NiuZila: Land of full fat milk and welfare money

Recently I’ve become fascinated with the global phenomenon known as Flash Mobs.  Type the term in YouTube and hundreds of examples will pop up, of ordinary people, strangers to one another, come together and randomly perform a stunt/dance/song in a public place, and just as fast as they appeared, they dissolve back into the crowd, as if nothing ever happened.

There’s one where a couple of hundred people suddenly freeze for a few minutes in the middle of Grand Central Station in New York.  Bewildered passer-byer walk past in wonder.  While others take a quick glimpse and walk off.  Another Flash Mob, this time set in a train station somewhere in Europe, has two couples starting off dancing to “Do-Re-Me”, shortly joined by another couple, then 5 others, then 10, 20.  And you’re never too sure who’s really a stunned innocent passer-byer, or who’s in on the act, as one by one people join in the dance.  Another similar dance happens in Liverpool, England, with the whole station filled with people dancing to a medley of songs, and once the music stops, they all walk off into different directions as if nothing ever happened.

It’s amazing because in these modern western societies we live in, it is the self that is paramount.  Individualism, private rights, self-freedom, are tenants of the modern western civilisation.  While there have been great advancements, many can list the negatives of such a society: materialism, corporate greed, environmental impacts etc.  And yet in this highly competitive world, where the pursuit of the dollar is the driver for many, Flash Mob brings a fun form of anarchy to otherwise mundane lives.  It’s reminding society that although we are a society of individuals, together we can accomplish great things.

I had one of the best experiences in my short life on Monday night at the “I Love the Islands” concert at Vector Arena, Aukilani/Auckland.  In an arena full of 10,000 kiwi’s, we came together to not only enjoy New Zealand/Niu Sila music, but we came together to support the Samoan Tsunami relief effort.  Although not quite a Flash Mob, the coming together of the Niu Sila public to show their support for the relief effort had that strong communal feeling of achieving great things together, just like a Flash Mob.  People from all walks and life, different ages, ethnicities, social backgrounds, all came together to dance and sing with one another.  To our right were two Palagi women in their 40’s, while to our left were a young Maori couple.  Behind us were very noisy young Samoan girls, and directly in front were an Asian couple.  Yet every song we all sang, whether we knew the words or not.  Every act, we danced liked no-one was looking.  Every cheer, we shouted and yelled up to the heavens.

Always keen to be where the party’s at, my wife and I got there early and were near front of the stage.  And sure enough we were head banging through the Rock songs, jumping up and down to the Hip-hop jams, and swaying side to side to the country music.  And they were all Niu Sila performances too!  From Dave Dobbyn, Neil & Tim Finn, to reggae band Sweet and Irie, pop urban Hip-hop Nesian Mystic, Soul sounds of Holly Smith, to the rap battle between Scribe and Savage.  J Williams got the whole arena to wave their cellphones in the air, creating an awesome spectacle for us on the floor.  The sweet sounds of Adeaze singing in Samoan, followed by Feelstyle’s raps in Samoan.  $250,000 was made only on door sales, not including the money put into the donation boxes.  The concert has already performed in Christchurch/Kalaisitete, and Tauranga, and will end in Wellington/Ueligitone.  A smaller scaled fundraiser concert is being planned for this coming Monday (Labour Day holiday), $10 at Telstra Pacific, Manukau.  Other fundraisers included containers full of donated food, clothes, utensils etc, school and church rallies, art exhibitions etc, with one little boy raising $30,000 in his region.

But it was great to be part of a special night, where random people, had come together to show their love and support to our family back in Samoa, while enjoying the eclectic range of music we have here in Niu Sila.  The communal reaction and outpouring of assitance from our homeland here in Niu Sila to our homeland of Samoa allows us to take a little glimpse of the bigger picture.  That sometimes, there’s more to life than being in the rat-race, that life can have so much more meaning, that great things can be achieved when we come together.

