Tens of thousands join Maori rights protests in New Zealand: NPR

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Tens of thousands of marchers filled the streets of New Zealand’s capital Wellington on Tuesday, the flag-waving crowds giving the atmosphere more of a festival or parade than a protest. They arrived to protest legislation that would restructure the treaty establishing the county between the indigenous Maori people and the British Crown. But for many, it was about something more: a celebration of the rebirth of indigenous languages ​​and identities once nearly destroyed by colonization.

“We’re just fighting for the rights that our tupuna ancestors fought for,” said Shanelle Bobb as she waited for the march to begin. “We are fighting for tamariki and mokopuna so they can have what we couldn’t have,” said their children and grandchildren. she added, using the Māori word for .

The protests, believed to be the largest in the country’s history in support of Māori rights, are a theme that has preoccupied modern New Zealand for much of its young history, and have crisscrossed the nation at a turning point. It followed a long tradition of peaceful marches. story.

“We’re going for a walk!” one organizer declared from the stage as a crowd gathered at the Capitol on the other side of the city. Some had traveled across the country in the past nine days.

For many, this turnout reflected growing solidarity among non-Māori peoples for indigenous rights. At the bus stop on my usual morning commute, people of all ages and races waited with Māori sovereignty flags. Some local schools said they would not register students as absent. The city’s mayor also joined the protests.

The bill that marchers opposed is unpopular and unlikely to pass. But there has been an outpouring of opposition to it, due to growing knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi promises to Māori among New Zealanders, and a small number of voices from those angry at courts and MPs trying to uphold them. However, participants in the march said they were demonstrating a vocal opposition.

Marching for Māori rights outlined in the treaty is not new. But Indigenous people say the crowds were larger and the atmosphere different than previous treaty marches.

“It’s different than it was when I was a kid,” Bob said. “We are stronger now. Our tamariki are stronger now. They know who they are and are proud of who they are. Masu.”

Thousands of supportive signs lined the sidewalks as marchers marched through Wellington’s streets, chanting Maori haka and waiata.

Some of the placards contained jokes and insults about the lawmaker responsible for the bill. The bill would change the meaning of the principles of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi so that they no longer applied only to Māori, whose chiefs signed the document when New Zealand was colonized.

But others wrote “I’m proud to be Maori” or acknowledged the owner’s non-Maori heritage in support of the protests. Some blamed the widespread expropriation of Māori land during colonization, one of the main complaints arising from the treaty.

“This treaty is the document that allows us to be here in Aotearoa, so it’s really important that we protect and respect this treaty,” said Ben Ogilvie, who is of Pakeha or New Zealand European descent. spoke, using the country’s name in Māori. “I hate this government for trying to bring it down.”

Police said 42,000 people tried to rush onto the Capitol grounds, with some spilling onto surrounding roads. People were crammed onto the children’s slide on the lawn for a good vantage point. Others are perched in trees. His tone was almost joyful. As we waited for people to leave the small area, some began singing Maori songs that most New Zealanders learn at school.

A sea of ​​red, black and white Māori sovereignty flags stretched down the lawn to the street. But marchers also carried flags of Samoa, Tonga, Indigenous Australians, the United States, Palestine and Israel. In Congress, speeches by political leaders drew attention to the reason for the protests: proposed legislation that would change the meaning of words in the founding treaty and make it law, applying to everyone.

The book’s author, Liberal MP David Seymour, who is Māori, says the decades-long process of redress for breaches of treaties by the Crown with Māori has created special treatment for Indigenous peoples. is against this.

Opponents of the bill say it would cause constitutional upheaval, dilute Indigenous rights and create divisive rhetoric against Māori. Māori remain disadvantaged on almost every social and economic indicator, despite attempts by courts and legislators to redress the massive inequalities that have arisen in recent decades. Some are due to violation of treaties.

Although it is not expected to become law, Mr. Seymour made a political deal that successfully passed the first vote last Thursday. He said in a statement Tuesday that the public can now make submissions on the bill, and he hopes the bill’s popularity will reverse and support will grow.

Seymour was not among the lawmakers invited to speak, but he briefly stepped out onto the Capitol front lawn to observe the protests. Some in the crowd booed him.

One marcher, Papa Heta, said the protests had been “going on for a long time” and that Māori wanted to be recognized and respected.

“We hope to be able to unite with our European friends, Pākehā,” he added. “Unfortunately, there are people who make decisions that put us in difficult situations.”