Some of you may be wondering why I persistently post on the efforts of New Zealand to interpolate local superstitions and lore into science classes and other government endeavors. This is not because I hate New Zealand, but because I love it. I hate to see the country brought down, especially scientifically, by sacralizing the superstitions of the indigenous population. Yes, I admit that the local “way of knowing,” Mātauranga Māori (MM), does contain some empirical trial-and-error knowledge, though most of that knowledge should be conveyed in anthropology and sociology classes. But what’s going on in the country now is the world’s most pervasive form of “wokeness,” though it’s not purely performative because it actually damages the country. And the authorities have ensured that no objection to this ideological capture will be tolerated.
So my occasional reports about New Zealand on this site are meant to let Kiwis know what’s really going on in their country in the hopes that rationality and science won’t be held hostage to the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. Many residents know already, but many also send me documents that can’t be criticized publicly because the sacralization of the oppressed has reached the point where New Zealanders who criticize the intrusion of legend, superstition, and local religion into the workplace are liable to be fired or punished. I can’t tell you the number of emails I get from Kiwis urging me on, but saying that I can’t publish their names for fear of reprisal. But since I’m in the U.S., I can at least mention this foolishness without fear of retribution. That’s why some NZ outlets, like this one, simply reproduce the posts I’ve written about what seems to be the world’s worst and most dictatorial form of DEI.
So here is yet another email from a New Zealander wanting me to report on this mishigass, but asking to remain anonymous. So be it. The other day I reported how the staff at some locations of Health New Zealand, a government health-promoting agency, were encouraged to say Māori prayers or chants (“karakia“) daily. This practice was originally reported on a NZ website, but the link was sent to me anonymously. The author, A. E. Thompson, noted that “voluntary” prayers aren’t really that voluntary if you’re pressured to say them:
Sure, the email to health staff only used the word “encourage” but really, when your employer issues an email saying that, you know it will be expected and that ignoring or opposing it will be held against you and may cost you your job.
Pressuring state employees and even private company employees to participate in karakia sets a dangerous precedent in eroding separation between state and religion. As we speak, Muslim immigrants in Europe are deliberately imposing their religious practices on non-Muslim populations by having their distorting loudspeakers call dozens or hundreds of faithful to prostrate themselves in prayer on public footpaths and roadways (even though nearby mosques are plentiful). The practice reflects their belief that Islam is so important that everyone either needs to convert to it or be discriminated against or killed.
This is why, in the U.S., “voluntary” prayers are banned in school. This not only violates the First Amendment, but pressures kids to conform to public prayers lest they be ostracized.
Well, now New Zealand has done it again, this time in a hospice largely funded by the government, and in the southern part of the country. The hospice even suggests some prayers, which seem to be Māori. This was sent to me by someone who requests anonymity for fear of losing their job.
Note that this was sent to the staff of a hospice, not to the residents, and, as usual, it’s full of Māori words (I’ve bolded them) that are there simply as a performative act, since they impede understanding (everyone speaks English, but few, even Māori people, speak the indigenous language). In this case, most have already been translated into English. You can look the words and pharses up in the Maori dictionary, but karakia I’ll define for you (here’s part of it):
incantation, ritual chant, chant, intoned incantation, charm, spell – a set form of words to state or make effective a ritual activity. Karakia are recited rapidly using traditional language, symbols and structures.
It can also refer to Christian prayers, but note in the second paragraph that this effort is being guided by a Māori advisory group. Note as well that the introduction of the karakia are being timed to coincide with the new Moon (the phases of the moon have great significance for Māori life).
The email:
Kia ora team,
I’m emailing you all ahead of a change in the way we manage karakia for our IDT hui/meetings.
I want to acknowledge that karakia to begin and end our IDT hui/meetings started quite abruptly to begin with, and it is my hope, and that of the Māori Advisory Group (MAG), to provide some context and to guide this part of our day in a way that is supportive and makes sense.
Firstly I’ll speak to why work places might look to introduce karakia into everyday activities, such as the IDT meeting. Karakia are an integral part of te ao Māori (the Māori world).
