can you really call yourself Maori if you have anything less than 1/2 portion descent. Some will agree and others will disagree...but hear me out.

First understand that there never was a Maori nation. There were a collection of warring tribes all around the country, collectively referred to as Maori. Defining ‘Maori’ was to allow for a reference point when discussing Pakeha, its origins and meaning in today’s society. The Maori used the word to describe themselves, as opposed to the ‘different’ European settlers, during the nineteenth century, and the Europeans in turn adopted it. Before the time of the arrival of Europeans, Maori had no name for themselves as a nation, only a number of tribal names.

‘Maori’ is a derivative from ‘tangata Maori’ meaning ordinary people, referring to the descendants of the country’s first immigrants. This term is the ONLY term used in the Maori version of the Treaty of Waitangi. The term ‘Maori’ relates closely to "‘tangata Whenua’: people of the land; but with connotations of ‘those who were here first'.

First let us examine a particular area of NZ, the South Island. Some Ngai Tahu say that Kati Mamoe and Waitaha no longer exist as there are now absorbed into the Ngai Tahu tribe and no longer distinct. So while knowing your roots is important, it is true that a distinct pure race of Waitaha is no longer possible. The same can be said of Kati Mamoe. In the case of the Mamoe it all occurred in less than 100 years. The Moriori also have no true full blooded Moriori living after Tommy Solomon died in 1933. If that is true, then there are no true Ngai Tahu either. That means if you can have people of Ngai Tahu descent, then you can also have others of Kati Mamoe or Waitaha descent...but there is no longer a distinct and pure people with any of those names. Descendants of British folk who arrived here are no longer British either but they can call themselves a New Zealander of British descent.

The above picture is of Ben Couch, born is 1925 and regarded as half caste according to the 1865 rules.

Saying you are 'Maori' as opposed to being of 'Maori descent' is like telling a Chinese boy born here he's Chinese. He'll tell you he's a Kiwi or a New Zealander of Chinese descent. He identifies with his current state. It's the same with African Americans - they don't call themselves Biafran or Kongalese (old terms), they refer to who they are....Americans of African descent. This isn't a beat up of origin, it's trying to be clearer on racial proportion. Someone with 1/16th German blood will not refer to themselves as German - even though they may be a mix of German, French, Canadian, Tongan and European. Now, if those race mixes all applied, which descent is he the most dominant in?

Mr. John Clark, a past Race Relations Conciliator of Maori and who is of Maori descent once said “Maori today are a people as one sees in legislation”. Maori are no longer the distinct race of people that signed the Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. There is too much foreign blood in all Maori today for the Waitangi Tribunal or Government to attempt to compensate one group of New Zealand Citizen at the expense of the others. Maori have intermarried with people of other races of their own free will until today; they have become a people of many mixed races, far removed from their Tangata Maori ancestors.

We have to grow up as a nation or forever be dragged into unnecessary and bitter wrangling that is just a throwback to the bitter wrangling Maori have always had within their entire history in this land. Yes, roots are very important, as a connection to the past. But that connection had prevented many from moving forward. Maori find it hard to forgive, that is why utu was a real and normal part of life (or in this case death) but somewhere and sometime it has to end. "But the grievances..." Yes, I hear you. There are grievances but how about fixing up the prior grievances between tribes. Will Ngai Tahu ever compensate Waitaha? Never! But Waitaha (who never signed the treaty) did receive a payout from the tribunal. See how confusing the whole treaty issue is!

Back to the title. Do Maori exist? No, not as they were. But their mixed race descendants do. Not as nation - but as individual tribes, just as they were when Europeans arrived. In 1840 there was. In 2016 they are more correctly of Maori 'descent'. To be 1/16th and call yourself Maori is just fooling yourself if your dominant bloodline is German, or Tongan, or even English. The same goes for any English person whose descendants married other races here. This is not taking away from your roots at all, that is an important part of who we are as individuals, it's establishing your strongest heritage if you do not count yourself as a New Zealander. Because in the end, what we all are in 2016 is the same thing...New Zealanders, regardless of our colour. But being 1/64th Maori and the rest European does not mean you are Maori, it means you are of a mixed decent yet can have access to government funding due to the remote connection or special educational treatment. That is just wrong in my opinion and bemeans the essense of what Maori were.