| |
 Curse of the Maori Princess Update  August 24, 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Out of the blue, and four long years after my unusual to say the least run-in with the Maori nation, I received an email from Claire Vivian who took umbrage with my article about the experience. Her message will not make any sense to you if you have not read the original article so I suggest that you click here to read the article and then you can come back to this update.............. Before I get to the gist of the matter I have to say a few words about the beautiful way that the Maori and Pakeha start their emails. It is a wonderful greeting that starts off with the suggestion that you should be aware of the life force and then in a delightfully formal way tells you the country and city that the writer is from, the group they belong to, their family and first names and ends with "Big greetings" and "Hello". Here is how Claire's email opened: Kia ora Bill, (Hi Bill) Tihei Mauri Ora! (Behold the breath of life) No Te Wai Pounamu au (I hail from the South Island of NZ) No Otautahi au (I am from Christchurch) Ko Pakeha au (I am a Pakeha) Ko Vivian toku whanau (My family is the Vivian's) Ko Claire toku ingoa (My name is Claire) Ka nui to mihi ki a koe (Big greetings to you) No reira (Therefore) Tena koe (Hello) (au=ahau) Claire was also nice enough to let me know that "au" is the same as "ahau" so that I was able to refer to my glossery (which ironically was the cause of her complaint) to learn that it means "I". Anyway, here is the rest of Claire's email: I read with interest your article on the offence that you caused by advertising the Maori Princess merch. I am afraid that you have offended another group of people from Aotearoa New Zealand. I am a Pakeha New Zealander and I am proud to be one and call myself one. I took offence to your translation of Pakeha as 'white cunts'. I realise that the article was tongue and cheek and I can appreciate that in the context you read it you interpreted Pakeha to have a negative connotation. However, Pakeha is not a derogatory term. It is merely a way of identifying ourselves as New Zealander of non-Maori descent (as opposed to calling ourselves European (which we're not), white (we're clearly more pink than white) or caucasian (which gives no clear identification that we are from Aotearoa). You probably think us New Zealanders are touchy and sensitive, but I just think that we are really proud of our culture and in maintaining the integrity of that culture. Naku noa, na Claire Vivian Claire, first of all I want to thank you for writing and clearing up this confusion on my part. I assure you that the only reason why I thought that pakeha means white cunts is because that is what Mr. T wrote in his email (he obviously has a lot of issues). I had no idea that it was actually the name of a different group of people. I have changed my glossary accordingly and offer my sincere apologies. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Curse of the Maori Princess November 24, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It all began about a month ago,
I was attacked by Maori warriors, common for all I know in New Zealand, a real surprise when you live at Ground Zero in Manhattan. Maybe not as surprising as getting blown up, but definitely out of the ordinary. The funny thing it that it started as a result of a messenger bag. I operate a web store on CafePress where I try to sell (and trying is all I have been doing) tee shirts, coffee cups, baby bibs, lunch boxes, baseball caps and all kinds of other stuff... The store has a lot of different section, one of which is called Spirit Path. It is where I offer various items that sport a variety of "spiritual" images; astrological signs, egyptian symbols, a collage I made from an Indian poster, a photograph of a buddhist monk making a sand mandala, and images from a collection of old postcards that I own, including the one at the right that has now caused an international incident -- a messenger bag with the picture of a "Maori Princess". Sadly speaking for my marketing skills, I have not had a single sale from my store for a year. Well actually I did have one lady from upstate New York who ordered two teddy bears with the Taurus symbol on their bellies, but she cancelled the order twenty minutes later. Which didn't surprise me, I once had a Taurus girlfriend who used to order tons of clothes from all of the mail order catalogs and then return them as soon as they were delivered. Sorry, I was drifting there. So, on that fateful morning when I checked my email, and saw the subject line of the first message, it immediately caught my eye: "Maori Image on Messanger Bag". Well, well, I thought someone has finally visited my humble internet store and is actually interested in one the products! Interested it turned out was very far from the right word to use, something more on the order of indignant, outraged, and pissed off would better describe the mood of the writer. |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The message read, "Kia ora, I find that the picture of one of my ancestors
on your messanger bag objectionable�and it is inappropriate & culturally insensitive. Naku. It was signed R. Peter
Walker-Taiapa. Since I have not kept up my Maori since high school, or in fact ever,
I went to www.learningmedia.co.nz
