Speaker 1: Hey everyone, and welcome back to it could happen here.
Speaker 1: In my last part, I spoke a bit about the
Speaker 1: historical context of the Mari struggle New Zealand or Autua.
Speaker 1: Spoke about these seeds of contemporary Mari activism, the involvement
Speaker 1: of Mari in the trade union movements and the development
Speaker 1: of Mari women's movements, as well as the development of
Speaker 1: the Brown Power slogan and the split between the movements
Speaker 1: more radical and more conservative coalitions, with the former eventually
Speaker 1: going on to as inspired by the Black Panther parts
Speaker 1: in the US, formed the Polynesian Panthers. For those one awhere,
Speaker 1: this is it could happen here. I am Andrew of
Speaker 1: the Channel Andriwism and I'm joined by Garrison is also
Speaker 1: on this zoom call as we discuss the Maori land
Speaker 1: rights movement now. The struggle against Mari oppression racism led
Speaker 1: to a division within the movement regarding whether the existing
Speaker 1: political structures could bring about a real change or for
Speaker 1: complete overthrow of the system was necessary. The failure to
Speaker 1: address land alienation through official channels created a sense of
Speaker 1: pessimism about the government's commitments to Mari rights. The Mari
Speaker 1: land rights movement emerged from nineteen seventy five to nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy eight, bringing together diverse range of activists. The sort
Speaker 1: alliances with workers both Mari and Paquale, viewing them as
Speaker 1: natural allies in the fight against oppression. The common enemy
Speaker 1: was seen as the racist and capitalist state. The occupation
Speaker 1: of Bastion Point and subsequent eviction from Bastian Point intensified
Speaker 1: the direct conflict that the movements were happened with the state.
Speaker 1: It garnered their public support and also their involvement from
Speaker 1: the Paka left. The Auckland Trades Council placed a quote
Speaker 1: unquote green band on the area, which went refusing to
Speaker 1: allow work to commence on the planned subdivision, and a
Speaker 1: north shore contractor even donated six trucks, including two Bitjumin
Speaker 1: tankers to help with a planned blockade. The occupation at
Speaker 1: Bastian Point was followed by arrests at the Ragland golf Course,
Speaker 1: and many of those arrested were representatives of various activist groups.
Speaker 1: The land rights movement and the struggle against racism radicalized
Speaker 1: a group of Mari women who were already part of
Speaker 1: Niagaratamatoa to go on to form the Capital b Capital
Speaker 1: w Capital Black Women's Movement. In the early nineteen eighties,
Speaker 1: the Waitangi Action Committee married People's Liberation Movement to our
Speaker 1: tro and the Black Women's Movement emerged as prominent Maori
Speaker 1: political activist group, primarily based in Auckland, New Zealand. They
Speaker 1: continued the protest tradition of Nagata Matoo with annual protests
Speaker 1: to the Watangi Day celebrations, and they even came up
Speaker 1: with the idea to call it the Cheaty of White
Speaker 1: Tange instead of the Treaty of White Tanky very clearful,
Speaker 1: and they also called for a boycott of the celebrations.
Speaker 1: Not initially, Mario activists had collaborated with certain Pakeha anti
Speaker 1: racist groups, but that association was weakened after divisions emerged
Speaker 1: during the anti Springbok Tour protests in nineteen eighty one, which,
Speaker 1: as you may remember from the previous episode, was a
Speaker 1: protest against the national rugby team's participation in a tour
Speaker 1: that included apartheid South Africa. The perception was that Alissa
Speaker 1: mong Lari that many Pakeha had failed to recognize the
Speaker 1: connection between apartheid in South Africa and colonialism and racism
Speaker 1: in New Zealand, and so the bonds between those two
Speaker 1: movements would beginning to weekend. Ad On top of that
Speaker 1: that a prolonged economic crisis that was taking place in
Speaker 1: New Zealand during the nineteen seventies nineteen eighties as a
Speaker 1: result of course of the inherent tendencies of capitalism, the
Speaker 1: government had to grapple with the crisis of political legitimacy
Speaker 1: and of economic management, and that of course fueled further
Speaker 1: ethnic and gender inequalities, further social unrest and worstening economic
Speaker 1: conditions and increases in unemployment. The upsoar should take place
Speaker 1: during that time in MARI protest really highlighted the marginalized
Speaker 1: position that MARI were dealing with In New Zealand society
Speaker 1: and studies ended up confirming their disproportionately poor educational outcomes,
Speaker 1: high unemployment rates, low incomes, health issues, high imprisonment rates,
Speaker 1: low rates of home ownership, and dependence on the state.
