WEEK 6: Te Pākehā and Te Māori

task 1:

It’s said that Maori visual and material culture has been framed by predominantly western accounts. From reading the ‘Tangata Whenua’ book and Jonathan Mane Wheoki discussion of the ideas around ‘New Zealand Art History’ I have gathered that before the Europeans arrived to New Zealand, the Maori people were unaware of their unique art culture. The British then depicted and made New Zealand into their own art and that also included the depiction of the Maori people and what is known to be ‘Maori Art’. The first time we see of New Zealand and Maori art is through the Europeans perspective. “They were made aware of their own aesthetic concepts, and of the conventions governing them” (Wheoki, 7). The Euorpeans had taken notes of the Maori people “Only contemporary records of people as individuals and groups” (Anderson, 132). Within these notes the Pakeha (European) is seen though a their perspective without the Knowledge of Maori culture. The Maori were framed as these types of people who were cannibalism when in actual fact it was to do with survival and scarcity (Anderson,148). Through New Zealand art history we now see that the Pakeha Party seem to be superior to the Maori party as they then conveyed New Zealand though a European perspective.

 

Work cites:

Anderson, Atholl. Binney, Judith. and Harris, Aroha. “Chapter 5: In the Foreign Gaze”. Tangata whenua: An illustrated history. Ed. Atholl Anderson Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris. Aotearoa: Bridget Williams Books, 2014. 132-159. Print.

Mane-Wheoki, J. Art’s Histories in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journal of Art Historiography Number 4 June 2011.

 

task 2:

Peter Robinson “painting 1999”

 

Peter Robinson started painting “painting 1999” in 1998 using oil and acrylic paint on an unstretched canvas. On the canvas are key words and phrases of the Maori parties feelings. Robinson is from Maori heritage and this artwork was a confrontation to the European settlers at the time and is also relevant to today. Robinson’s painting beings you face to face with an issue that most people would not want to deal with. These issues are unfair history, racism and ones self-identity. (Anderson, 464). “Loaded symbols and rhetoric issue” (Anderson, 464). Through his artwork Robinson has conveyed the issue of his Maori ancestral problems and the mistreatment they went though, this is also relevant to today as people my still feel the same way.

work cites:

Anderson, Atholl. Binney, Judith. and Harris, Aroha. “Chapter 5: In the Foreign Gaze”. Tangata whenua: An illustrated history. Ed. Atholl Anderson Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris. Aotearoa: Bridget Williams Books, 2014. 464-484. Print.

WEEK 5: Te Huringa 1

task 1:

During the time of 1860 to the early 1870’s “were dominated by war as the Crown and settlers resorted to violence in pursuit of establishing, unequivocally, the fact of British sovereignty.” (Anderson, 256). The Maori felt betrayed by the British people, as this was not the treaty they had signed on and for the Maori people to protect their land they went to war against the British government. The Maori tribes calibrated on working together on how to best preserve their lands from confiscationto the European government. (Anderson, 256).

War began during March, 1860 by the Waitara River over the conflict of Taranaki. “The survey overrode the statement of senior Te Āti Awa chief of Wiremu Kingi Te Rangitake Whiti that the Waitara land was not for sale.” (Anderson, 256). Thomas Gore Browne was governor at the time and would take the land off Maori people without permission. When the Maori started fighting back “Browne ordered an attack” (Anderson, 256). George Grey became the new governor in December 1861 and apoached the Maori tribes to make agreements with them. This was an attempt to stop the wars (Anderson, 260). But instead the war began again in 1863 and continued for the next five years. (Anderson, 262).

During the similar years Waitato broke out into war “Kīngitanga leaders had made it very clear that if British troops crossed the Mangatāwhiri River … it would be an act of war” (Anderson, 262-263). Although Grey made it seem he wanted peace between the Maori tribes and the European government but he made it a rule that the maori that lived between Auckland to Waikato would now be under the ruling of the crown, this included many Maori tribes. “Those who took up arms against the soldiers would forfeit ‘the possessions of their lands guaranteed to them by The Treaty of Waitangi.” (Anderson, 264). Many Maori men went to fight on for their land; this increased the deaths from both parties.

War continued to spread into Tauranga, which then started involving the south island Maori people as they come to defend those who were threatened by the British. The Maori peoples “decisions and actions would be based on … calculations of a balance of power between the tribes and the best means to protect the land and its resources.” (Anderson, 271).

