![]() Ms Allan-Coates said the feeling was intense and some scenes some have been exposed to are quite traumatic. "There has been a call by those at Standing Rock in tribal leadership for any person who has the capacity, in whatever form that might take, to share the events of what's happening or to show up if physically possible and ultimately to pray - they are there to protect their whenua." She said there was a role for everyone who went there, not limited to just being on the frontline as a protester. She said there was a growing anxiety in the camp after Thursday's confrontation with the police, but there was still an element of peace, with regular prayer, singing and meditation in the evenings. Lawyers, Kiritapu Allan-Coates and her wife Natalie, arrived back in New Zealand yesterday after being at the main camp at Standing Rock helping the legal team. "When we give that kind of indication that we are watching what's happening to our relations and that we are concerned, and we will voice an opposition to that kind of behaviour in terms of what is happening to the States, with forces moving in to the territory, it gives support to those communities." Māori lawyers return from Standing Rock ![]() to provide visual and vocal support even though we a very long long way away.ĭr Pihama said that it inspired communities when Māori showed that were following the events unfolded and show their concern. "Our people respond very quickly when we are called upon. She said social media posts and messages from other indigenous communities gives inspiration. Prominent academic, Dr Leonie Pihama, who is in the United States at the moment with PhD students and researchers, said the Standing Rock protective movement has been much discussed with those they have been meeting with. They have been protesting since April but last week things escalated when police descended on the Northern camp blockade.Ībout 140 people were arrested - footage of the confrontation showed police in tanks, with rifles and using pepper spray and mace on protesters. The underground proposed pipeline is expected to cost $US3.8 billion and the Sioux Tribe say it threatens local water supplies and sacred sites. She said indigenous cultures hold similar values of "kaitiakitanga, whakapapa, wairua and learning lessons from nature and working with it, not against it." We just decided to do the haka and live stream it to support the tangata whenua at Standing Rock." "The haka is about uniting people and working as one, mahi tahi. She said it was a last minute decision after a noho marae with students over the weekend. The haka is not the one Te Hamua Nikora wrote, but it has the same message. Tylee Hudson, (Ngati Awa), who posted a video of a group of students at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in Whakatāne, has had more than 180,000 views and has been shared online more than 6000 times - and counting. Te Hamua Nikora and Benita Tahuri are also fundraising to travel over to Standing Rock to help in anyway they can, whether it be waiata, haka, karakia or anything they might need - they have a tentative date of mid November. I wrote it with the expressed desire for anyone and everyone to do it."īenita Tāhuri, (Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngai Tūhoe), said the haka was about sharing and communicating messages of support and love for the native whānau in the United States. "We have gone tuturu, we have gone pre-colonisation, pre-Matatini, back to when you did what felt good for you at the time. ![]() He only came up with a tune for the haka and has left the actions up to the individual. He said it's been beautiful to see people from Aotearoa joining the page and posting up the videos. "When one group of relations is being hurt,, being bullied, being ripped off, we all feel that, especially us as Māori, we are very much a leader to the indigenous people - they look up to us as those that have a treaty with the coloniser, and are able to stand to stop that sort of stuff happening to us." Mr Nikora said it was an uplifting way of sending support to the indigenous whānau at Standing Rock. ![]() The Facebook group has about 7400 members and is growing. The idea to compose a haka for those in Standing Rock was inspired by a post from a Native American activist at Standing Rock calling for Māori to support them.Īfter a korero, Te Hamua Nikora and Benita Tahuri, created the Facebook group: 'Haka with Standing Rock', and wrote the haka, inviting people to perform and post it on Facebook. ![]()
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