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Download AudioA scholar of moko kauae says the facial tattoos have long been a way wahine Māori have resisted colonial oppression.
Mia-Mae Taitimu-Stevens from Te Rarawa and Tokelau was awarded a master’s degree in Indigenous studies from the University of Auckland for her moko kauae dissertation.
She says the expectation for wearing a moko kauae is that you whakapapa Māori, although there is debate about whether you must also speak te reo Māori.
Much of this is played out in social media, along with commentary that it is done for vanity or to be on trend.
“Kauae is beautiful. It’s a beauty standard. We are allowed to look at it and go, “That is wicked”. I want one of those as wahine Māori.’ We are allowed to aspire to our own ideas of beauty standards and I think through colonisation, the criminalisation of kauae has impacted how we view that and how others can sort of say “We shouldn’t want that,” because it’s beautiful. We should want it because we speak te reo, we have to do all these things to attain it,’ but vanity is a huge part of moko and we should be proud of the adornments we have and can continue to have on our bodies,” Ms Taitimu-Stevens says.
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