August 06, 2013
Whakarewarewa Māori rejects plastic tag
Rotorua Māori are defending themselves from claims by AUT University academic Paul Moon that the Māori culture they present is a plastic patchwork stuck in the past.
Rotorua District Council kaupapa Māori director Mauriora Kingi, who grew up in Whakarewarewa, says rather than the thermal village's features arranged to satisfy visitors' expectations, as Professor Moon suggests, visitors are being offered a window into the lives people are still living among the steam.
He says performances are a mix of old and new.
"People at Whakarewarewa, the people at Mitai, the people at Tamaki Tours, there is an element of tradition and there is also an element of contemporary arts and culture, and there are a whole lot of things that our people are starting to get used to the modern times but still retain that authenticity in terms of te reo, in terms of tikanga, and we still hold fast to those things," Mr Kingi says.
He says some performers do wear plastic piupiu, but that’s because they are doing so many concerts that natural fibres would wear out too quickly.
Mā te Māori e kōrero
Kua tū ngā Māori ō Rotorua ki te whakahē i ngā kōrero ā kairangahau Pākehā ā Paul Moon, ko te momo ahurea Māori kei te whakaaturia e rātou, nō ngā tau ō mua.
Hai tā Mauriora Kiingi kaihautū ō ngā kaupapa Māori i te Kaunihera ō Rotorua, ka tūtaki rātou i ngā tūmanakotanga ō ngā tūruhi, ā ka hanumi i ngā tikanga tuku iho mē ngā ahuatanga ō te ao hou.
Hai tāna anō, ko te mea nui ka kite i ngā taha e rua, ko te ao kōhatu tērā, ko te ao hurihuri tērā.
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