blue moon

Statements by Pita Sharples at the opening of an international conference on international development in Whakatane yesterday state the importance of the indigenous worldview. The speech is linked on TV3 and well worth a read. Within the speech are outlines of the maori party positions and also a good overview of many aspects such as the foreshore and seabed act, the colonisation process and the role of the maori party as Pita sees it.

From TV3 - quotes from the speech linked on TV3

We are not the Crown’s Treaty partner. As a parliamentary political party, we are part of the kawanatanga – the Crown side of the Treaty. All MPs swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown.

So it is not our role to be settling the foreshore and seabed issue. We are not a customary owner, and the Maori Party should not be making decisions for the owners. Tangata whenua must make their own decisions based on their own circumstances, and negotiate their own settlements with the Crown.

Yes the maori party are advocates for tangata whenua but they must reflect the views of the people not try to get the people to reflect their political solutions.

Pita also talks about the role of indigenous peoples

We have a responsibility and a duty to promote our culture of “sharing” community rights, and community ownership. It is important that all indigenous nations must accordingly rise up, and promote those communal sharing and caring values.

Indigenous cultures mean communal support and sharing – not user pays, not individual free enterprise, but enterprise that feeds back to all members of the community, of the society, of the nation, of the world.

We indigenous people of the world must survive and promote our sharing values within all nations. We have responsibility to do so – we can save the world from its own self destructive consumption, non sustainable, individualistic pursuits.

Well I can't argue with that but i do wonder if the compromises made by the maori party and the negative effect of those on maori nullifies the fancy words somewhat. "a prominent expert" in Maori culture and history Senior lecturer in Maori Studies at the Auckland University of Technology, Dr Paul Moon takes a swipe at Pita's speech

But a prominent expert in Maori culture and history says this is "outdated, 1970s-style thinking", lacking in specifics.

"To imply indigenous people across the world have a shared view of things is perhaps outdated," he says.

"When you start talking about indigenous world views, you're presuming indigenous people have one way of thinking, that there's no pluralism."

Thanks for that mr prominent expert - we now know what we already know - that maori have different views and different indigenous cultures have diferent views - quick hold the front page!!!

Moon didn't say if he considered that indigenous viewpoints could offer hope to the world - maybe he has a speech coming up where he can get a bit more facetime on TV.