Then I stumbled across an article about Ngātiwai rangatira Aperahama Edwards, claiming the Government has no authority to make it harder for Māori to win customary marine title to the foreshore and seabed. Another familiar refrain: we are the experts of the moana, so give us ownership and control.
And that got me thinking. If Māori are truly the experts of the sea, why are Māori drowning rates so bloody high?
Ngātiwai rangatira Aperahama Edwards pictured at Matapōuri Beach, Northland.
It is not an unfair question. According to Water Safety New Zealand, Māori make up between 15 and 22 percent of all drowning deaths despite being roughly 15 percent of the population. The most vulnerable group is Māori men aged 15 to 44, often in incidents involving swimming, boating, or diving.
These are grim statistics. Drowning must be one of the most terrifying ways to die. But how do we reconcile this with the endless rhetoric about Māori being the natural stewards of the sea? If the moana is in the DNA, why are so many dying in it?
Maybe Aperahama Edwards should spend less time trying to carve up ownership of the foreshore and seabed and more time helping prevent his people from drowning in it. That might actually save lives, which is more than can be said for another round of Treaty-based payouts. Drowning prevention just does not pay the bills, does it?
There is at least one positive initiative, Kia Maanu Kia Ora, which means “stay afloat, stay alive.” It is a Māori-focused water safety programme supported by Water Safety New Zealand. Credit where it is due, it is an effort that tackles the real issue. You can find it here:
Make no mistake, this country’s foreshore and seabed belong to all New Zealanders. Not just to Rangi because he can trace one-sixty-fourth of his ancestry to a particular iwi. The ocean, the rivers, the beaches, they belong to everyone.
Most of you already know where I stand on this. I want equality. Not race-based privilege. Not special laws. Not endless claims dressed up as “restorative justice.” Just fairness, across the board.
Because at the end of the day, race-based privilege is racism. It needs to end.
Oh, and Aperahama, before you start counting your next government cheque, maybe focus on keeping your people alive in the water. That would be real leadership. Not the grifting kind, ay, bro.
Matua Kahurangi is just a bloke sharing thoughts on New Zealand and the world beyond. No fluff, just honest takes. He blogs on https://matuakahurangi.com/ where this article was sourced.
10 comments:
If there's one thing I no for curtain, the entire modern version of the Maori culture and it's attached narratives are false.
More of them drown because racism. Now give them your money.
Water arrives here from around the world west of NZ It exits here and continues its journey around the globe to the east Anyone claiming ownership is an idiot
Well said Matua
Drowning rates have nothing to do with race. Poverty and education and opportunity are the significant, entirely obvious factors. Was this another 5-rums-deep blog post bro? I hope you’re ok, we’re here to support you, regardless of what it is you’re going through right now. Peace and Love!
>"Drowning rates have nothing to do with race."
Drowning rates, like any other measurable indicator, can be expressed by race. That is not to mean that it is assumed that race 'causes' whatever it is that is being measured.
>"Poverty and education and opportunity are the significant, entirely obvious factors. "
Poverty isn't quite 'entirely obvious' as a contributor to drowning rates to me, unless it can be demonstrated that poor people are more likely to jump into the sea - unlikely - or that coastal communities are less affluent than non-coastal communities. 'Education', yes, I can see that if we are on about water safety, but not specified here. 'Opportunity' - well, obviously, someone who goes into the sea has a greater chance of drowning than someone who stays on dry land; there's a bit of a tautology here.
>"Was this another 5-rums-deep blog post bro?"
Nah, can't have been, the grammar and spelling are too good.
>"I hope you’re ok, we’re here to support you, regardless of what it is you’re going through right now. Peace and love!"
I suspect it's whomever submitted this comment that has been on the Jungle Juice rather than Matua.
Why are their drowning rates so high? Because their education standards are so low.
i have given up on tv but presume those fishery poaching programmes have like Police 10, for the same reason, been discontinued, Certainly showed a close maori affinity with kai maoana.
No, it's because the non-traditionally carved local art millstones around their necks that are too heavy.
"We have had a Party Caucus" - the Subject of the following was a winner -
1.- The Author and his (again) very clear posting on a current issue, which one comment, obviously Maori ??? could not see the 'daylight of said comments'.
2. - The Wonderful retort by Barend Vlaardingerbroek, who was very clear in what He was alluding to -
So the "winner", sorry the BSA have just contacted us as 'someone' has raised a 'complaint' that needs investigating, and they "are" trying to get hold of Paul Goldsmith to advise that this is occurring.
In the meantime, money is again being spent on getting kids to a swimming pool to learn "how to swim". Yup, we have been there and done that before.
Again in the meantime, we have people who continuously fail to understand water, flow, depth - rapids on rivers, undertow at sea
"assuming" that they know best, not being capable in ANY water and placing themselves - and potential rescuers at risk.
And this also applies to those Ethnicities that "assume" (that wonderful word again) that they can go surfcasting, off rocks on beaches that have notorious inward currents, fail to understand changing tides AND are alone, wearing gumboots or jandals and get swept off rocks into the sea - which rescue now becomes an issue if people are present and also very dangerous.
Oh the other group, who "free-dive" off coastal sea reefs and under estimate their abilities in the water!
New Zealand - does the above statement sound familiar?
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