Jan 27, 2011

Maori bloggers...


Scott at Imperator Fish has an interesting post covering NZ lawyers who blog and it got me thinking about Maori who blog.

I do not know of many besides perhaps marty mars, Tim Selwyn and Carwyn Jones. As far as I know there are no ‘prominent’ Maori bloggers on either the left or right. This is an unfortunate situation and one of the reasons I blog.

If you do know of any, prominent and not so prominent, please let me know so I can compile a sidebar list.    

6 comments:

  1. Kia ora Morgan,

    Ana at Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua is a strong maori voice.

    KJT puts up some interesting info on Random musings on all sorts of things.

    bb at roarprawn is another Ngai Tahu blogger - from the right and whilst i disagree with most of what she says i do link to good posts.

    That is all I can think of.

    I started blogging to offer an alternative voice that just was not being considered and i focus on the kaitiakitanga, indigenous, maori angle. It is a challenge mixing news that needs a comment, my views and thoughts on subjects and good positive posts - a big challenge as i know you know. Luckily the blog is really for my son - so he will know what i believed in, what i cared about and what i tried to do to help.

    We need more maori voices in the blogosphere - as in many aspects of this society the maori voice is offen invisible and/or disregarded. Yet there are many non-maori who feel quite happy saying any old rubbish about maori with impunity - that really irritates me :)

    Kia kaha with your blogging - you have a good take on many issues and it is always interesting reading what you have written.

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  2. cast your net wider and ask where are the Pasifikan bloggers ?

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  3. Kia ora Marty,

    Of course, I completely forgot about Ana and KjT. Both of them run quality blogs – especially KJT (it’s good to have a Maori voice commenting competently on economic matters). As you said, and I absolutely agree, more Maori voices are needed. Although some commentators (Lew etc) treat Maori issues with respect and understanding many others just spout nonsense. It is very hard for non-Maori to comprehend things uniquely Maori – such as our spiritual connection to the whenua - Papatuanuku.

    I certainly know where you are coming from. The biggest challenge for me is attempting to remain positive. Far too often I’m inclined to descend into the negative and pick up on negative stories. Your reasons for blogging are very noble and I definitely look your way for a calmer and consistent view on Maori issues.

    Pollywog, I should have. Do you know of any? Besides you I don’t know of any. I would actually like to have a Pasifika voice here at Maui St. I do have a Samoan friend who is very Marxist leaning that I think I will approach.

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  4. theres pacificeyewitness.com. though on checking, their site seems to be down. tough times in the blogosphere it seems :(

    still, they did some good digging and support for the PEDA LTD debacle

    dunno what it is. maybe the english as second language thing or us being oral cultures but we don't seem to write much, and when we do we don't seem to write for long :(

    a few hiphoppers got on it for a while...

    http://rimoni-maloman.blogspot.com/
    sth auckland samoan photographer

    http://ayebro.co.nz/blog/
    get your aotearaw rapsingin fix here

    http://eruwaipiro.blogspot.com
    soundguy for MaoriTV and hard case fulla

    i'm just starting to cast the net out across the planet to see what i can catch :)

    http://pacificdreamsnewyorklife.blogspot.com/
    Do Pacific pasts and the New York present intersect?

    http://thepolynesiantattoo.com/
    Tricia Allen is a tattooist with an extensive background in Polynesian history.

    ...funnily enough both those links are palagi

    here's one guy who's not but should blog and write more...Rawiri Taonui

    http://maorinews.com/karere/?p=3908

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  5. Tena koe, kia ora koutou.

    I've been blogging since 2004. I began with stuff on Maori horticulture and kept broadening (geography, Indigenous issues, political-economy, cultural economy, Maori agribusiness) until now it acts like a personal record of my thoughts and movements over the last 6 years. I now frame it as 'Whakairo to whenua/whakairo te tangata': how we carve the land is how we carve the people (and vice versa!).

    I was patchy at the start, and gave it away for a while. But then I downloaded a widget that tracked hits onto my blog and I saw two hits from Iran (okay, could've been the same person from two different IP addresses...). I got such a charge out of this I took it more seriously, posted more regularly, and started doing more research into what I was saying (highly recommended as part of best practice!).

    I think there are many more Maori who blog but lets not assume they a) identify as such (their ethnicity may not be the most important or 'obvious' thing about them); or b) are limited to 'Maori affairs'. There is so much going on in the world today (Middle East anyone?!), being Maori is just part of the adventure, albeit an important one for me and many others.

    Kia ora koutou! Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui.

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  6. Kia ora tatou, we've been trying to pull in Maori bloggers on TangataWhenua.com for some time. So if you want your korero to go out to thousands please get in touch and we'll give you access rights to contribute your voice to the Maori blogosphere. Chur!

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