We we have managed to blog for 6 months without having to moderate comments but that time as come. And sadly it is because of Ngai Tahu. Apparently if you make a mistake in your youth there is no way you can redeem yourself. The target is Tahu Potiki - the vitriol and bile that is being spewed in the comments section suggests to me that maybe Tahu does have what it takes to be a leader.
He has followed a rough road, educated himself and risen above his past. His intellect has never been questioned. Yet those who support Solomon are obviously very, very scared of him. For that alone he would get my support. Now don't get me wrong, I think Tahu is an arrogant shit and I know his past well but he may well be the one to sort out the mess that Ngai Tahu is in. Time will tell.
And for those who want to get real personal - I have software that can pinpoint anyone who visits this site. I have never ever used it and I hope I never have to.
In the mean time , until some people create their own blog - comments will be moderated.
However feel free to email me bustedblonde@gmail.com
Saturday, 21 March 2009
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3 comments:
That would be the ONE that has been appearing and ticking the one star rating.
Someone keeps ticking the 5-star and balancing that ;-)
I am sorry to hear that you have had to take such a stand but totally unsurprised given the reports I have heard about the inappropriate language and behaviour of some towards those who have a differing opinion of the Kaiwhakahaere and the events of recent times.
I have personally tried very hard to refrain from discussing the personal failings of any of the parties involved but rather to address the professional (or unprofessional) issues. Such attacks take the focus off the real issues which are the way forward for the iwi with a political leadership that shows respect to the tikanga based leadership of the papa kainga.
It is a sad reflection on us as a people that too many people only turn up to the marae for a raruraru and don't know who the pōua and tāua are, the ūpoko, the kaikōrero, the kaikaranga and the ringawera nor how to behave in our tīpuna whare.
Sadly, money is more important than mana and the things that so many of our rangatira of the past fought so hard for are being disrespected by their mokopuna.
Kia kaha, e hine. A great man once said 'the pen is mightier than the sword'. Your blog must be scaring the pants off them if they need to try to use it to get their nastiness out to the whānui. A sort of backhanded compliment! :-)
I agree with concept about not being personal about these things. But Evelyn is surely the pot calling the kettle black as is BB.
I do not support bringing up the past "failings" of any individual any more than I support the constant demonisation of the present Kaiwhakahare through this and other forums.
As Maori and as Ngai Tahu we are always facing the reality of the bias of the media that feeds the latent and overt racism of our fellow citizens of Aotearoa.
Anyone who is honest will note that there has been some very inappropriate language and actions on both sides of this raruraru.
I personally lean towards support of the Kaiwhakahaere for two key reasons. Like it or not he is out there as the representative of Ngai Tahu and we should support him to be the best he can be in that role.
Where we think he is failing us we should utitlise different means of chastising him than harping on about his salary or whether we think his diary is revealing or not.
The second reason is that if we want change we should not do it by going through the media. Evelyn talked about the papa kainga. That is one of the key places for these discussions and not by way of secret meetings.
The hui at Rehua was great. Not because of any definitive outcome but because our people had the chance to have their say and to ask Mark whatever they wanted to and judge for themselves.
I know Tahu and I do not see him as a leader. Not because of his past personal life but because of his more recent public life and his conduct in some of the roles he has held. If he was to be a leader he should have been at Rehua then the people could have heard him speak and could have judged his korero. Same with the others.
But these are matters of judgement and opinion. As an ordinary member of the whanui I don't get any influence over who is the Kaiwhakahaere or indeed who will be the representative of our papatipu runanga.
It is the office of the Kaiwhakahaere we need to support. By the end of this year it may well be someone else. They will get paid a similar amount and they will have supporters and detractors.
If we as Ngai Tahu are going to rip into the people who take up these roles then the quality of people willing to take up the role will go down not up.
Before Mark there was plenty who used to get stuck into Charlie and Tipene. Exactly the same complaints.
Phrases like money not mana are not new. There is nothing original in these types of tribal politics.
What would be original and novel is if we rose above worrying about who gets paid what given that no-one should be expected to do this work for nothing and give more thought of the ways we can have debates on the issues.
Finally to BB - I too am sad you need to moderate the comments, but I wonder if you might like to think of whether some of your "headlines" have served to incite inappropriate responses.
You have had lots of fun at the expense of your iwi and no doubt increased your following. I have no issue with you taking an anti Solomon stance or raising issues about how the iwi is going about its business. But if you are honest some of the statements made by you have been pretty out there. If there is a negative you find it and make the most of it.
Tipene, Charlie, Mark and even Tahu (when he was CEO) have all led some fantastic Ngai Tahu achievements. A little more celebration of those facts would not go amiss.
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