On a functional level karakia:
– Provide a predictable structure to everyday interactions i.e. beginning, middle, end;
– Enable the everyday exchange of whanaungatanga (managing relationships/relationship building) and manaakitanga (hospitality).
– Support the normalisation of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori (Māori language and customs), which I believe in turn lends to:
— The development of skills that enhance our capacity to provide culturally safe care to Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous people.
— The development of perspectives that foster cultural humility in our engagements with all.
On a deeper level karakia:
– Support us to collectively connect with and focus in on the context (kaupapa) of the interaction;
– Navigate tapu and noa (separate but corresponding states of being within te ao Māori. Inappropriate association between things that are tapu and noa can impact all dimensions of wellbeing) safely.
– Fortify our holistic wellbeing by engaging with Te Taha Wairua (the spiritual dimension of wellbeing).
Making space for karakia within our workplace is particularly important given the intensity of the mahi (work) we are engaged with as individual clinicians, and as a collective. Our mahi straddles the ordinary and the extraordinary: we support patients, whānau and caregivers as they navigate the threshold between life and death, and support each other to provide this care.
We are going to begin refreshing the IDT karakia (or whakataukī – proverb) in concordance with Whio – the New Moon – as an opportunity to consider and acknowledge both the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar) and pūrākau (stories/legends/myths) inherently relevant to our work at the hospice.
Our hope is that incorporating such an initiative into OCH processes will support us to:
· Normalise the use of te reo Māori.
· Enable the everyday exchange of whanaungatanga and manaakitanga.
· Grow in our personal and organisational understanding of Māori world views within the palliative context.
· Equip the team with knowledge that may support us to be more culturally responsive.
· Foster a sense of interest/curiosity in learning more.
So, with this in mind, and given that the next new moon is July 6th, we will be setting this new initiative in motion on the next working day which is Monday 8th July. On the 8th I’ll speak to the initiative briefly, and then provide some context regarding the new karakia or whakataukī, and we’ll go from there. For those that feel comfortable joining in with reciting the karakia – please feel free to join in – otherwise, please feel free to sit back, relax and tune in to the kupu (words) and the kaupapa of the karakia, kei a koutou (its up to you)!
You will find copies of the karakia or whakataukī we are going to use for the next month attached to this email for your reference.
If you are curious about learning more please check out the piece I have contributed to this months OCHeye coming out soon!
The two karakia enclosed are both Māiru incantations: here’s a screenshot of one:
Yes, these are non-religious and could be considered as Māori haiku, but the point is that these are “suggested” incantations, and they are Māori. Note that these are being introduced to the hospice to bring it into “the Māori world”, and one of the stated reasons for the introduction is “The development of skills that enhance our capacity to provide culturally safe care to Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous people” and to · “Grow in our personal and organisational understanding of Māori world views within the palliative context.” Now of course one must be sensitive to the culture of hospice patients, and not insult or agitate them, but prayers aren’t the way—they should use Måori healers or spiritual leaders to do this—and I doubt that everybody in the hospice is of indigenous ancestry.
This is in fact one attempt to indoctrinate the staff with the spiritual aspects of Māori culture. Yes, the prayers are “optional”, but you know what that means, and woe to the person who writes to the boss to object to this effort! What is this doing in a hospice? Are there any atheists or Christians there? In the U.S., this kind of effort would be prohibited as discriminatory and perhaps a violation of the First Amendment. Chaplains are allowed to visit hospitals and say prayers with the patients, but hospital staff are not given “suggestions” to say prayers. But this admixture of superstition and government-funded institutions is not prohibited in New Zealand. Many residents object to it, but they’re so cowed that they can’t even voice their objections for fear of punishment. All over the country, speech has been chilled.
So it goes. I hate to think of what New Zealand will look like in thirty years, when this kind of ideological capture has become the norm.
