So a piece of research commissioned by a child advocacy group is supposed to show that Maori did not mistreat their children until they were taught the dark domestic arts by pakeha.
The research and its findings are already being criticised and rightly so.
Firstly it is a shameful waste of money that would be better spent on ways to reduce the shocking Maori child abuse statistics.
This group and the woefully lily livered Childrens Commission are falling short in their duty to protect children. What they have done is create a report that provides yet another excuse - it does not provide any solutions.
Contrast this to a young woman Cherie who lived next door to Serenity Scott Dennington who death is being treated as suspicious. She organised a hui to look at ways to prevent more abuse. She called on the people of her community to act collectively to put an end to the violence. So what happened? Cherie has been vilified by her own community for talking openly about the need to find a solution and for people to stand up to those who beat their children. Labelled a nark. Cherie is a beacon of hope in a dark community - not dark because its predominately Maori but dark in deeds.
Hone Kaa should not look to our imperfect past for the answers - instead it is the here and now where his group should be focussing their attention.
The silence of a community is a cowardly sign of acceptance of child abuse. If it creates no shame then it is normalised. It needs brave people like Cherie to lead communities out of that dark place so the children can be restored to their natural place as a treasure. A value not just held exclusively by Maori of old but by every population on earth.
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2 comments:
What about when they say
"Te Kahui Mana Ririki has reported a reduction in child abuse after running workshops based on its findings."
Is that not part of a solution - it works.
kaa say's the report and program will
"It will serve to demonstrate to Maori they don't have to believe they're inherently violent," he said.
"Maori children were taught by Europeans that bad behaviour should be punished by physical violence, he said. This steered away from the traditional idea children were tapu and discipline should be avoided because it tamed the child's spirit."
That doesn't mean that there weren't individual instances of abuse, oh course there were and it doesn't dimnish the reality of the old times, where people were killed and degraded for all sorts of reasons, including children. It doesn't provide excuses for the abusers today - it is just a way to find solutions. Waste of money? Compared to what - the shit they spend money on now - like limos with arse-warmers perhaps?
We need lots of solutions to sort this child abuse horror out. Those solutions need to come from everywhere and not be narrow or eurocentric.
One thing I would say to Faversham is don't be mislead by a tiny minority of Maori who the media allows to comment on our appalling child abuse stats. I would say most Maori agree it is our problem and that we have to do something about it. I've yet to meet a Maori who isn't outraged by what happens to the Whakaruruhau and Kahui kids of our world. Frankly a headline that says, 'Colonialism a cause of Maori child abuse say Maori' is a far bigger print seller than, 'Maori say enough is enough and it's time we cleaned up our backyards'. And yet I'd strongly suggest it's the second headline that is indicative of what Maori really think. Come on e hoa, just as we need to move beyond rhetoric, so do you. Look through the headlines and not at them.
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