He waka eke noa.

April 20, 2018 10:51 PM

He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
posted by spaceburglar (21 comments total)

I'm no expert in Maori feathered cloaks, but that's pretty awesome.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 11:50 PM on April 20, 2018

I am no linguist, but I knew that had to be Maori on the main page. Then I clicked, reveled in the awesomeness of the cloak, and patted myself on the back for being right. (Then I massaged my bad shoulder because I was dumb and used THAT arm for back-patting.)
posted by Samizdata at 12:07 AM on April 21, 2018

Must be nice to live in a world where a woman, let alone a pregnant and possibly maternally inclined woman is a respected leader of the country.
*grumble*
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:12 AM on April 21, 2018 [10 favorites]

This is a neat article, and I love seeing traditional dress, particularly of an oppressed minority, thrown in the face of the ruling body like that. But I really kinda wish the FPP gave any information to an English-speaking reader about what the contents of the link would be.
posted by kafziel at 12:39 AM on April 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

Must be nice to live in a world where a woman...is respected

I mean, I know Aotearoa is a pretty isolated country, but it's still in the same world. Especially as you live close to it, as far as cities in the Anglosphere go.
posted by ambrosen at 12:55 AM on April 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

[...] thrown in the face of the ruling body like that.

I saw her much more as saying, "Of course".
posted by hawthorne at 1:17 AM on April 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you want to learn a bit more about cloaks this twitter thread is a good place to start.
posted by supercrayon at 1:19 AM on April 21, 2018 [5 favorites]

Some interesting background - the cloak was loaned to the PM (she is awesome!) by the Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club (& facebook).

Was a little debate about cultural appropriation from a few people on Twitter (mostly outside NZ) but I'm not sure that they had an appreciation for the background on the cloak (eg a loaner to be worn as a sign of respect and also a great honour for the wearer).

Also some lovely background on Korowai and other cloaks from a weaver. Awesome stuff.

Aotearoa has a lot of problems. But sometimes its lovely to have nice things that are just nice. The PM makes me proud and gives me the warm-fuzzies to be a Kiwi.
posted by phigmov at 1:20 AM on April 21, 2018 [21 favorites]

But I really kinda wish the FPP gave any information to an English-speaking reader about what the contents of the link would be.

I dunno. I get the sentiment, but I’m ok withnon-English content on the site, too. I’ll probably get less views, but one can always click and see the comments to judge if it’s for you.

Also: beautiful cloak.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:39 AM on April 21, 2018 [9 favorites]

Yeah, there's been other non-English content on the site before. I don't speak Maori either, but it's not like it's particularly difficult to google (or just click on the link and then you know exactly what it's about). Google translate kinda gets it (and at least correctly identifies the language) but just copying the phrases gets you a better sense of what the Maori proverbs mean.

I think my politician crush on Jacinda Arden has eclipsed even my politician crush on Penny Wong. She is great.
posted by Athanassiel at 7:48 AM on April 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

Very cool.
posted by rpfields at 7:58 AM on April 21, 2018

I just visited New Zealand. One of the best things I did there was take the guided tour of Parliament. The buildings are interesting enough but what was really fun was hearing how the system of government was explained. Coming from the US it seemed so orderly and polite and non-corrupt! Also very open. I'm sure the politics has its problems but governing a country of just 5 million people seems like it must be a bit more straightforward and accountable.

Part of why I was in NZ was for a tech unconference. The best thing I did there was go to various sessions on Māori themes; one basic pronunciation class, one discussion of what "Māori tech" might mean, how Māori cultural values inform user interfaces and web site design and the like. I was struck by how open and welcoming folks were, with everyone from total outsiders like me, pakeha New Zealanders doing their best to learn something about Māori, and a few folks who grew up in Māori communities. It felt like everyone was on board with mixing the dominant European culture in NZ with native Māori culture in a respectful and fluid way. Ardern showing up at Buckingham Palace wearing a Māori cloak makes perfect sense in this context.
posted by Nelson at 8:36 AM on April 21, 2018 [9 favorites]

> GenjiandProust:
"But I really kinda wish the FPP gave any information to an English-speaking reader about what the contents of the link would be.

I dunno. I get the sentiment, but I’m ok withnon-English content on the site, too. I’ll probably get less views, but one can always click and see the comments to judge if it’s for you.

Also: beautiful cloak."

Actually, seeing the post in Maori made me click on it when I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I was "Maori WHAT?"
posted by Samizdata at 9:20 AM on April 21, 2018 [7 favorites]

Yes, please, seeing non English, non American content on the front page is refreshing. I think it goes some way to encouraging metafilter to be more multicultural.
posted by dazed_one at 9:47 AM on April 21, 2018 [12 favorites]

It felt like everyone was on board with mixing the dominant European culture in NZ with native Māori culture in a respectful and fluid way.

I'm aware that the experience of indigenous people in NZ has not actually been all roses but it does seem remarkably different culturally from a U.S. perspective - I suppose as a result of the Māori generally having been in a stronger position in negotiations than native peoples in other colonies?

Yes, please, seeing non English, non American content on the front page is refreshing. I think it goes some way to encouraging metafilter to be more multicultural.

Yeah and I thought it was a perfectly good hook for a post.
posted by atoxyl at 1:31 PM on April 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

I couldn't find it, is Ardern herself Maori, or is she just repping (a subset of) her nation where they usually don't get much airtime?
posted by FirstMateKate at 3:23 PM on April 21, 2018

I'm aware that the experience of indigenous people in NZ has not actually been all roses but it does seem remarkably different culturally from a U.S. perspective - I suppose as a result of the Māori generally having been in a stronger position in negotiations than native peoples in other colonies?

Also they came right at the end of the colonisation goldrush so English attitudes were shifting, and New Zealand is a long way away. Even with that, there was a long period where the Treaty (between the Crown and the Maori) was viewed as a laughable oddity, it took a lot of effort from a lot of people to get to where we are now, which is still a fairly poopy zone for a lot of maori socioeconomically.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:30 PM on April 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Jacinda is pakeha. There's a fair bit of Maori protocol in government, so this is cool but not unusual (e.g. the process for gaining appropriate approval is well-established).
posted by Sebmojo at 3:32 PM on April 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

My first time being proud of my president was when Nelson Mandela was elected. I'm now a New Zealand citizen , having moved here just over 10 years ago. It's now happened for the second time. Jacinda Ardern for the win, bro.
posted by New England Cultist at 4:23 PM on April 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

A post in Maori is even more refreshing given the recent push back against the public use of Maori (by a bunch of old pakeha guys, of course), in particular on national radio (our NPR/BBC).

Nelson: I didn't get a Kiwifoo invite this year, I hope you enjoyed it, I've met Jacinda there twice in previous years, before her sudden rise to power, I hope she can find the time to return as a participant, not just to lecture as our previous PM once did
posted by mbo at 5:20 PM on April 21, 2018

Must be nice to live in a world where a woman, let alone a pregnant and possibly maternally inclined woman is a respected leader of the country.

She’s meeting a Queen. In a country with a woman Prime Minister. Bordering another (Scotland) with a woman First Minister. Just across the water from another (Northern Ireland) who’s most recent First Minister was a woman. Attached to a continent who’s economically most powerful country (Germany) has a woman Chancellor.
posted by falcon at 9:11 AM on April 26, 2018 [4 favorites]