******
I’ll add that in 2021 the leadership of the University of Auckland, Vice Chancellor Dawn Freshwater, promised that there would be seminars, panels and debates on the virtues of teaching MM as coequal to modern science in university science classes. That was three years ago, and absolutely nothing has transpired. I’m told that the Māori moiety of the administration has prevented any such debate, but I don’t know for sure. All I know is that when I wrote Dr. Freshwater reminding her of her promises, and asking when this important debate would take place, I got no reply.
I was subjected to “voluntary” prayer in the New York State school system, until it was banned after the Engel v. Vitale Supreme Court case, and I was subjected to “encouragement” in the workplace a few times. I know exactly what those words mean.
“E pur si muove” translated into te reo would make a good sotto voce karakia for resistance Kiwis who need to be anons but don’t want to give in to this madness.
“Heoi ka neke haere”
But if someone wants to pray, they may; and other people can join if they want: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
If that were not allowed, wouldn’t it be an obstruction to the free exercise of religion?
They can pray to themselves, but official organized school prayers are what I was talking about, and those have been found unconstitutional.
Damn. This nonsense gets deeper and deeper and is spreading.
The fact such voices of objection can’t be aired in NZ is an even larger problem than the problem itself (which is dire).
What strikes me as strange (and particularly performative) if you look at Maori population distribution on a map – both historically and currently – it runs from North to South. Which makes sense, NZ gets colder the further south you go.
So this in the south Island – where way fewer actual Maori live – is not only bizarre but is evidence suggesting its performative nature.
I’m convinced this nonsense is being pushed by liberal white women (Freshwater, anybody?) more than actual Maori people.
D.A.
NYC
That’s a good observation!
And it does indeed support your suspicion – one that I share – that (university-educated) liberal white women bear a large part of the blame for the whole woke catastrophe. I say that despite the fact that I’m a white woman who has always identified as liberal. All I can say is that there has clearly been a 180 degree shift in the meaning of ‘liberal’ over the past few decades, since I find most woke positions to be morally repugnant and intellectually indefensible.
In the poor, benighted UK, we still have mandatory prayers. Schoolkids are legally required to join in prayers and worship each morning!
I’m unclear what it means to call oneself a “Kiwi”. Is it another word for Maori (identification with) or is there a distinction? I did, of course, look it up, but I’m still uncertain. Would someone like to enlighten me?
It just means a resident of New Zealand, referring to its most iconic bird.
Okay. Thanks for that.
When, as Jerry says, a policy has harms but its state advocates press on regardless, it is more than performative. Why are liberal white women pushing this? I’m picking up the scent of fear in people’s nostrils.
New Zealanders, prove me wrong.
Here’s an attempt to explain. Others can correct me if they disagree.
Neo-Māori culture is strongly nepotistic. Many of our ‘current leaders’ in universities, ministries, etc, got their positions because of nepotism or patronage, not merit. These people do not question the nepotism — it is ‘natural’ and ‘good’. They accept that they are beholden. But they also see that others who got to their own positions without such patronage or nepotism seem to be happier, more confident, and living better lives. Not understanding this, a fear of such others develops, and a need to quash them.
Also, parts of NZ society are ferociously sexist. Women are supposed to be low and base. When women themselves are the fearful leaders, the easiest way for them to consolidate their power is by aligning with the misogynists.
And so a loop is created, in which meritorious women are carefully excluded. When the white women leaders do not kowtow, genuflect, whatever, to those to whom they are beholden, these women leaders don’t merely lose power here, they risk being exposed and destroyed.
I lived there in the 70s and 80s on and off (I am Australian originally, came to the USA when I was 21).
From those times I think what you’re saying is 100% on the money. The nepotism thing was just part of the atmosphere even then. I doubt it has changed much. Soft, internalized corruption like that is a real bugger to try and get out of the system. Which bodes badly for NZ now “woke” is law there.
D.A.
NYC
(formerly of Remuera, Auckland)
This article by Haimona Gray, himself a Maori, gives a good insight into the way things work in practice
https://haimona.substack.com/p/the-darkness-of-the-tamihere-fiefdom
Dawn Freshwater didn’t set up any debates? I’ll bet it’s because the counterpoint was being argued by her arch nemesis, Sunset Deepsea.
