The Springbok tour and New Zealand's reputation in the world

Rugby is New Zealand's no. 1 sport. And it is an important component in this country’s national identity. The All Blacks are very popular across New Zealand and even further. They are next to the South African Rugby team the best team in the world. But rugby didn't always have a positive connotation. There came a point in history where the sport suffered.

All Blacks performing "haka"

http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/62/89762-050-F63E94E9.jpg

In the summer of 1981, a large civil disturbance developed and 150,000 New Zealanders expressed their displeasure in more than 200 demonstrations. 

This annoyance arose from people supporting the domination of the white population in South Africa by choosing the team influenced by South Africa's apartheid policy. 

When the Springboks, South Africa's rugby team, came to visit New Zealand, some opponents advertised the end of arranging the team on the basis of apartheid criteria in South Africa. They used the slogan: "No māoris, no tour." to express their opinion. 

"No Māori, no tour."

http://www.tama-pacificislanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/no-maori-no-tour.png

Five years before the 1981 Springboks tour some Māori players of the All Blacks refused to play in South Africa because of the apartheid policy. 

Some people tried to force the politics to make a decision on either forbidding Māoris to play in South Africa or cancelling the games in South Africa.  

One of the pro tour arguments in 1981 was that sport and politics should remain separate. Moreover, some people were of the opinion that rugby contact with a multinational country like New Zealand could promote change for the better in South Africa. 

As a result, the tour has led to a decline in the popularity of rugby as a sport in New Zealand at least until the 1987 Rugby World Cup. After the tour had ended, no official contact in sport events developed between New Zealand and South Africa until the early 1990s, after apartheid had been abolished.

Has the Springbok tour influenced New Zealand’s reputation in the world? Some people say that New Zealand lost its innocence as a country and that the tour was a watershed in their view of themselves as a county and people. 

Sources:

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/1981-springbok-tour

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_South_Africa_rugby_union_tour#In_New_Zealand_culture

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/patu-1983

Whānau – the up-to-dateness of an important Māori term

The term “whānau” is translated into English meaning “family”, but in reality the definition behind the idea is more complex. “It includes physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions and is based on whakapapa. The ancestors’ traditions and history is adapted from the contemporary world through whānau. The term whānau encloses related family members as well as close friends.

           

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/337207090819135804/

In connection to current events the concept of whānau can be associated with what family means to people and in how far different family concepts are accepted in the world.

The legalization of same-sex marriage is on everyone’s lips these days because of the fact that the US Supreme Court made the decision to legalize gay marriage last Friday June 26th, 2015. Louisa Wall, a politician from the New Zealand Labour Party, called the Supreme Court decision “monumental”. Social networks like facebook, twitter or instagram are paved with posts about people expressing their joy at the legalization of same-sex marriage using the hashtag "lovewins".

 http://images.latintimes.com/sites/latintimes.com/files/styles/pulse_embed_breakpoints_theme_lt_desktop_1x/public/2015/06/26/love-wins-marriage-equality-support_7.jpg?itok=ZHWPVRNN

Wall was the one who submitted a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New Zealand in May 2012. The Marriage Amendment Bill was passed into law after a voting in Parliament on April 17th, 2013. New Zealand was the 13th country in the world and the 1st in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize gay marriage. The first weddings in New Zealand took place on August 19th, 2013 and thousands of Australian same-sex couples took a chance to travel to New Zealand to get married. After the decision on the legalization of gay marriage had been announced, the supports of same-sex marriage sang the Māori love song “Pokarekare Ana”, a song referred to as the unofficial national anthem of New Zealand, to express their happiness towards the passing of the bill.

love song "Pokarekare Ana" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgRVK2ge1ys)

The Marriage Amendment Bill had many supporters of course. John Key, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, was one of them.

http://www.wired.com/2013/02/apple-google-facebook-supreme-court-same-sex-marriage/

But nevertheless there were and still are a lot of people opposed to gay marriage. Jonathan Young, Member of the Parliament and part of the National Party, was against the legalization of same-sex marriage because he was of the opinion that the “tradition of marriage should be remained”. New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters wanted a referendum because in a democracy the people should get a chance to participate in deciding on the legalization of same-sex marriage. Moreover, another opponent was Bob McCoskrie, the founder of a lobbying group called Family First, a “non-partisan non-profit organization” that stands for the protection of marriage and family in New Zealand. The organization is strictly against gay marriage and says only a marriage between a man and a woman is a “real” marriage.

There is one place on earth where people that although they have citizenship in New Zealand nonetheless cannot marry a person with the same sex. That is on the Cook Islands.

Sources:

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/whanau-maori-and-family/page-1

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/04/17/new-zealand-legalises-gay-marriage

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/69758424/joyful-reactions-to-court-ruling-on-us-samesex-marriage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/new-zealand-gay-marriage_n_3098762.html

http://www.protectmarriage.org.nz/

The Most Important Māori Terms

The Māori terms Taonga, Tino Rangatiratanga, Waka, Whakapapa & Tapu are often used to describe the Māori culture and its traditions.

