My deepest impulses are pacifist, something that seems out step with what I’m told it means to be a Maori man. We’re meant to be warriors, soldiers and athletes. Our heritage is the 28th Maori Battalion, Once Were Warriors and the Maori All Blacks.
But I’m a slouch. Even worse, I prefer thinking to doing. This isn’t what society expects from Maori men. “The life of the mind” is reserved for other people, probably people who don’t carry “the warrior gene”.
As Hone Harawira explained in the Herald, back in 2006: “I remember 30 or 40 years ago when I was a kid, people said Maori had a natural inclination to play the guitar, that Maori had a natural inclination to play rugby, [and] Maori were good on bulldozers … I’ve stopped listening to all that sort of carry on.”
He’s right. We shouldn’t listen to these ridiculous stereotypes. There’s no innate way to be Maori and, as new research out of Otago University is confirming, these stereotypes actually act as “justifications for colonialism”.
Settler colonialism needed to manufacture the myth of a “heathen savage” who must be subdued or destroyed. Without the myth, what’s the moral justification for dispossession and genocide? Expanding capitalist markets isn’t a convincing justification, even if it’s the honest answer.
But how does the myth operate today? It works as a stereotype. Maori aren’t heathens – they’re just better suited to throwing balls around than sitting in board rooms. Maori aren’t savages – they just have a predisposition for violence.
If we accept the stereotype that Maori are better athletes than they are thinkers, then Maori under-achievement in school can be explained by some innate failure in the Maori character, not a century of systematic under-investment in Maori education.
If Maori carry the “warrior gene” then violence in Maori communities can be explained by “nature” rather than circumstance. In other words, violence is a result of that innate failure in the Maori character rather than a century of manufactured poverty and the human pressures that come with it.
It has been a convenient myth, according to Professor Richard Jackson of Otago University. In the past, he says, the myth – and the stereotypes that give effect to it – justified colonialism. But today the myth and the stereotype justify the colonial hierarchy: Maori sit at the wrong end of nearly every negative statistic because they’re innately inferior, not because of almost two centuries of colonialism.
The danger is that the myth and stereotypes become self-fulfilling for many Maori. Almost two centuries of colonialism, of being told that you’re something less than your fairer friends, leave a stain. And nothing much has been done to wash it out.
In other words, we internalise the myth and stereotypes in ideas like we “once were warriors” rather than we once were philosophers, navigators, diplomats, traders, gardeners, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and hapu.
If we accept the myths, and internalise the stereotypes that spring from it, then we’re all out of step with what it means to be Maori.
More information:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10395334
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/281352/worries-over-the-warrior-image
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Yesterday I was,Today I am,
Yesterday I was,Today I am, Tomorrow I might be, and its been this way all my life thus far. In my life I have had the oppertunity to witness life in all its array and what I can testify to about human behavior is simply this, if I were of an advanced interlectual race, I would give human a very very wide berth. On the upside I’ll plagerise you, we human are going through an evolution of time place continuem we’re just not smart enough to se it but dumb in think and to scared to say it, well that’s human enough for me too, until now.Today we live in a world of electronic technology and it has made us more aware of our surroundings if not ourselves. The fear of the unknown has now dissipated but not disappeared entirely yet and yet we
all or shall I say almost all have come to have a mutal universal understanding of one another. So we can dispose of dominant religious polical and cultural rhetoric, yes, I’m happy for yotu human and happy to se we’re all on the same page and rowing the same waka. Until next time. Kia pai te ra koutou.
“Without the myth, what’s the
“Without the myth, what’s the moral justification for dispossession and genocide? Expanding capitalist markets isn’t a convincing justification, even if it’s the honest answer.”
Dispossession and Genocide are always at the hands of the state. The State is never part of a capitalist system which relies on voluntary trade.
Why do Maori consistently blame philosophies of freedom for their chains, when it is the state they grovel to that hands them their sentences. It wasn’t the schools that banned Maori language in education, it was the State. It is the state that is inflating away an chance Maori have to save. It is the State that imprisons colossal numbers of Maori on bulls*** drug offences.
Free association and Trade has always allowed Maori to flourish. Why do you hate it so vehemently?