The prayer reminds me of Cat Stevens lyrics.
Who’s now calling himself Yusuf Islam.
Yes!
My daughter used to go to a health clinic that belonged to a local hospital where she was very happy with the care.That is, until they were purchased by a Christian organization & the clinic renamed “Christ Health Care.” Tis wasn’t too bad, as the same physician was there, but when all staff was required to pray before clinic opening, she left. My daughter stayed until they began offering to pray with patients to Jesus, for health, with each visit. Then, she too left.
The customer is always right.
Was the clinic owned by the government, Dr. Broner?
The crazy thing is this is a serious violation of freedom of religion in of itself. Despite the obvious of me being a commentor here, I’m a very strong believer of freedom of religion so long as it’s your own bloody business.
This is state proselytization.
Suggest you read your Bill of Rights to find out to what degree freedom of religion (as imagined in NZ) is being infringed by these prayer sessions, even if mandatory. For example, the public expression of religious belief is explicitly permitted. “That’s all we’re doing, Yer Honour. Encouraging the public expression of Maori spirituality. We’re not punishing people for believing what they believe. But they have to go along with Maori prayers no matter what they believe.”
New Zealand lacks an “establishment” clause that prohibits a state religion. So it could adopt Maori spirituality as the glue that is to hold the nation together and give it legitimacy in the way that the Church of England is the established religion of the United Kingdom. Most of the contentious issues about state proselytizing are about “establishment”, which NZ’s Bill of Rights does not prohibit in its plain wording.
I just don’t care for proselytization.
The public expression on one’s free will and choice is one thing, a state mandate or system is another.
We do lack an establishment, a serious flaw in our legal system.
Very strong white savior wording: “The development of skills that enhance our capacity to provide culturally safe care to Aotearoa New Zealand’s indigenous people.”
In reality, they aren’t all that indigenous either, having settled in NZ only in the 13th century. True, they were there first but not by that much time, relatively speaking. The amount of damage they did to the environment there was huge. I don’t know why they’re kowtowed to so much. I’d argue that the influx of Europeans was a positive change rather than something to feel guilty about.
The amusing thing in all this is that attempts to force religion into public life are typically right wing efforts and it’s usually the majority religion. This is true both in the US and India for example.
New Zealand is the only country where a minority religion is being forced into public life by the woke left. 😁
Defenders of this imposition will rarely concede that they are imposing religion; rather, it is defended as an expression of culture and respect for the indigenous and oppressed minority, necessary for cultural safety, and required by the Treaty of Waitangi, so anyone who objects to it must be a racist.
GEONET sent out a news item headed “Weaving Matauranga Maori and western science to strengthen our understanding of the Alpine Fault.” Within the item there was useful information, such as it being the world’s “longest naturally forming straight line” which ruptures about every 300 years. Then the article veers into mythical casuistry with a retelling of Maori folklore which adds nothing whatsoever to our understanding of earthquakes. It’s as if the article is trying to make earthquakes comprehensible to children who still believe in Santa Claus. It is infantilising the nation. Why is an agency based on hard science and dedicated to increasing the precision of prediction messing with myths of a primitive culture? This loss of rational focus is disturbing. Who or what is driving this? How does it improve understanding? Who benefits? If it continues along this line of irrationality – applicable only to New Zealand, after all – what will it lead to? Given that spokespeople for scientists come up with this ‘goobillygok’, to use Willie Jackson’s word, are scientists themselves protesting against the corruption of rational epistemology, of science being ‘western’? The worst part of this is the loss of cognisance of those promoting the imposition of belief on reason. It is spreading like a cancer in the body of accumulated wisdom.
THE SAME DAY, RNZ reports that Oklahoma orders its schools to teach the Bible in every classroom. Its Department of Education states that “Every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom, and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom to ensure that this historical understanding is there for every student in the state of Oklahoma.” I wonder if those who promote Matauranga Maori realise they’re operating on the same deluded plane as the oiks of Okie.