Speaker 1: Whilst some ARIA activists had sourced strategies to challenge the
Speaker 1: system and addresses inequalities, others ended up pursuing struggles that
Speaker 1: posed little threat to the state and failed to address
Speaker 1: the courses of economic and social crisis is inherent to capitalism. Now,
Speaker 1: the initial focus of Marie culture nationalism was on secure
Speaker 1: in Mari studies and language programs in the educational system. However,
Speaker 1: the move on eventually shifted its emphasis towards this rediscovering
Speaker 1: Mari history and culture more broadly, and along the way
Speaker 1: there was less emphasis on putting together a robust political
Speaker 1: movement and robust strategies for broader social change. And while
Speaker 1: Failiar movements had a very clear focus on left wing politics,
Speaker 1: it's also around this time that we see a shift
Speaker 1: towards a broader range of politics, including right wing. One
Speaker 1: of the most important works in the Maria Actress movement
Speaker 1: at the time was Donna Aurtiri's Maori Sovereignty, published in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four, and that book was really less of
Speaker 1: a critique of right wing racist politics and more a
Speaker 1: critique of left social movements, which, according to our Tiri
Speaker 1: was committed to a status co characterized by white supremacy
Speaker 1: and Mari subbort nation.
Speaker 2: And she was calling everybody out.
Speaker 1: She was calling Pakeha activists, whether they be feminists, trade unionists,
Speaker 1: socialists or otherwise, she called them all out as being
Speaker 1: committed to the status chop of white supremacy and Marie
Speaker 1: subord Nationia. Around this time, there was also a growing
Speaker 1: sense that pake Has society was intrinsically based in competition,
Speaker 1: exploitation and material success, as opposed to.
Speaker 2: Maori society in Maori values, which.
Speaker 1: Culturally was more communal, more collaborative, and more focused on
Speaker 1: the wellness of the whole. As the solution was seen
Speaker 1: as really emphasizing cultural consciousness. But the emphasis and cultural
Speaker 1: consciousness Alwin often led Mary away from political activism and
Speaker 1: towards purely cultural vitalist pursuits. In nineteen eighty four, the
Speaker 1: Fourth Labor Government was elected and it sort of addressed
Speaker 1: the rise in Mari protests by enhancing the status of
Speaker 1: Mari culture specifically and incorporating Mari representation and practices within
Speaker 1: state institution shots This approach is known as biculturalism, and
Speaker 1: it extended the jurisdiction of the White Tanki Tribunal and
Speaker 1: incorporated Maori personnel and cultural symbolism into government institutions for
Speaker 1: those who made a mist up. The White Tanky Tribunal
Speaker 1: was basically institutions set up to deal with specific cases
Speaker 1: of violations of the White Tangi Treaty, and so by
Speaker 1: extending jurisdiction with White Tanki Tribunal, by incorporating more Maori
Speaker 1: into positions of government and of power.
Speaker 2: This gave this.
Speaker 1: Illusion of a partnership and ended up satisfying some of
Speaker 1: the Mari demands for self detamination. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: and again echoes to other movements around the world. You
Speaker 1: see that the government seeds certain ground, but it does
Speaker 1: so so it doesn't lose other fights. It pretends to
Speaker 1: lose certain battles so that it can win the war
Speaker 1: right because in conceding to more reformist demands of the movement,
Speaker 1: it allowed them to marginalize and to disempower the movements
Speaker 1: more radical demands, and it allowed them to you know,
Speaker 1: put forward this pr phase of doing a good thing
Speaker 1: for the Maria community while not actually challenging the underlying
Speaker 1: social relations of racist and capitalist society. Basically, the state's
Speaker 1: adoption of ethnic rhetoric and corporation of Mario elites into
Speaker 1: state institutions save to appease a decent portion of Mari
Speaker 1: protests while maintaining the start scope. Now, after the Labor
Speaker 1: government had introduce used the Treaty of waitang Gi Amendment ART,
Speaker 1: which expanded the powers of the Waite Tangi Tribunal in
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five. The White Tangi Tribunal actually had very
Speaker 1: little power when it came to enforcing its recommendations. So
Speaker 1: it would hear out these cases of land theft. It
Speaker 1: would hear out, you know, these Maori individuals or groups
Speaker 1: would invested a lot of time and energy and resources
Speaker 1: into their land claim cases. The tribunal would find them correct.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, yeah, they did steal from you. You
Speaker 1: probably should get that land back. But the only thing
Speaker 1: is we can really help you. The tribunal which was
Speaker 1: set up to help with these cases didn't actually have
Speaker 1: the power to enforce its recommendations, to actually enforce the
Speaker 1: settlements that came to it was toothless, so it really
Speaker 1: end up being.
