John Porter: I Was Beaten for Speaking Maori!

During the recent Maori Language Week, I noted that many prominent Maori spoke about their beatings for speaking Maori.

Dover Samuels gave evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2015 about the beatings he endured as a small boy for speaking Maori at school but who had only ever spoken Maori at home.

But as with so much Maori and colonisation debate we need to look at both sides of the story.