World News

22056 readers

83 users here now

Breaking news from around the world.

News that is American but has an international facet may also be posted here.

Guidelines for submissions:

Where possible, post the original source of information.
- If there is a paywall, you can use alternative sources or provide an archive.today, 12ft.io, etc. link in the body.
Do not editorialize titles. Preserve the original title when possible; edits for clarity are fine.
Do not post ragebait or shock stories. These will be removed.
Do not post tabloid or blogspam stories. These will be removed.
Social media should be a source of last resort.

These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.

For US News, see the US News community.

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Meet New Zealand's youngest MP whose parliamentary war cry went viral (www.sbs.com.au)

submitted 10 months ago by tardigrada@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

6 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The 21-year-old New Zealand MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, her country's youngest MP since 1853, honoured the Indigenous people of New Zealand by performing a traditional haka, or war cry, as part of her maiden speech in December. In the resurfaced video, the chant reverberates around the parliamentary chamber as other Māori MPs join in with the haka.

Maipi-Clarke's inaugural address comes amid fears for Māori rights after a new government, led by the conservative National Party, was elected in October and announced plans which critics describe as the most significant step backwards for Māori rights in decades. Thousands have taken to New Zealand's streets to protest the proposed plans.

In an interview with Time magazine, the young MP slammed the new government's "racist rhetoric" and vowed to stay "strong" in her fight against it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Parliament is war? Is this why we can't get consensus?

[–] ailiphilia@feddit.it 19 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

@corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca

I don't speak this language and have no idea of this culture, but as always we must be careful as any literal translation from one language into another often conveys a different meaning, even when the words are the same.

Among others, the Tourism New Zealand website says about the haka and its origin:

Today, haka is used as a sign of respect and is performed on important occasions, such as sporting events, weddings, funerals, and powhiri (a traditional welcome).