Speaker 2: A waste of energy.
Speaker 1: And at the same time, the Labor government was doing
Speaker 1: some economic restructuring to reduce government expenditure and implement an
Speaker 1: economic plan to restore profitability, which included measures like deregulation, privateization,
Speaker 1: dismantled with the welfare state. Again echoes this is new
Speaker 1: liberalism one O one Thatcher regan all of them because
Speaker 1: the claims that were made to the White Tangia Tribunal
Speaker 1: and the recommendations made by the tribunal posed obstacles to
Speaker 1: that sale of state owned enterprises and that further restruction
Speaker 1: the economy towards more new liberal ends. There was a
Speaker 1: crowingcent within the government that this was quote unquote special
Speaker 1: treatment for Mari. Added the political costs associated with the
Speaker 1: tribunal was just causing too much headache for the government.
Speaker 2: And so by nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1: Nine, just four years after they introduced that act, under
Speaker 1: the immense pressure of you know, these mad people getting
Speaker 1: in the way of their ability to new liberalize, the
Speaker 1: Labor government ended up downplaying the significance of a treaty policy.
Speaker 1: And while that's going on, the and Hiss co opt
Speaker 1: and key individuals in the Mari protest movement through various
Speaker 1: negotiations and consultations, one and more of this quote unquote
Speaker 1: Mari elite was being brought into the fold of the state.
Speaker 1: Came in privileged positions and wealth, and so they became
Speaker 1: insulated from the grass roots Mario struggle. The following government,
Speaker 1: not the Labor government, but the national government also sort
Speaker 1: to restore profitable investment in the New Zealand economy and
Speaker 1: to address some of the uncertainty created by the treaty claims.
Speaker 1: And so they went to the Mari elite did their
Speaker 1: little negotiations and they decided to settle certain claims to
Speaker 1: the fisheries around New Zealand. That became known as the
Speaker 1: Sea Lord's Deal, which caused a lot of headache and
Speaker 1: anger and divisions in the Marie community because of the
Speaker 1: lack of transparency and democracy in these negotiations. The deal
Speaker 1: was made between the New Zealand government and a group
Speaker 1: of Mari corporate entities known as the Sea Loord Group
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety two, and under this agreement, the Sea
Speaker 1: Lord Group, which was said to represent Mari interests, acquired
Speaker 1: a fifty percent stake in Sea Loord, which is a
Speaker 1: major seafood company New Zealand. The other fifty percent remained
Speaker 1: with the Japanese fishing company Nisui. And so the deal
Speaker 1: was seeing as a resolution like, yeah, we put ourselves
Speaker 1: in the back. The Maori were making these claims over
Speaker 1: fishery resources. So we met up with some Mari businessmen
Speaker 1: and gave them a fifty percent steak in sea lord
Speaker 1: problem solved right now. You know, they will get some
Speaker 1: commercial benefits from the fishing industry, but no more than
Speaker 1: fifty percent.
Speaker 2: Though of course, as a result, a lot.
Speaker 1: Of Maori were arguing that, no, this is not addically
Speaker 1: address or crevances. The settlement is not sufficient, and on
Speaker 1: top of that, why you're going to make anyse backrooms
Speaker 1: deals and not consulting the community as a whole.
Speaker 2: The positions or.
Speaker 1: The opinions of one does not represent all of us.
Speaker 1: And it's actually kind of similar to what was happening
Speaker 1: during the initial stages of the land theft that was
Speaker 1: taking place during New Zealand's colonization, because when I mentioned
Speaker 1: in the first part that some of the land were
Speaker 1: so legitimately, what I mean by that is certain Mari
Speaker 1: individuals saw an opportunity to profit by screwing over everybody
Speaker 1: else in their community. So they would claim, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is my land, complete disregarding the fact that this
Speaker 1: is coming a land that it has been for generations.
