Ethnical Quandaries and the Census

I note that both the Libertarianz are in appropriate company with the apolitical rump of the McGillicuddy Serious Party in calling for a census boycott.

I'm pretty happy with 'Pakeha' as an ethnic identity. 'European' is more of a cultural identity than an ethnic one, given the mix of races in Europe. It seems to me appropriate that my ethnicity be defined by the indigenous people of this country, and that's the name they gave me. I've never been referred to as 'Ngati Pakeha' by Maori, and the term 'ngati' seems to normally be associated with iwi these days. Though I'd be happy to adopt it if Maori suggest it.

Deferring to Maori, as though they had some sort of 'authentic' identity which could confer a certain legitimacy on you as 'Pakeha', doesn't seem to me much more sensible than celebrating Kiwiness in the way that Gerry Brownlee wants us to do.

While I support the right of Maori to self-determination that doesn't mean Maori nationalism is something I'd want to celebrate. It too is based on a set of myths which confer a spurious ense of unity onto groups, and especially classes, with different sets of interests.

Take the myth of the Maori warrior: I remember how CWG and AIC member Justin Taua went on Radio Waatea a couple of years ago to promote the anti-war movement and had a crack at this one, aguing that the Maori Battalion was not something that should be celebrated but rather a force which helped imperialism oppress the tangata whenua of countries like Palestine and Egypt. He then went on to point out the role some Maori have played as mercenaries for imperialism in virtually every major conflict of the last hundred years. Listeners erupted in fury, because they had been fed the same sort of rubbish that the rest of us get - the only difference that they got it under the guise of Maori pride where we got it under the guise of 'Kiwi' pride.

Willie Jackson, who manages Radio Watea, had backed the invasion of Afghanistan because the SAS was mostly Maori and 'the boys' wanted to keep Maori pride alive by upholding the warrior tradition in the Middle East.

I think we can recognise the role that ethnicity plays in our society without valourising that role and the ethnic cliches it creates.

"Yup, but an iwi isn't an ethnicity"

By its current use you would think it was Maori for corporation but it isn't. As I understand it ethnicity is exactly what iwi means.

"I don't think I have anything that could reasonably be described as an iwi. My ancestors did, but it's well and truly defunt."

I think you may mean hapu rather than iwi. I stand open to correction from any native Maori speakers reading this.

you the man!

Scott, first you call me paranoid and then you tell me that the SIS will probably have a file on me? My concern is not about political activists (the questionnaire is not asking about political opinion or activities). But do you seriously believe that the answers to questions 43 (did you look for paid work in the last 4 weeks) and 45 (if a paid job had been offered, would you have started) will not immediately be matched with the WINZ database? Come on!

Give me one example where the government has used census information to plan for the benefit of the population. I can't see any evidence that this is happening anywhere.

Explain this to me: if the census is for statistical purposes only, why do they need my full name, date of birth and signature? And remember that (unlike the voting papers, where the identification part is torn off) this information is kept together forever.

"I can't see how Maori from different iwi are different ethnic groups, the term 'Maori' (meaning something like 'ordinary') seemed to come into use to describe a people who saw themselves as a distinct group. 'Iwi' is more like 'nation', a political division."

Sam, just because you can't understand the way people choose to define their lives does not make your view any better or more appropriate. And lets remeber who gave the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa the name 'Maori', it was the early colonists and ethnographers who were intent and probably unable to see anything distinctive among Maori communities beyond their tribes and needed an adequate way of making laws applicable to all indigenous peoples, not just those based on tribal lines.

And are you insinuating that there is a difference between ethnicities and nations? If so i would be very interested in how and where you draw this line.

I was taught that prior to European arrival tangata whenua did not recognise a common ethnicity or nationality across the whole of Aotearoa. What they had was their functional living groups (hapu) and broader federal-type alliances of many hapu (iwi), usually sharing many family bonds across them. Thus their iwi was both their ethnic and national grouping.

The word Maori (yes, it does mean ordinary) was coined to distinguish them from tauiwi (foreigners) when they began to arrive and live here in significant numbers. Arguably this involved a philosophical move amongst Maori to recognising a common ethnicity comparable to the political move implied by the signing of the 1835 Declaration to recognise a common nation. But if you ask a Maori person what people they belong to they will tell you their iwi affiliations (if they know them) which implies to me that this is where their ethnic identification lies and that Maori is more of a nationality.

Once immigrants started having children here I imagine Maori would have realised it was unfair to call those children 'tauiwi', thus the emergence of the term 'pakeha'. Although my ancestors came from a number of countries in Europe I prefer 'pakeha' because 'European', like Maori, is not an ethncitiy but a relatively new term of identification covering people of many nationalities and ethnicities. The concept of a common European identity is mostly a defensive response to decolonisation struggles against imperial powers in Europe and more recently the constant barrage of US-dominated market globalisation.

marcus does sound paranoid. maybe he has smoked too much pot.

U rock!