(an invaluable web resource if you have any Maori penpals) in order to
translate the opening and close of the message. Kia ora, it turns out can mean good afternoon, good day,
good evening or thank you. That little politeness on the part of Mr. Walker-Taiapa made me feel a little better. I
had a little problem getting a clear translation of Naku, but assume that it means "me." The next email that I opened was from Na Janette Hamilton-Pearce, a PhD candiate at the Auckland University of Technology . It expressed a considerably more vehement outrage. Her message read, "Mediatwist, The product Maori Princess Messenger Bag Product Number: 8596631 is an insensitive display of our ancestors and of our Maori culture. Who gave you the right to commercialise our people like this. Which descendants did you consult to put their ancestor on your disgraceful bag? This is outrageous and the product should be removed immediately. Naku noa" In addition to realizing that, judging from how many more emails I still had to read, that I had created a major cultural discord, I was struck by the fact that Janette specifically identified the Maori Princess Messenger Bag, down to the product number as an example of my outrageous insensitivity. The fact that the same image was also being offered on ladies thongs didn't seem to be as offensive led me to ponder whether there is some social stigma about messenger bags in Maori culture that is particularly offensive. By the way, "Naku noa" I was able to translate into "sincerely". The next email on the list bore the much more forboding legal sounding subject line of "Intellectual and Cultural Property". In it someone named Anahera Morehu, who works at the Auckland City Library, added to my growing list of shortcomings by not only telling me how highly offensive I am, but that I am in contravention of a United Nations draft document. "Tena koe, I recently visited your site, and found a picture of an ancestor on one of your yellow bags. With the title of sale as: Maori Princess Messenger Bag. I find it highly offensive that you have put this into your catalogue, let alone did not go through with consultation with the people who this person is an ancestor of. I find it highly disgusting that you as a company who has no cultural understanding of the significance of this, can have something as important to our culture and use it inappropriately. I feel that as the company that is producing this 'rubbish' that you should appropriately remove this item and all other items of this nature from your catalogue, and find an understanding of the meaning of Intellectual and Cultural property in the United Nations Draft document of Indigenous Peoples Rights, and then take a careful look at your organisation policies and procedures." It took a while, but I finally tracked down what I think is the document that Anahera was referring to - - you can read it for yourself on the American Association for the Advancement of Science website. To my relief the document did not make any specific reference to messenger bags,, however I did discover in section 9 of the document the following: "The free and informed consent of the traditional owners should be an essential precondition of any agreements which may be made for the recording, study, use or display of indigenous peoples' heritage". Well that put the moko on my chin as far as I was concerned, and I surrendered to the outrage of my Maori complainents and I removed the Maori Princess from the store. Not just the messenger back but coffee cup, tee shirt, baby bibs and all. While I was deleting the images and products from the store I was growing ever more curious about one thing in particular, the fact that my attackers were very very specific about how the worst part of my transgression had to do with the messenger bag, Anahera going so far as to point out that the bag in question was yellow. What cultural taboo had I accidentally stumbled over? By the way, for those of you are developing your Maori language skills, "Tena koe" means "hello". So after removing the offensive objects from the store I went back to reading the rest of the emails if for no other reason than to discover the messenger bag mystery. The next email was from Amadonna Jakeman who lives in Auckland and described herself as a Maori of Ngapuhi and Tainui descent. Amadonna was really quite polite. She opened her message with a Maori phrase, "Tenei te haka kia koutou nga tauiwi hei takahi te mana o tenei wahine!" that sent me back to the online translation site. Unfortunately, Amadonna's Maori was too much for www.learningmedia.co.nz so I went to another site translator.kedri for help. Unfortunately, there was not much help to be found there. Piecing together the message from a word by word translation, I came up with something on the order of: "This place is the slasher when you all breathe like heathens to sacrilege the prestige belonging to this woman." Anyway, I got the gist of it. Besides, she was not so angry at me as the other writers were, and in fact agreed with the reason why I had put the image on the bag in the first place, because it was the face of a movingly beautiful woman. She also asked some questions about the image and woman. � "I was disturbed to see a Maori women on a bag that is being sold in America. While I don't think it is completely negative as she is a beautiful