Speaker 1: This is my land, so I will sell it to you.
Speaker 1: You give me the money, and so I you know,
Speaker 1: profit and a real.
Speaker 2: Sort of suck.
Speaker 1: So as kind of seeing that mirrored in this nineties context,
Speaker 1: and then at this time with the divisions in the
Speaker 1: Maria community over the decisions made by these Mari elites,
Speaker 1: they were even further divisions strained by some negotiations that
Speaker 1: were also taking place for the government's one billion dollar
Speaker 1: fiscal Envelope, which was an attempt to evoke a full
Speaker 1: and final settlement of all remaining treaty of Aitangi claims. Basically,
Speaker 1: the government was saying, here, here have some money, get
Speaker 1: out of the way, shut up, does it so called
Speaker 1: reparations right, And so there was another upsurge of Mari
Speaker 1: protests and you know, more of people were frustrated and
Speaker 1: there was traited desperation because there was really a lack
Speaker 1: of options for resolve and the grievances.
Speaker 2: That they were dealing with.
Speaker 1: Some of the protests were continuing the struggle with the
Speaker 1: land right to move on in the nineteen seventies, but
Speaker 1: others were challenging the decision making power of the EE bodies.
Speaker 1: EE bodies, by the way, are the largest representative bodies
Speaker 1: of Mari in Altai Aura. They're like mega tribes, and
Speaker 1: so there was an increasing fri stration among Sa Marii
Speaker 1: of you know, these representative bodies inability to accurately represent them.
Speaker 1: And another key component to this division was the fact
Speaker 1: that the more middle class elements, middle class professional elements
Speaker 1: of the married population were enjoying an expansion opportunities and
Speaker 1: were growing in wealth and prestige, but they were leaving
Speaker 1: behind the working class Mari population, which was still struggling
Speaker 1: in the same way they had been for decades. The
Speaker 1: policies of both the Labor government and the national government
Speaker 1: disproportionately impacted working class Mari communities, and the movement that
Speaker 1: was supposed to represent them had lost sight of them
Speaker 1: and their interests. There was a lack of intermovement solidarity,
Speaker 1: of pushing for fundamental social change instead of these individual changes,
Speaker 1: and there was a sense of crumbling internal cohesion. Some marioctivists,
Speaker 1: such as te Ahu, who like I said in my
Speaker 1: first spot, I drew primarily from their work when researching
Speaker 1: this particular history, and they were very critical of that
Speaker 1: historical period and particularly of the personalization of the conflict
Speaker 1: for liberation, and so their position was that by focus
Speaker 1: on individual relationships and prejudices, rather than challenging the systemic
Speaker 1: structures perpetuating oppression. It left the struggle to be fought
Speaker 1: on this individual level while the larger system was left unaddressed.
Speaker 1: And particularly because you know, in the eighties there was
Speaker 1: a shift away from class struggle as a central component
Speaker 1: of the Maori struggle. Middle class and wealthy Mari interests
Speaker 1: were dominating the conversation and their interests were exclusively in
Speaker 1: cultural nationalism, with no real room for working class struggle,
Speaker 1: for class struggle in any form. And then part of
Speaker 1: that whole strategy and that will focus on exclusively cultural nationalism,
Speaker 1: would attempt to throw everybody under this one. Under this
Speaker 1: broad brush right, the wealthy new liberal Marie politicians would
Speaker 1: be in the same vein as the impoverished and unemployed
Speaker 1: working class Mari, despite their clear differences and access to
Speaker 1: economic and political power. And so this notion of Maria
Speaker 1: as a homogeneous group with identical experiences and political aspirations,
Speaker 1: disregarding diversity within Marie society and the conflicting political strategies
Speaker 1: within Marie communities would really weaken the cohesion of the
Speaker 1: struggle as a whole. And I don't know how else
Speaker 1: to say this except there needs to be a recognition
Speaker 1: of racial struggle, gender struggle, of class struggle, of struggles
Speaker 1: for ability and disability, justice, like inter sexuality, intersectionality. It's
Speaker 1: really so simple. Cultural nationalism has its place, but it's
Speaker 1: very insufficient and very easily cooptable. That's why the New
Speaker 1: African anarchist Ashanti Austan says that we must go beyond nationalism,
Speaker 1: even if we don't go without it.
Speaker 2: That's why I've made a whole video.
