The use of tikanga by Parliament protesters has come into question as the occupation enters its tenth day, with concerns growing over the misrepresentation of tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake.
Anti-Covid-19 vaccine mandate protests at Parliament began last week, with protesters having a range of different motivations for being there. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it as an “imported” protest. The vision of Trump flags flying on the forecourt and reports of abuse being hurled at masked passers by and MPs, juxtaposed with groups performing haka and singing Māori waiata.
Māori Development Minister Willie Jackson on Wednesday said he did not agree with protesters at Parliament using haka and te reo Māori, calling it a “misrepresentation” of tikanga.
“I don’t like our tikanga, our reo and our haka being mixed up with some of the nonsense," Jackson said.
“It’s a misrepresentation of our tikanga, and my message to them is to go home.”
A sentiment shared by Māori artist and veteran activist Tame Iti.
Iti, who had been asked to go to the protest in support, told Waatea News he had no intention of going, especially with far-right activists such as Kelvyn Alp involved.
He said it was a kaupapa driven by a “Donald Trump mentality”.
“It’s not tino rangatiratanga, it’s not mana motuhake, despite the fact that many of our whānau are down there,” he said.
“You don’t go to Parliament and look for freedom, it's not something you go in and ask the Government.”
Last week, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said she had seen “half a dozen Trump flags” being flown by protesters, which really concerned her.
But, Ngarewa-Packer also said everybody deserved to have their voices heard by the Prime Minister.
“Te Pāti Māori is opposed to the mandates as they are and we support that, everyone has the right to have their voices heard.”
The party in November released its own plan to tackle Covid-19, in which it would scrap Government vaccine mandates, with an exception for frontline hospital and medical clinic workers.
At the time co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the Government did not have a constitutional right to impose mandates on tangata whenua, and instead Māori should be able to make such decisions for themselves.
Advocating for a by-Māori, for-Māori response, Te Pāti Māori said it should be up to whānau, hapū, iwi, businesses and communities to decide if the "important tool" of mandates should be used. For those who weren't frontline health workers in hospital or medical clinics, Te Pāti Māori proposed declaring vaccination status and getting tested regularly.
In November last year, a research group told 1News Māori motifs and symbols had been used by non-Māori Covid-19 dis-information spreaders in online platforms such as Telegram and on Facebook.
The Disinformation Project, part of Te Pūnaha Matatini, had been monitoring publicly available data related to Covid-19 dis-information since early 2020.
The group found Pākehā individuals were using the United Tribes flag and words such as ‘hīkoi’ in communications on these platforms.
Researchers were concerned that those who had led movements for mana motuhake for generations were getting targeted as a result of the use of Māori motifs and symbols. They were also concerned at the infiltration of overseas narratives, calling it a “direct import” from white supremacist campaigns in the United States.
A national security meeting would be held on Thursday over the protest. These meetings can also take place in situations such as large weather events.
The National Security System said in a statement it would be holding a meeting with a group of chief executives to discuss the protest. The meeting aims to ensure there’s a "shared understanding of the situation and that all risks and potential implications have been identified."
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