Thank you to the performers and organisers who volunteered to make the concerts happen.  But also on behalf of Samoans, if I may, thank you to the people of Niu Sila, for sharing the love.

My solicitor friend told me the other day that an elder Palagi / Pakeha / European woman came into her firm in the city to have some documents verified.  My friend said the old lady kept staring at her as she signed the documents.  And as the old lady was about to leave she turned around and asked my friend “Are you a… a Pacific Islander?”  A lil stunned at the relevance of the question, my friend confirmed, yes she is indeed a Pacific Islander, and a Samoan one at that.  With a grin on her face, the old lady said to my friend while walking out “You’ve got a good job, good for you.  You’re one of the good ones!”  Good job?  Good for you?  One of the good ones?  So what’s a bad one?  Huh?  My friend and I had a good laugh over that one.

In 2005, the then National Party ran a nearly successful campaign based along the mantra “We are all New Zealanders”.  National subsequently lost that election, but the reason they came so close was because many New Zealanders (generally Palagi New Zealanders) agreed with the perception that National was portraying: that Maori (and other minorities) were getting preferential treatment.  One billboard portrayed the then Labour Government as for “Iwi” (prefer Maori), while National had “Kiwi” written next to it. 

There’s a whole myriad of issues that could be debated from that campaign (eg Maori rights under Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi, or assumed egalitarian society etc), but the one I wanted to post about today is the issue of ethnicity.  The ethnic issue that the billboard implied is that Maori (Iwi) are not Kiwi’s (New Zealanders).

Statistics New Zealand released a media statement today confirming they will not be altering the 2011 Census by including a “New Zealander” option under the ethnicity question.  This was in response to a growing number of (Palagi) New Zealanders protesting at having to define themselves in the 2006 Census as either a Pakeha New Zealander or New Zealand European.  They detest using a Maori term to define themselves, and they argue they are no longer from Europe as their families have been in Niu Sila / New Zealand for 4 or 5 generations.  There was a concerted effort to get people to tick “other” in the Ethnicity box and call themselves a ‘New Zealander’.

I have no problem with people calling themselves New Zealanders, because I too am a New Zealander, a person born and bred here in Niu Sila.  But the question is about ethnicity, not nationality.  Because if New Zealander was an option, then we’d all have to tick it, since we are all New Zealanders. 

The reason why ethnicity is a question is because the statistics gathered are used by Government agencies for their research or formulating policies.  By answering New Zealander, it doesn’t tell the doctors (or it skews the information) what ethnic composition the population of Niu Sila is, how to target health care dollars, which populations are vulnerable to what sicknesses and illnesses etc.

One group of people, whether they are Palagi’s or Ethiopians, cannot have a monopoly on a term that describes us all, New Zealander.  If they want a term of their own to describe who they are rather than using Pakeha or European, then they need to use a term that does just that, describes them, and not all of us.

This truly is an illustration of the identity crisis (some) Palagi New Zealanders have, which is further exacerbated when the things that differentiate them from Palagi Australians is the Maori culture - Palagi New Zealanders on their OE (Overseas Experience) are all too ready to perform the Haka, or sing Pokarekare Ana.  Maori patterns adorn national sports team uniforms, on the national airline carrier etc.

This contentious ethnicity issue was captured by National, and exploited as a political tool to cover up the inequalities between ethnicities by claiming we are all New Zealanders.  By overlooking the differences, it’s easier for the privileged to accuse the under-privileged of not working hard enough, or not making something of themselves etc.  Yet it totally ignores the structural inequalities and subtle racism that exists in society.

We are all New Zealanders, but we are ethnically diverse New Zealanders.

Perhaps that old lady who visited my friend might suggest another option under the Pacific Islander ethnicity: “one of the good ones”?  Hahahaha!

The other day my cousins daughter was asked if she was Samoan (she is quite fair in complexion, but is three quarters Samoan, and quarter Palagi).  She responded no.  Our family members were quite shocked.  She then continued: “I’m not Samoan, I’m a kiwi!”  As innocent as she was, I was concerned that her simple idea of being a “Kiwi” could turn into a value that would affect her in her lifetime.

