Hemi Pinford-Whanga | Ngāi Tūhoe, Waikato-Tainui
Since the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840, we as Māori have endured a legacy of injustices at the hands of the Crown. You don’t have to look far through the history books to see that the Crown always loves to come up with new, innovative and exciting ways to fuck with our rights as tangata whenua. Currently, ever since the Three-Headed Taniwha stepped into power, the need to fight for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice remains at the forefront of our hinengaro. With each news headline, government announcement and ACT Party social media post I see, I am always left with the thought “what the actual fuck is this government going to do next?” Put simply, this government really loves to take away Māori right after Māori right; it is up to us to ensure we do not lose this fight.
Our tīpuna have tirelessly fought for Te Tiriti justice throughout history. From the efforts made by proud Māori activists such as Dame Whina Cooper and Rua Kenana, a rangatira who I am proud to call my whanaunga, we as Māori have been able to learn about the importance of maintaining our mana motuhake and resisting attempts to erode our rights. Within my iwi of Ngāi Tūhoe and across Aotearoa, Rua Kenana’s ahi kā lives on as a constant reminder of the sacrifices he made for my iwi, resonating as a beacon of hope and determination for us as rangatahi today. Despite facing persecution from the Crown, Rua Kenana stood firm in his belief in the inherent rights of my people under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, showing that regardless of the circumstance, we as Māori have always fought.
Whilst we as rangatahi navigate the complexities of our modern world, we continue to face many similar challenges that our tīpuna experienced back in the rā—made significantly worse in current times with this racist as fuck government. As rangatahi, we inherit the legacy of our tīpuna through our whakapapa. We are the kaiwhakairo of our futures, and we have the responsibility to carve out our tīpuna’s aspirations for tino rangatiratanga and mana motuhake by staying active in the pursuit for justice.
It is imperative that we follow in the footsteps of our tīpuna, so that we as Māori continue to fight.
We as Māori do not see ourselves as individuals, but that of a collective. We are the product of our tīpuna, and all the battles fought for us to get to this point in time clear the mantle for this never-ending story. Our tīpuna have etched their legacies into the pou of society; now it is our turn. E te whānau, what will you do to be a good tīpuna for our future generations? The challenges we face today become the stories we tell tomorrow; stories that will equip our mokopuna with the tools to ensure that we as Māori will never stop fighting.
So e te whānz, although sometimes things might seem a bit fucked up at the moment, we have knowledge that spans many generations; dealing with this shit is nothing new. We as Māori have always fought, we as Māori continue to fight, and we as Māori will never stop fighting. Ka whawhai tonu mātou! Ake! Ake! Ake!