New Zealand Listener – August 10, 2019

12 LISTENER AUGUST 10 2019

when they mispronounce your language.

Talking tough.

Not giving up the struggle for survival.

Waiting patiently for another Ngata, Buck or Te

Kooti.

To love pāua and mussels and to be told you

have to have a Pākehā permit.

To know the difference between a Māori, a

Māori-Pākehā, a Pākehā-Māori and a Pākeha and

to beware of the last two.

To never drink alone.

To be able to dodge daggers at Pākehā social

gatherings.

To listen to all-white administrators and Uncle

Toms tell you that we are all New Zealanders and

not to know what that is.

To pray to God before a meeting.

Having a Pākehā tell you it is wrong to believe

in more than one God and listen to him tell you

about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, The

Virgin Mary, St Patrick, St Francis, Joseph Smith,

etc.

To welcome a Pākehā at a marae with the height

of Māori poetic art and to receive a cup-of-tea

conversation in reply.

To miss work because so many of your

relations are dying.

Fighting for the New Zealand

Government to save the country

from the evils of communism and

fighting the New Zealand Govern-

ment to save your land.

Owning land and not being able to

use it.

Going to school to eat your lunch.

Watching the teacher teach

the other kids.

Punching a Pākehā in the

mouth for saying you are

dumb.

Getting your Pākehā spouse

to go and ask the landlord

for the flat.

Belonging to a particular

tribe that is the best in the

country.

Believing that your canoe is

most certainly better than

the Queen Mary.

Having your friends and

relatives accuse you of being

a traitor if you earn more

than $7000, wear a tie and

drive a new car.

Thinking there’s something

wrong with your television

when it appears to be always

hooked up to Great Britain.

Watching Tarzan save Africa.

Liking Air New Zealand’s tail.

Feeding everyone who comes to

the door and hunting for your best

china for the Pākehā.

Buying your son new shoes because

he gave his to his cousin.

Running yourself broke to service

the marae to service the whole

world.”

Being Māori is hard, being Māori

is sad, being Māori is to laugh,

being Māori is to cry, being Māori is

forever. l

Ranginui Walker, from Whakatōhea, was

an academic and Listener columnist. He

died in 2016.

‘W

e are all one people,”

said Captain Hobson,

at the signing of the

Treaty of Waitangi,

to give expression to the birth of

a new nation consisting of Māori

and Pākehā. No doubt those

famous words will be restated on

February 6 this year in the annual

commemorative rituals at

Waitangi.

In recent times, Hobson’s

words have been rephrased

to “We are all New Zealand-

ers” by politicians and other

public figures who make

pronouncements about Māori.

In essence, this latest variation

of the “one people” myth is a

cultural put-down and a denial

of Māori identity. It expresses

our country’s deeply rooted

commitment to assimilation as

a solution to complex relations

in a heterogeneous society.

The Pākehā majority is so

convinced of the inspirational

effect of this unilateral myth of

oneness that it seldom occurs

to them to consult Māori

views. Recently, I came into

possession of a document circulating

among Māori, called “Being a Māori

Is”. With acknowledgements to its

Tuhoe originators, the following

selection is offered to measure against

the one-people myth.

“Being a Māori is:

Having the greatest grandparents in

the world.

Respecting your elders because they

have earned it.

Having 250,000 brothers and

sisters.

Fouling up the Government and its

statistics.

Having nowhere for the kids to go,

and getting a visit from the police

who want to see them.

Not laughing at your children

Why the “one people” myth is a cultural put-down

and a denial of Māori identity.

Being Māori is forever

DA

VI
D^
W
HI
TE

KŌRERO

Ranginui Walker, June 15, 2009.

This column by Ranginui Walker is reprinted from the February 11, 1978, Listener.