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https://www.maoriparty.org.nz/free_kanaky_free_te_moana_nui_a_kiwa
Te Pāti Maori stand with the people of Kanaky who are fighting for their independence and their lives against oppressive French occupation.
The colonisation of the Pacific relies on the manufactured disconnection of Aotearoa from our Pasifika whanaunga. The moana does not separate us, it connects us.
Just as our whakapapa is entwined with the Kanak people so is our Mana Motuhake.
Colonisation and genocide is happening in the Pacific right now.
Aotearoa will not have freedom until Te Moana-Nui-a -Kiwa is free. Free Kanaky. Free Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa.
Calling for a Free Kanaky
The deadly violence that erupted in Kanaky-New Caledonia a few weeks ago has its roots in colonialism and the recent actions of the French government, writes Tina Ngata, who argues that we should be standing in solidarity with Kanaks against colonialism in the Pacific.
I first learned about our ancient connection to Kanaky (New Caledonia) when I discovered that it was the home of Lapita pottery. These patterned shards'that date back to nearly 2000 BC are some of our region's oldest material culture - they're a physical reminder of our ancestral presence in Te Moananui a Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean.
Lapita is also a crucial part of the whakapapa of our own visual arts here in Aotearoa, which evolved as our voyaging tīpuna moved out across Те Moananui a Kiwa. And, of course, Kanaky is a part of our Moana region, and where much of our renewed ocean voyaging science and skill derives.
It's through learning this history that I came to evolve my own understanding of what it is to be a part of an Indigenous collective of Moana peoples: That we could be Indigenous not only to land, but to waters, and that the concept of "here" could exist in multiple spaces at one time. Here can be the land you're standing on, the island you're on, and also the waters that surround you and connect you to other lands and distant Moana relations.
Before that, all I'd heard about Kanaky was that there was political unrest in the 1980ş, and that it was the home of "Club Med". I guess that's a testament to how readily we accept the contradictions of a tourist resort in the middle of...