Maori Black Panthers

[Sun Ship]

The Maori culture has a long tradition of tattooing, which dated back centuries until the Europeans outlawed it in the 1800s. These Auckland men belong to the anti-European Black Power Group. Their tattoos are a combination of traditional Maori tattoo art, called moko, and symbols picked up from the U.S. Black Power movement of the 1960s.


Once outlawed, the tradition of tribal tattooing has undergone a recent renewal among the Maori people of New Zealand and other Polynesian cultures. Full facial markings, or moko, such as this Maori chief has, are the most common in New Zealand.

[rebelAfrika]

Thanks for sharing this. VERY interesting. You know, it was my observation of Polynesians (specifically, the Samoans) that helped me shed the last vestiages of any hang-ups I might have had (been programmed to have) about the "tribal" traditions of Africans. The Maori have a tribal background, the Tongans have a tribal background, the Hawaiians have a tribal background, the Samoans have a tribal background, Africans have a tribal background and OTHERS have tribal backgrounds. The only difference is that Maori still refer to themselves as Maori, Tongans refer to themselves as Tongan, Hawaiians refer to themselves as Hawaiians, Samoans refer to themselves as Samoans, and Africans (in amerikkka) refer to themselves as EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN EXCEPT AFRICAN!!! Sometimes we are ashamed of the fact that we come from a tribal background, but that is NOTHING to be ashamed of. It's something to be PROUD of. You can't call a Samoan a "Samoan-American" and they accept it. It don't even sound right. They will tell you..."I am a Samoan." "African-amerikkkan" sounds JUST AS STUPID! I am proud however that more of us are coming to the realization that we are AFRICANS. As Nkrumah said "Africa is marching forward to freedom and NO POWER ON EARTH CAN STOP HER NOW."

[OmoTutu]

Very true RA, the Maori (polynesian) and Fijiians (melanesians) are tribal and retain a pride in their ancestors that is very inspiring. I found in my experience that the Maori idenified much more with the experience Afrikans born in amerikkka, I was not treated like an amerikkkan as with other highly colonized polynesian nations (ie.,hawaii), but as an Afrikan, which to me showed a level of consciousness and understanding amoung the Maori.

The Fijiians are of Afrikan decent and are an amazing people, a true testament to the Afrikan spirit. And definately reaffirms the notion that I am not Afrikan simply because I was or wasn't born in Afrika, but because Afrika was born in me!!

[rebelAfrika]

Very true RA, the Maori (polynesian) and Fijiians (melanesians) are tribal and retain a pride in their ancestors that is very inspiring. I found in my experience that the Maori idenified much more with the experience Afrikans born in amerikkka, I was not treated like an amerikkkan as with other highly colonized polynesian nations (ie.,hawaii), but as an Afrikan, which to me showed a level of consciousness and understanding amoung the Maori.

The Fijiians are of Afrikan decent and are an amazing people, a true testament to the Afrikan spirit. And definately reaffirms the notion that I am not Afrikan simply because I was or wasn't born in Afrika, but because Afrika was born in me!!

Do you have Polynesians and/or Melanesians in your family? The reason I ask is that it sounds as if you have a background with Polynesians and/or Melanesians beyond my knowledge (of going to school with significant Samoan populations).

[OmoTutu]

Not that I know of, my people hail from Mississippi by way of middle passage. I spent time in NZ conducting field work then went to the Fijiian islands alone after my work was finished in NZ to explore and learn. I knew that there were Afrikans in the middle of the Pacific and have always been curious to ask them their story. An opportunity presented itself and took it.
I learned quite a bit, both from my interaction with the Maori and the Fijiians. Because I wasn't working when in Fiji, I was travelling alone and I believe because I look similar to the Afirkans I met there, I was taken under the wing of the people I met. I sat up late into the nights drinking kava telling them my/our story, and they told me theirs/mine. I met a dreaming priest, participated in ceremonies, learned that the hand games I played as a child were the exact same as the ones the little Afrikan girls played there in the middle of the Pacific (my sistas you remember "Slide"?)... there's much more, but this is where my knowledge of this region comes from.

[rebelAfrika]

Not that I know of, my people hail from Mississippi by way of middle passage. I spent time in NZ conducting field work then went to the Fijiian islands alone after my work was finished in NZ to explore and learn. I knew that there were Afrikans in the middle of the Pacific and have always been curious to ask them their story. An opportunity presented itself and took it.
I learned quite a bit, both from my interaction with the Maori and the Fijiians. Because I wasn't working when in Fiji, I was travelling alone and I believe because I look similar to the Afirkans I met there, I was taken under the wing of the people I met. I sat up late into the nights drinking kava telling them my/our story, and they told me theirs/mine. I met a dreaming priest, participated in ceremonies, learned that the hand games I played as a child were the exact same as the ones the little Afrikan girls played there in the middle of the Pacific (my sistas you remember "Slide"?)... there's much more, but this is where my knowledge of this region comes from.

That sounds like a BEAUTIFUL experience you had.

[Empress_Dahiyya]

Tenaystalin:

A few years ago I went to see a film about the Maori Rastafari community. It was deep. Very mystical people. Anyway, here is some more information:

http://www.dhushara.com/book/tane/dread/dread.htm
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifes...ORI_PEOPLE.asp
http://www.reggae.artist.maori.nz/


"Songs like "Rastaman Chant" led to the movement and reggae music being seen as closely intertwined in the consciousness of audiences across the world (especially among oppressed and poor groups of African Americans and Native Americans, First Nations Canadians, Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maori, and throughout most of Africa)."