women, I would like to know if you know the following: * Who is the woman? * When was the image taken? * Have you been given permission to use her image by her family? America is the most powerful nation in the world with more than enough enthic groups and cultures that dwell within it, why can't you leave the Maori alone and use something more local, that you can get permission for it. � I look forward to hearing from someone soon." � Well, dear Amadonna, thank you for you considerate email, as you can see from the picture above, the image was from an old postcard that I own and that is all I know about her. I would guess that the postcard was printed about forty or fifty years ago. As far as America having enough ethnic groups and cultures, we are actually much more a melting pot of diluted races with few possessing the natural majesty of the "Maori Princess". I never intended to offend anyone since in most parts of the world the images of powerful women such as Queen Elizabeth, Frida Kahlo, Mother Teresa, etc. are worn or carried with pride. But since you and so many of your fellow Maori object I removed her from the store immediately. Sorry for any offense. � I also offer the same reply to Ruiha Stirling who wrote, "Kia Ora, Your web site has been brought to my attention regarding the merchandising of maori designs and images. First of all as a person from the maori culture I have some questions. How did you come about using the designs, and did you consult with a tribal leader of the persons faces you are using to display on bags. As our culture is officially recognised in New Zealand we do have Government agencies that can provide the information you would require for your research. E noho ra, Ruiha Stirling". By the way, continuing with our Maori language lessons, "E noho ra" means goodbye. � The next email made me glad that I had been so quick to remove the offensive products from the store, as it warned me of the grave spiritual dangers I was facing. The subject line was emphatic, "KIA TUPATO!!! please do not use Maori Images on your merchandise" I rushed to my handy Maori translator to learn that "kia tupato!!!" means "Look out!!!" And the opening of the email added to my fears:
Ko Ruapehu toku maunga Ko Wanganui toku awa Ko Aotea toku waka Ko Atihaunui a Paparanagi toku iwi Ko Vicki Morehu ahau � Tena koe These Taonga (treasured images) are tapu to Maori and should not be used or put onto inappropriate items like t-shirts and messenger bags. Not to mention the thong or lunchbox! If you knew anything about Maoritanga (our culture) you would understand the implications of putting someone's face�or a relic on a lunchbox or a piece of clothing. This is a dangerous thing to do! Your customers should be aware of what might happen if they bought something like this. Do you know anything about tapu and the consequences? You should do some research into this before something terrible happens!! This is someone's grandmother and you do not have permission to do this, If you have permission, I would like to hear about it. But I am sure that no one would want to have this image on a thong! Please look at these issues seriously as you must know it is wrong to take things that do not belong to you especially to make a profit. I look forward to hearing from you. Me mutu pea i konei. Naku na Putting aside for a moment my fears that something of mine that sounds like Spanish finger food was in mortal danger, I realized that there was at least one person who was upset by the thong. Which, to tell the truth, had actually always sort of bothered me as not being in the best taste. Thanks to Wikipedia I learned that In Maori tradition, something that is tapu is considered inviolable or sacrosanct due to its sacredness. Things or places which are tapu must be left alone, and may not be approached or interfered with. In some cases, they should not even be spoken of. Well there you go, I had certainly crossed the line. Hopefully, since I had been so quick to remove all of the tapu from my web store, what is left of my hair (or anything else!) will not fall out. So Vicki please tell the spirits that my heart is good and as soon as I learned about how I had been messing with tapu I put a stop to it. And, "Me mutu pea i konei. Naku na" to you too, although when I tried to translate it it came out something like "And break up may ? this me who" so I hope it actually means something pleasant like, "It's been nice talking to you." |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Heather's web page included a lot of photographs, including one of a Maori woman with a full face ta moko drinking what looks like
a bottle of beer. I suggest she reconsider this as who knows what kind of bad tapu that may cause. Anyway, the
final email of the day came from Richard Orzecki, who I suspect is not Maori, but nonetheless sympatico to their
cause, who wrote (rather formally): "To whom it may concern, I am writing to say how concerned I am about the item
below being advertised for sale. This image would be considered a treasure and if it is a real Maori Princess then I
would ask if the family of this person given permission to have this image sold. Your part in this may be innocent or
it may not be. The people from New Zealand do not appreciate these images being sold commercially. If if was your
forebears I am sure you would feel the same.
