The Bad Joke

Why tangi be happy #10 

Waitangi be happy.

Every Waitangi Day for the last decade I bring out a new art piece called why tangi be happy.

It started because when growing up all I would see (via the media) our people always having a go at something at Waitangi day.  as a teenager even in to my 20s all I saw was a whawhai and I always wondered why cant we be happy on this day and celebrate it for what it is “ why were we as maori always having a cry on this day”.

What I realized that our people had to endure many hardships and hard times so they can have some type happiness in this world and waitangi perhaps became a place where they could express that pouritanga that riri I began to appreciate the “power of the tangi”.

And why we tangi.

One of the reasons i have done this is piece is I feel that our people could be heading for more hard times this election year if a newly formed government heads in to the beehive.

I feel we as Māori need to be more politically aware and prepared if this change goes ahead.

We all know a national lead government can sometimes spell danger for māori and Chris Luxton has already given us tohu or signs of this happening but national will potentially need the help of one of our own, which brings a new type of danger to te tepu.

 I feel our treaty principles are potentially under threat, and a interpretation of te tiriti could be highjacked by act leader David Seymour .

So this art piece is a wero to Rawiri Seymore - and a tono to to iwi Māori 

A bad joke – this hono to the portrait of te aho te rangi wharepu no ngati mahuta by Charles goldie called “A good joke”

Ko wai koe ?   Who are you ? a question he should ask himself everyday.

Proud to be maori ?

“David being proud to be maori isn’t something you get to say when it suits you “

David you are embarrassed to be Maori – and you quickly becoming an embarrassment to your people.

These are some quotes Rawiri has said - “there is a danger that all politicians get intoxicated by power“.

David you have become intoxicated by power - and you now have become a danger to our people.

“A lot of politicians can get very out of touch the longer their career goes on or they stop taking advice”.

Brother your out of touch - you have little to no matauranga or knowledge around te ao maori , tikanga or how we as tangata whenua see this world so please take some advice.

Learn your whakapapa nga puhi - learn about our world –grab a tea towel - consult your elders and most importantly - listen to them.

Speak to Experts around the treaty before you interoperate it for yourself to suit your own agenda. 

Consider your people and what we have been through for the last 200 years.

you speak about being  productive , but your new treaty act and opposition to co governance will take this partnership back decades.

Ko tenei to tino wero me tuwhera o karu “ open your eyes “ not to the pakeha world you have been a part of your entire life , but to our maori world it takes time to see and feel this way but I have been in your position it lies with in you and your taniwha  must be awoken it will be rangirua but it will show you that your people are not the enemy.

What is good for maori is good for everyone in aotearoa .

Ko toku nei whakaro kaore koe he tangata kino engari  he tangata ngaro , he tangata kore kaha.

 I don’t feel that you’re a bad person ,although  you are lost , you are weak.

 And weak men tend to bring hard times

 I ask you to come to Waitangi.

 Leave your arrogance and your ego at the door - Have the decency to have a korero with your kaumatua and explain to your people to nga puhi , to te iwi maori why you think you have the mana to challenge the treaty with your Treaty principle act.

And Finally David

Tangi! You need to Tangi.

Ngā mihi 

Hori