I would love to see that
I would love to see that research if it is available! Mauri ora!
Fully agree with everything
Fully agree with everything you are saying Morgan. However, it must be remembered that our militaristic heritage is something that has set the foundation for the way we view ourselves, even today. The challenge I see, is learning how to harness the anger, frustration and confusion that been built over centuries of cultural and economic disenfranchisement in a positive and efficient manner. Obviously, like you said, the “Jake the Muss” stereotype suits a lot of Maori well, it gives them a reputation without even proving themselves and it gives them some sort of gratification and sense of acceptance from a society that almost refuses to accept Maori as anything other than guitar/rugby players.
If you imagine the haka and all of the emotion, power and energy that one can generate in its performance. In my opinion, this type of experience is truly special and represents a way in which Maori have learnt to deal with their inner most emotions and to present them in a outward manner. If only we could tap into some of that emotion and use it for the purposes of furthering ourselves and reaching that next level of achievement as a people.
Then there is the primarily European construct that affirmative action (scholarships, targeted recruitment initiatives, specialist Maori welfare programmes etc) is the sign of a weak people that are, as was stated in your article “innately inferior” – we have pressure from the wider world to be successful, but they are want us to do it without letting us help ourselves – I guess that is what truly confuses me.
Nga Mihi Morgan.
Maori are a minority of NZ
Maori are a minority of NZ population, yet the majority of all the negative stats, most immprisoned race in the world per/population, benificaries, gang members, ill-health (emmotional, mentle & physical), house ownership social welfare, te mea te mea. WHY…! Are Maori 2nd class humans…? 2nd rate citizens…? Genetically flawed…? “Na, COLONIZATION”
Yes indeed, myths or
Yes indeed, myths or stereotypes. Unfortunately we only had a few Pakeha visionaries in our history (like Williams and Thornton at Te Aute) who definitely believed in the Maori scholar.
An article recently by sports
An article recently by sports writer Scotty Stevenson in the Herald took rugby coaches and commentators to task for ‘racial stereotyping’. He pointed out that white players are often feted for their leadership skills, tactical nous, cleverness etc, while brown players are praised for their natural athleticism, physicality and flare. Its interesting to consider the extent to, and ways in which Maori women are subjected to similar stereotyping. Do you have any thoughts on that?
So what? You only buy into
So what? You only buy into this when you start giving it fuel which is what this article did.
Are you always this
Are you always this dismissive, oh Chosenone? Or only when it comes to 200 years of injustice? A civilised whitie wants to know.
Dismissive of what exactly?
Dismissive of what exactly? Yeah sure there has been 200 years of injustice. I’m just not gonna let my past define my future.
I don’t think merely
I don’t think merely acknowledging that a stereotype exists gives it power. In fact, I don’t think you can have a sensible discussion about institutional stereotyping (whether racism, sexism, or whatever) without first acknowledging it and pointing out how it works.
The trouble with just claiming that the past is irrelevant is that you erase people for whom it is. You might well be free not to “let your past define your future” but that’s not everyone’s situation.
To be honest I don’t really
To be honest I don’t really understand your point. Stereotypes do exist and yeah it’s really important to understand them. But to what end? If it’s to get to the next understanding bridge, then sure.
My tāne plays first grade
My tāne plays first grade club rugby *and* sits in many a boardroom (not just ones filled with other Maori either). We all have the potential to be awesome in whatever we decide to do…! Stereotypes are for the birds, the scaredy-cats and the ill-informed.
My favourite lines in this article:
“Almost two centuries of colonialism, of being told that you’re something less than your fairer friends, leave a stain. And nothing much has been done to wash it out.”
The sooner the rest of NZ realises we need a great good scrubbing to wash out that stain, and learns why, the better.
Time to be proud of the fact
Time to be proud of the fact that more and more Maori men have the self realisation that they are good enough to succeed at anything they want, anything suggesting anything less is to be passed off as actual Maori myth
100% agree – I’ve been termed
100% agree – I’ve been termed one of those ‘clever Maori’ as if thats an exception and not a ‘norm’. Maori ourselves can be the worst at trying to live up to our own stereotypes.
Very well said!!!
Very well said!!!