“The wars touched almost all tribes in New Zealand to a greater or lesser extent.” (Anderson, 282). The wars ended in 1872.

 

work cites:

Anderson, Atholl, Binney, Judith and Harris, Aroha. “Chapter 9: Wars and survival”. Tangata whenua: An Illustrated History. Ed. Atholl Anderson Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris. Aotearoa: Bridget Williams Books, 2014. 256-285. Print.

WEEK 4: Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Task 1:

Whanaungatanga:

It means to have the same respect for someone as if they were family. Whanaungatanga is something that goes beyond whakapapa (genealogy), as it is not just to do with blood but also those around you, those in the community. The meaning of Whanaungatanga is about finding a balance within the relationship otherwise the relationships are fragile. (Mead, 28) Whanaungatanga can be applied to art and design as it always us to respect the past art that was created to history and in present times to as we create art that will show respect to those around. Within art Whanaungatanga is welcoming to all with family like respect.

Task 2:

Taonga work is the Maori meaning for art, symbols, names, music and songs. (Waitangi Tribunal, 30). Through taonga there is kaitiaki, which means guardian of the sea sky and land. From these moral rights the Maori do not feel the respect the there culture when they are exploited to the media “culturally offensive way by non kaitiaki” (Waitangi Tribunal, 34). The intellectual property and copyright laws are not fully protecting the Maori taonga, and it also has excluded including Maori myth/ legends (Waitangi Tribunal, 39). This means that they have not taken taonga with respect and the Maori feel the need to step in and kaitiakitanga to take back the respect of taonga.

Works Cited:

Taonga Works and Intellectual Property (2011) in Ko Aotearoa Tēnei – A Report into Claims Concerning New Zealand Law and Policy Affecting Māori Culture and Identity

Mead, Hirini Moko. “Chapter 2: Ngā Pūtake o te Tikanga – Underlying Principles And Values”. Tikanga Māori: Living By Māori Values. Aotearoa: Huia Publishers, 2003. 25-34. Print.

WEEK 3: Te Tipunga, Te Puwaitanga, Te Huringa 1

From 1500-1800 AD when the Maori settled in New Zealand, they would locate themselves close to the water. “… Seasonally mobile and dispersed into ‘open sites’… (Villages, hamlets and camps), commonly set among gardens in northern New Zealand, and generally located close to the coasts, lakes, rivers and swamps that provided the sea and freshwater…” (Anderson, 90). The Maori had chosen these locations as it was best for fishing and fresh water supplies. Through these villages an important item they would use this wood. “Numerous wooden artefacts included river canoes, net gauge and spools, adze handles, bird spears, digging sticks, spades…” (Anderson, 91). An art and design aspect from the 1500-1800 AD is a painting of two people on a canoe. This paniting is done by using bird fat and was painted on a stone. This is in relation to the hamlets as they were next to the sea and would often use the wooden canoes to go fishing and exploring.

Work cite:

Anderson, Atholl. Judith Binney. and Aroha Harris. “Chapter 3: Pieces of the Past AD 1200 – 1800.” Tangata Whenua: A History. Location 1344-1989.

WEEK 2: Origins, Ngā Kākano

Goldie, Charles F. and Steele, Louis John. The Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand (1899). Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland.

 

One of New Zealand’s most famous artworks is “The Arrival of the Maoris in New Zealand” painted in “1898” and it was created by Louis John Steele and Charles F Goldie. This canvas portrays the Maori’s founding New Zealand through their long journey across the ocean. Back with the first Maori everything was shared through the tongue they didn’t have any written history “All Maori and Moriori knowledge about the past was handed down over the generations in the form of oral traditions attached to generations, or whakapapa. “ (Anderson, 42) this painting shows the figures to be tired and hungry but there is still a sense of hope through their eyes as they are seeking new land. Theodore Géricault painting “The Raft of the Medusa” influenced this painting, when he portrayed the shipwreck where there were 147 people and only 15 of them survived from this disaster, waiting 13 days till they saw a rescue ship. This painting is important to the history of New Zealand as is shows the struggle but yet passion the early Maori went though to come to Aotearoa.

Anderson, Atholl. “Chapter 2: Speaking of Migration”. Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History. Ed. Atholl Anderson Judith Binney, and Aroha Harris. Aotearoa: Bridget Williams Books, 2014. 42-69. Print.