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Cultural Nonsense

Entry 245, on 2005-11-04 at 13:31:37 (Rating 4, News)

An issue which just won't seem to go away here, is the use of Maori protocol and customs and whether they are appropriate in a general context. I have mentioned the case of Josie Bullock in previous blog entries. She was fired after speaking out about being forced to sit near the back of a room during a Maori ceremony because she is a woman. Now something similar has happened to National MP, Judith Collins.

At the same time a general discussion is happening regarding how appropriate Maori ceremonies are when used outside the traditional environment of the marae (Maori community). During the election campaign Don Brash commented that a "half-naked man poking his tongue out" was not a particularly civilised way to greet foreign dignitaries. While many people would criticise him for being deliberately provocative with that comment, he is right, at least using the normal meaning of the word, civilised, which is admittedly western-centric.

Maori are saying these ceremonies should be "reclaimed" by Maori and taken back to the marae environment they came from. Many people would say this would be a good thing. Very few people I know can be bothered with watching this sort of thing, they tend to feel annoyed, bored, and embarrassed, but have no choice but to attend them because of the pressure of political correctness. Taking them back to the marae would be doing everyone a favour, in many ways.

By the way, I wouldn't limit this to Maori cultural and religious events. Anything which is being forced onto people through law, regulation, or social pressure, including western religion, should be optional. If a woman wants to attend a Maori ceremony and sit at the back of the room fine, let her. If an atheist wants to attend a Christian ceremony, that's OK. But don't make it compulsory for them to do so.

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