Growing up my parents drilled it into us kids that we were first and foremost Samoan.  While we were born and raised in Niu Sila / New Zealand, we were Samoan.  And it’s pretty much stuck with us kids ever since. 

That conversation with my cousins daughter triggered an early memory of when my uncle’s new wife (a British immigrant to Niu Sila) was dumbfounded when us kids said we were Samoan.  To her, she had come from England to start a new life in Niu Sila as a New Zealander.  Sure she might’ve still had the British accent, but her children would be born and raised here, so naturally they would be New Zealanders.  Now don’t get me wrong, we are proud New Zealanders, but we are Samoans first.

As I grew older, to my surprise, I realised that not all Samoan parents ingrained the same things into their kids.  Some parents wanted their kids to be New Zealanders, and went so far as to not teaching or speaking Samoan in the home.  Fair enough, by having ‘kiwi’ kids, Samoan parents probably felt they could be accepted into mainstream New Zealand.  What I didn’t agree with was the excuse that being a Samoan would hold oneself back, that we had to ‘advance’ ourselves in Palagi society which meant giving up our Samoaness.  That I could not agree with.

I’m probably preaching to the converted, but FaaSamoa (Samoan culture) is what makes us who we are.  E iloa gofie le tagata Samoa i ana tu ma aga.  It is what makes us unique and different.  We all know we are hardcore proud Samoans, but that’s nothing to do with blood quantum but through our shared values and culture.  If it were not for FaaSamoa, we would be just be brown skinned Palagis!

Using the label ‘Kiwi’ is easy, because it’s so broad and undefined.  Ask 20 people what the definition of a Kiwi is, and you’d be hard to find a quarter of them with the same answer.  ‘Kiwi’ is culture-less.  When Palagi Kiwi’s travel abroad, all of a sudden they start wearing greenstone tiki’s, start performing a bad version of the ‘Ka Mate, ka mate’ haka, and sing “Po Karekare Ana”.  Lately, it’s fashionable to have Maori designs tattooed on your body, even if you’re not Maori.  These Kiwi Palagi’s realise that the only thing that differentiates themselves from their Ausetalia / Australian Palagi cousins, is the Maori culture.  They need to borrow someone elses culture to define themselves!

As Samoans living in Niu Sila, there has been a movement to create a supposed “New Zealand-Born Samoan” identity.  I’m a bit wary of this post-modernist approach, because Niu Sila is a temporary home for Samoans.  In the 1990s and 2000s there has been a large migration of Samoans from Niu Sila moving to and living and working in Ausetalia, creating a sizeable Samoan diaspora community there.  But what is it that they take with them?  Their Samoan culture.  Australian-born Samoans are an emerging generation, but they don’t call themselves “Australian-born of Samoan ancestry via New Zealand”.  The commonality between New Zealand-born Samoans and Australian-born Samoans is “Samoa”.  You don’t see New Zealand Samoan churches in Australia, you see the EFKS, Metotisi Samoa, Samoan Independent AOG churches, SISDAC etc.

And then there are those that introduce themselves as ‘afakasi-Samoan’ (half-caste Samoan) - afakasi this or that, quarter this, and quarter that, part German/Chinese/Swedish/Tongan etc.  Now, I’m not saying people should deny their ancestry, but it’s almost become fashionable to call oneself part-Samoan, when not ten years ago a simple straight “I’m Samoan” was enough.

My maternal great grandfather (who is still alive) is half German - looks Palagi, but that’s about it.  He’s a grumpy old man that will hit any of his off spring with the salu.  The other side of my mothers family has Saiga / Asian blood.  What do my Saiga-looking cousins call themselves?  Samoan.  What does the grumpy old German call himself?  Samoan.  I’m Samoan.

Of course I’m making a complex situation much simpler than it really is, but simple ideas can turn into values which affect you for a lifetime.