Listen Now: 
Green MP Marama Davison says the decision of Labour MP Nanaia Mahuta to wear a moko kauae should make it easier for other wahine Maori to reclaim their birthright.
The Hauraki Waikato MP was one of 14 women from Waikato Tainui and Maniapoto who received the moko at a ceremony at Waahi Marae.
Ms Davidson says it’s a significant step to have the moko kauae worn by a sitting MP, especially given the practice was discouraged by the suffrage movement as part of its push for to win the vote for women.
She says Maori women are still trying to win back what was lost through colonisation, including such assertive expressions of being Maori.
"It’s important for Maori women in public places to just claim it and be strong and confident it is our birthright for others who are possibly feeling whakama or in two minds about having this birthright but, being able to stand up and say very strongly 'I am Maori,'" Ms Davidson says.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