Speaker 1: On the subject of nationalism or more specifically national liberation
Speaker 1: for oppressed groups. You see, it's a tool that oppressed
Speaker 1: people can use in their struggle, but it's not enough,
Speaker 1: and focusing too much on it leaves a lot of
Speaker 1: exploitable gaps in one's analysis. It's again, it's a tool.
Speaker 1: It's not an end in itself. It does little to
Speaker 1: change in material realities. Who in their peace had said that,
Speaker 1: While and I'm quoting him, well, culture and identity remain
Speaker 1: absolutely essential to mari social wellbeing, it does not automatically
Speaker 1: follow that cultural identity alone should provide the organizational basis
Speaker 1: for the fight against racism and Marie disadvantage. Because identities
Speaker 1: are blurred and multiple, any fight against Mario oppression must
Speaker 1: be based upon building the strongest possible liberation movement by
Speaker 1: uniting different oppressed groups into a common struggle. This is
Speaker 1: essential because true liberation for MARI will not occur with
Speaker 1: a fundamental trans transformation of capitalist society and the creation
Speaker 1: of a classless society in which there is real women's liberation, gain,
Speaker 1: lesbian liberation, and freedom from.
Speaker 2: Racism end quote.
Speaker 1: Historical evidence has shown that the movements based solely on
Speaker 1: the identity of the participants.
Speaker 2: Could be very diverse.
Speaker 1: Let's just say in the spectrum there are reactionary and
Speaker 1: their revolutionary segments of pretty much every national liberation movement,
Speaker 1: from Black Power to Free Palestine. Because when the focus
Speaker 1: is on cultural or national liberation, there is a lot
Speaker 1: of room to adopt a variety of approaches and a
Speaker 1: variety of political aims. I so it's a lot of
Speaker 1: room for middle class interests to dominate as they have
Speaker 1: a lot more time and resources to contribute and take
Speaker 1: over the rhetoric and the messaging of the causes.
Speaker 2: Another example that can we see.
Speaker 1: In the feminist movement, which in a lot of ways
Speaker 1: diverge from the struggle of working class women towards the
Speaker 1: more niche interests of you know, the girl bosses who
Speaker 1: we're facing genuine wholes in their climb up the corporate ladder.
Speaker 1: But in focusing on those instances, there was a loss
Speaker 1: of the needs of working class women and the precurious
Speaker 1: position that when as a whole are still in Marie.
Speaker 1: Political activism has always been diverse. You know, there's a
Speaker 1: wide range of strategies, campaigns and participants. There's not a
Speaker 1: unified movement, but there's a heterogenous force with both radical
Speaker 1: and conservative elements, each pursuing different methods to achieve the objectives.
Speaker 1: There's no unanimous agreement on the vision of tino rangatira tanga,
Speaker 1: which is the Marii term for Mari self determination. Tino
Speaker 1: rangatira tanga can be associated with Mari capitalism, electoral power,
Speaker 1: cultural nationalism, or revolution reactivity. In the past, some artists
Speaker 1: had believed that fundamental transformation of the system was necessary
Speaker 1: for liberation, and so they rejected reformism. But the landscape
Speaker 1: has changed.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Some still advocate for constitutional changes electoral politics to address
Speaker 1: systemic issues. Some influential travel executives and corporate warriors are
Speaker 1: even going as far as to argue that Mari can
Speaker 1: only achieve true self determination and liberation through unrestricted free
Speaker 1: market capitalism. The objectives that Tino Rangatira tangle promoted by
Speaker 1: different groups are contradictory because there is no homogeneity in
Speaker 1: the Maria struggle. But I hope that the takeaway here
Speaker 1: has been clear, and that is the need for a
Speaker 1: clear intersectional approach to revolution in our struggle against racist, sexist, capitalist,
Speaker 1: et cetera society. The Mari movement is still ongoing, and
Speaker 1: so the focus of these two parts has been primarily
Speaker 1: on the current rather has been primarily on the struggle
Speaker 1: of the sixties, seventies, eighties and early nineties.
Speaker 2: Mari liberation has not been found.
Speaker 1: Tino Ranga tyr tanga has not been achieved, and there's
Speaker 1: still a long way to go. That's it from me again.
Speaker 1: I'm Andrew from the YouTube channel Anturism. You can find
Speaker 1: me there and you could support on patre dot com
Speaker 1: slash saying true this has been.
Speaker 2: It could happen here.
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