(aotearoa.indy) HIKOI - one year on - an observation, a Date: Fri, 6 May 2005 08:55:49 -0500 (CDT) http://indymedia.org.nz/http://indymedia.org.nz/feature/display/33728/index.php Review :: Indigenous struggles Hikoi - one year on by A-IMC - 05 May 2005 One year ago, 30000 people marched to parliament on the hikoi in opposition to the seabed and foreshore legislation. Its been a year of protest that saw the formation of a new party (the Maori Party) and many extra-parliamentary protests. One day after the hikoi the confiscation legislation passed its first reading despite continuous protests and passed its final reading in November 2004. On 16th October 2004 2000 people were part of Hikoi Takutaimoana II in Tamaki Makaurau. In December a group called Te Mangoroa occupied the pier in Otautahi. In January 2005 Tuhoe people of the Uruwera region met representatives of the crown for a Waitangi Tribunal with anger. Cars were turned over and set alight. A Tino Rangatiratanga flag was fluttering in the wind as a symbol of resistance against colonisation and the Crown sponsored theft of indigenous lands. In March the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released its decision on it. Since then plans for extensive sand mining and seabed exploration for mineral extraction have been made public. Throughts by Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara Hikoi - one year on Public Forum, 12th May, Central Library, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington See also: http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/fsinfo.htm http://www.aocafe.com/ -- http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/33701/index.php Hikoi: one year on - an observation, a conclusion by Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara Email: rangi@aocafe.com - 05 May 2005 Modified: 10:03:34 PM Thoughts and observations of the last 3-4 years from a relatively new participant in the Tino Rangatiratanga movement, as to the effectiveness of the movement within this current paradym. On the Maori Party: There have been many thoughts go through my head in the last year about the Maori Party, and their emergence at this stage in our hystory. Its been a difficult conclusion to come to, but I now see this Party as an appropriate reaction and representation of where a lot of Maori are at, and I can see why they will garner a lot of Maori support. It is an avenue that Maori are yet to fully explore - the avenue of political minority representation within this parliamentary MMP system. It is a road we seem to need to travel, if nothing more than to see where it ends. On Revolution/uprising: I doubt there will ever be a revolt lead by 'Maori' per se unless we somehow have a [[massive]] shift in base thinking (notwithstanding this is still a dream prevalent in the hearts and minds of many Maori around the motu). Why i say that is not to put Maori down or the movement down but to point out what is now more obvious to me now than ever before. 1/ Apart from the reality that many Maori resistance leaders are now worn down by years of tireless action (and as Dei Hamo sings) "years of having no shit", and are turning to more stable lifestyles. 2/ Apart from the obvious fact that Maori do not have the financial backbone at the moment to resource an effective revolt... 3/ Apart from the sad fact that the Crown is wholeheartedly dependent and expectant of Maori to quell any Maori revolt... Those reasons and many more are not behind why I am thinking this way at the moment. The Observation: The reason I believe we have focussed and restricted our level of action to these arenas such as endeavouring to set up alternative parliaments, alternative systems of law, alternative dollar notes, why we hikoi off to Parliament of all places seek some form of justice, why grass roots movements are continually so easily snatched from the clutches of the people and placed in the hands of courtrooms or political party's, is because deep down... many believe there is still hope (within this system). From what we have seen with the killing of Stephen Wallace and subsequent acquital of his murderer, also what I have witnessed at Ngawha - the wholesale destruction carried out there on whenua there, the backhand slap in the face given to the people there by the crown and its Maori ministers, and also with the Seabed and Foreshore and the eventual confiscation of million of acres of Maori ancestral lands by the Crown. These have left me under no illusion that the only real hope we have is to accept the glaring fact that there is no possibility for real justice within the realms of this systemnot now, nor ever. and I think the sooner we participants in this movement called Tino Rangatiratanga can accept this fact, the sooner we will be able to function as an effective resistance movement is supposed to. Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara http://www.aocafe.com/ -- http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/33627/index.php Hikoi: one year on by Takutai Moana Poneke Phone: (04) 382 8129 05 May 2005 You are invited to a public forum on Thursday 12 May with: - Moana Jackson, Ngati Kahungunu and Ngati Porou - Angeline Greensill, Environmental spokesperson for the Tainui hapu of Whaingaroa (Raglan) - Claire Charters, Te Arawa, Law lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington On 5 May last year the foreshore and seabed hikoi arrived in Wellington in a spectacular display of unity against the foreshore and seabed legislation and protest at continued government failure to honour the Treaty of Waitangi. In November the confiscation legislation was passed, and in March the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released its decision on it. Since then plans for extensive sand mining and seabed exploration for mineral extraction have been made public. These issues and more will be covered in this forum. At 6pm, Thursday 12 May 2005 Mezzanine floor meeting room, Wellington Central Library, Victoria Street. Online advert with links to print off posters - http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/fs120505.htm Organised by Takutai Moana Poneke Collective, for more information contact tel (04) 382 8129 or 027 470 5822. See also: http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/ http://www.aocafe.com/forums/ --------------------------------- Find local movie times and trailers on Yahoo! Movies.