Well Richard, all I can say (and with all due respect to the person the image portrays) is that the treasure is a fifty year old postcard that was sent home by tourists who were visiting New Zealand, and I personally could care less if you sold pictures of my whole family on animal crackers, especially my half brother, the son of a bitch. But that's another story. OK, I was getting a little cranky by this time. Richard's email may have been the last for the day, but come morning, my email was full again, twenty four hours after the "Maori Princess" was no longer being used for any commercial purpose. Perhaps it is due to the time difference in New Zealand. The next attack came from Franceen Reihana who let me know what I had begun to suspect, that an email about the messenger bag was being circulated in New Zealand. She also felt, like Richard that Americans would care about having their family used for commercial purposes. Wello, Franceen, just take a look at the Jerry Springer the Funniest Videos shows and you will realize that twenty four hours a day countless Americans are sending the most humiliating videos they can scrounge up of their families looking like complete assholes to be shown on television. Personally, I have more scruples (except in the case of my half brother). Franceen added to her message "In this regard you are certainly twisted." I guess so. Anyway, I had already removed the images the previous day, so I figured that my conscience is clear and hopefully I was bad tapu consequences safe. That is until I read the next email, a plain speaking warning from Mr. T (I don't know if there are any Maori sumo wrestlers, but if there are then I fear Mr. T is one): Who do you fukin tauiwi (non-maori) clowns think you are using our taonga (customary treasures) for your own commercial gain. No wonder you fuka's are hated throughout the world...gee's fukin lookout if thats 1 of our own people doing that work...Ill come across & shoot the bastard or bitch myself. Its only typical of all pakeha (white cunts) to take the works of the indigenous peoples for their own monetary gain without 1st consulting our people.....dont worry, when 1 of yous drop dead for no reason, only then will you know the true mana of " The Great Maori People " Typical fukin pakeha� Well that let the cat out of the bag, get bad tapu and drop dead for no reason. On the other hand, my fate at the large angry hands of Mr. T would probably be even worse. I assure you Mr. T that I am not one of your people, though (and please don't take any offense big guy), why would you rather shoot your own people than us fukin tauiwi. Never mind, probably none of my business. The image is off the messenger bag, and I will probably not be visiting New Zealand during this life time. So, give my best to everyone in your fine country and don't write anymore. Thanks Mr. T's eloquent message was the last of the day and I went to sleep thinking that perhaps the Maori attack had ended in as much as I had removed all of the offensive products, particularly (what could I have been thinking to sell something like) that damned yellow messenger bag. But no, my persecutors were merely waiting for dawn to renew their siege. My morning emails included one from a tauiwi in New Orleans, Dr. Paula Morris. Fortunately she was polite and provided a scholarly perspective on the sin I had committed: Dear mediatwist, I saw the "Maori Princess" messenger bag (Product Number: 8596631) on www.cafepress.com. I'm sure you'll get other complaints about this item, becauseit is culturally offensive to New Zealand Maori. The painting or photograph used is a taonga (treasure) depicting someone's tupuna (ancestor). It's not a piece of clip art to be used to sell a piece of merchandise. Mediatwist positions itself as a "showcase for unique and beautiful concepts in fashion" but this item is unique only in its tastelessness. I urge you to remove this product from your catalogue. I sort of had to agree with that comment about tastelessness, at the same time I was feeling a little smug, seeing as how the Maori Princess had left the house two days earlier. People from the South I have heard act slower than us Northerners, so I figured that the good doctor