The term Taonga translates into treasure in English and as a matter of fact describes anything highly prized. In the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi the term “taonga” was used to describe that it is ensured that the Māori can keep their property and their “taonga” even if they are put under British rule. In connection to all those descriptions people obviously start to question the meaning of “taonga”. What exactly is considered a treasure? Who makes the decision on whether something is entitled to be a treasure or not? And who decides what belongs to the Māori population? Nowadays the term “taonga” is used to name some of the Māori historical institutions and organizations.

Tino Rangatiratanga has recently been said to mean “absolute sovereignty”. Moreover, it is the name of the Māori flag which is said to be representing all Māori across New Zealand and was designed in 1990. The term “tino rangatiratanga” was emphasized after the inconsistency between the first and the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi had been revealed. The difficulties with the translations still lead to debates as to whether the Māori aimed at ceding their sovereignty to the British Crown by signing the Treaty of Waitangi. 

The Māori flag (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Tino_Rangatiratanga_Maori_sovereignty_movement_flag.svg/2000px-Tino_Rangatiratanga_Maori_sovereignty_movement_flag.svg.png)

The term waka translates into “vehicle” or “container”. It is most frequently used to describe Māori canoes. The canoes were used for fishing and in wars. Today “waka” refers to cars or vehicles in general.

Traditional Māori Waka canoe (http://www.tourdispatch.com/shore-excursions/bay-of-islands-new-zealand/480-traditional-maori-waka-canoe.html)

Whakapapa means “to lie flat, “to place in layers” or “to recite in proper order”. The term is used to name the genealogies.  It is also used as a metaphor for the evolution and creation of the universe and all living creatures.

Tapu translates into “prohibited”, “restricted”, or “be sacred” and therefore as a Māori expression describes persons or certain objects that are sacred and stand under protection. Sometimes a “tapu” is to some extent a taboo issue and should not be spoken of. Violating a “tapu” was punished until the first Europeans came to New Zealand. The idea of “tapu” still exists to this day, but has become less strict.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taonga

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinorangatiratanga

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waka_(canoe)

http://maaori.com/whakapapa/

http://maaori.com/whakapapa/whakpap2.htm

           http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/

How does the Treaty of Waitangi influence the life of New Zealand’s citizens nowadays?

Representatives of the Queen of England and leaders of the Maori population signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 as an agreement making New Zealand one of Britain’s colonies. The signing day, February 6^th, is still celebrated annually as a national holiday, the so-called Waitangi Day. The signing of the treaty marks the beginning of the creation of mutual life of the Maori and Non-Maori in New Zealand.

A painting of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (teara.govt.nz)

The treaty has changed life in New Zealand to a certain extent. The connection between the native Maori population and the remaining people is governed by the Treaty of Waitangi. Moreover, it guarantees that the rights of all the inhabitants are protected equally. Within the treaty it is accepted that the Maori are allowed to organize and protect their way of life and control the resources they own. The treaty caused the Maori language to become one of the official languages of New Zealand along with English and sign language. Furthermore, names of important places, mostly government related, are written in English and the Maori language to show the equality of all the inhabitants of New Zealand especially under the law. Not only the Maori language was made nearly equivalent to the English language, but also the Maori culture has become more and more represented and a television channel was established.

The Treaty of Waitangi (teara.govt.nz)

The treaty has caused a lot of debate when it was signed in 1840 and still does. Today we know that the translation from English to the Maori language maybe was not as appropriate as it was hoped for. People thought the treaty would create unity, but in the end it caused a huge conflict. The English and the Maori version did not quite correspond with each other.

To read more about the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and how the founding document influenced the history of New Zealand click on the following link: http://treaty2u.govt.nz/

Flag Debate in New Zealand

A national flag plays an important role concerning the international representation of a country. Changing New Zealand’s flag is a topic that has been much discussed for several years. Because of the upcoming referendum that will be held in 2016 I want to discuss the arguments for and against a flag change that have come up in the last years. In the end I will decide whether I would be a proponent or an opponent of the topic of debate if I was a citizen of the country of New Zealand.

First of all, the flag of New Zealand is too similar to the Australian flag. People tend to mix them up and don’t realize that the only difference between the two is one star below the Union Jack. I understand that some people argue that the flag has been accompanying the inhabitants of New Zealand through its history and have some type of emotional and symbolic significance to it. But all in all the most important part is that a flag represents a country and its inhabitants as a whole. The current realization of the flag of New Zealand is not very successful regarding the country’s present status as a sovereign nation. Even though the history of New Zealand is partly represented by the Union Jack on the national flag, the history of the Maori is not included by a specific symbol. As a matter of fact I would try to include a symbol that represents the Maori population, but I wouldn’t change the flag to a silver fern symbol like New Zealand’s Prime Minister Key is suggesting. In summary it can be said, therefore, that in my opinion the flag should be changed according to the habitants‘ needs so that nobody feels discriminated by the design. In the end the referendum will show how many citizens cast a vote for the change and how many will be voting against it.