“Give a New Zealand welcome”
Trans man Stephen Whittle, who advertises himself as “Prof” and OBE, PhD on Twitter, urged people to use violence against Kellie-Jay Keene in Belfast.
This movement sure does bring out the best in people.
Tip Jar
Trans man Stephen Whittle, who advertises himself as “Prof” and OBE, PhD on Twitter, urged people to use violence against Kellie-Jay Keene in Belfast.
This movement sure does bring out the best in people.
He backpedalled by claiming a “New Zealand welcome” is a Haka. A war dance.
Such peaceful.
First, not a ******* NZ welcome, the trans lobby can own that one all to themselves.
Second, advocating violence.
Third, The haka is not about intimidation, it is about honour and honouring.*
Fourth, to use the haka in the way he advocates would do both sides great dishonour and back in the day would be grounds for war.
Fifth, is a white English bloke really suggesting that white Irish and English (presumably) people appropriate the culture of brown Maori from the other side of the planet for their own nefarious purposes? Because if he is (he is), there are a lot of people who’d like to have a word with him about that.
No matter how he tries to spin that, he’s just disgustingly wrong from one end to the other.
* Haka and how they are used is a lot more complex than I can cover here, plus I’m not expert in the nuances and it’s not my culture to be definitive about. In modern use the most common haka we see are a challenge to an honoured foe, or a welcome (combined with a challenge) to an honoured guest. Traditionally one type of haka was used to prepare warriors psychologically and physically for battle. Haka are the cultural property of the particular family/grouping/tribe that used or developed that haka. The best known of them all is undoubtedly Ka Mate. The use of this Haka by the All Blacks rugby team resulted in most New Zealanders being able to have a crack at performing it (often badly) and many non-NZers and even companies using it. As a result the Iwi (tribe), Ngati Toa, that the composer came from took a legal challenge to demonstrate ownership.
[…] a comment by Rob on Give a New Zealand […]
Like I always say, any moron can earn a PhD. It’s not that hard. But… “Prof” PLUS “OBE” PLUS “PhD” PLUS “DLaws”?!
Good lord, this man is a raging narcissist.
Whups, missed the “trans man” bit. Well, that surely explains a lot, doesn’t it?
https://twitter.com/MKorero/status/1647469029937008640?s=20
By the way, Stephen Whittle is a “trans man”–i.e., a woman.
He meant a haka all along? It’s amazing then that he managed to go through the process of linking pictures to a tweet twice, with neither being a photo of a haka.
Lady Mondegreen, exactly so. Even in NZ it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking of Maori as a block with the same beliefs and cultural practices. As I was reminded just last week, Maori culture around the whenua is similar, not identical. Different Iwi have different practices and even within an Iwi practices may vary even from one Hapu or Whanau to another.
Whanau is family, hapu is a grouping of related families (hapu as a verb literally means pregnant), Iwi is a tribal structure of (usually) multiple hapu, that all have common decent (often back to a waka – canoe). Whenua is the land/territory/nation. I don’t often get to practice Maori or thinking in Maori, so I’m taking the chance :-)
@Rob – I visited NZ, my homeland, in February* for the first time in 10 years. I go there about every decade and each time I note how Maori concepts and language are coming more and more into general usage. It is quite marked.
Amazingly I was taught the haka (or a haka) in primary school in the 1960s as I had a Maori teacher – fairly unusual in those days.
*I arrived at the same time as Cyclone Gabrielle.
KBPlayer, it really is a marked change. My understanding of Maori culture is thin, but I think it’s a really good thing to see the language used more and greater recognition of traditional place names, spellings (many are wrong), and sensitive treatment of important land and water areas (for cultural or environmental reasons). I think young people especially are embracing this attitude, but many older people are as well. There are a few of course who seem very concerned about being ‘replaced’ in some way and go apoplectic every time someone uses a Maori word or phrase.
For those who don’t know, the upper North Island experienced two seperate extreme weather events in two successive weekends. One affected Auckland in particular while Cyclone Gabrielle particularly affected Hawkes Bay. In both events lives were lost and massive property and land damage occurred.
I get sick of this trope; it is hard. It requires dedication and strength (especially in my field, where field work is the norm). There are Ph.D.s it’s easy to earn, such as in things like gender studies, I imagine, but to blanket state that any moron can earn a PhD is a violation of all the work many, probably most, of us do.
Earning my PhD was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I have had a rough life. I do not wish to have my accomplishment belittled.
Off my soap box now. Thank you for listening.
James has one, so he’s being self-deprecating rather than Homer Simpsonish if you see what I mean.