had taken her own good time to write. No more emails came in the rest of the day and so the assault seemed to be over, perhaps someone had bothered to check my web store and discovered that lo and behold, there was no tapu ta moko or tupuna or taonga to be seen, notified the rest of the war party and called off the siege. No way, the next day Duke Boon wrote from the Waikato Management School to let me know that simply complying with their demands would not stop them from telling me to stop, no matter that I already had. Tena koutou - many greetings to all, I write to raise a concern on one of your particular items of clothing - in particular, the maori princess t shirt, and the image of a woman of maori origin on your t shirt. My concern is that this is culturally very inappropriate and offensive. Maori people do not walk around with faces of people on their bodies. It violates rules of tapu (sacredness). The lady depicted is someones grandmother, great grandmother, and has a whole line of descendants from her. To place her face, and her mana (prestige) on a t shirt for people to wear, is very much inappropriate. I would like to request that the image be removed from the t shirts, and all t shirts recalled and destroyed. On another note, i would find it interesting who has consulted with your company on this range? If you are serious in producing a "maori" range, then i suggest that you consult appropriate people on these matters, to avoid concerns like these being raised in the future. Naaku noa (yours faithfully) na (by) Duke. I was actually quite interested in what Duke had to say, not only had he further expanded my understanding of the Maori language (perhaps not as much or as colorfully as Mr. T), but he had identified the t shirt as the most offensive item whereas the native Maori's (if Boon is a Maori name, my apologies Duke) were really ticked off about the messenger bag. Anyway, I want to assure you Duke, that no tee shirts or any of the other items were ever produced, Cafe Press creates products on demand and no one has ever demanded anything from my store. As far as producing a "maori" range, I think you should get in touch with my other critics as I seriously doubt that it would be possible to sell anything Maori without getting bad tapu. Things quieted down after Boon's email, and after a few days I figured that perhaps the Maori siege had drawn to a close. No. A week later I received another message, from Moana Kaipara who wrote: Kia Ora, I am emailing about one of the products(Maori Princess messenger bag) that you are selling through the email, I strongly believe you don't have the right to use our peoples faces on your merchandise. How dare you treat us like little hand bags. That face you put on your bag is one of our tipuna(ancestor) someone we greatly respect. Did you even ask the family if you can use this beautiful face on your bag? Did you even ask the Maori people of Aotearoa if it is Ok and if we did not mind her or any other Maori face being on any of your merchandises? I would really like to know because if this email is going around to us tangata whenua of Aotearoa asking to email our thoughts on your merchandise well it must mean we havn't given the ok. Has it? I believe you don't have respect for us people, I know my grandmother, grandfather and my parents would agree with me that this merchandise of yours has know right to be sold on the net, shelves or even have been made in the first place without having the consent to do so. I do not like this product of yours- Maori Princess Messenger bag. Please do not sell for your own greed. Thank you for your time, tangata Maori Moana's email also stressed the problem of the messenger bag, with her poignant comment "How dare you treat us like little hand bags." She also further expanded my Maori to include "tangata whenua" that means: citizen, inhabitant, native or resident. On the bright side of this mess I may eventually become fluent in the Maori language, look at what I have already learned: |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If you want information about the Maori people and their struggle for aboriginal rights, and not make the same mistake that I did, you can visit these sites:
