Māori students march for Freedom

TE MANA ĀKONGA NATIONAL MĀORI STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

MEDIA RELEASE

25 AUGUST 2016

Māori students march for Freedom

Māori students will march for the freedom of West Papua today as they gather for the annual conference Te Huinga Tauira o Te Mana Ākonga this year hosted by Ngāi Tauira, the Māori Students’ Association at Victoria University of Wellington.

"The current events of West Papua resonates with the history of our people", says Ivy Harper, Tumuaki of Te Mana Ākonga, the National Māori Students Association.

"We wanted to highlight what was happening there as what happens to one indigenous peoples happens to us all, says Harper.

"Student Associations are held at gun point simply for meeting. Some of the freedoms we take for granted today are denied to others and yet we continue to do nothing," says Geneveine Wilson, Co-President of Ngāi Tauira.

“Ko te kaupapa o Te Huinga Tauira ki Pōneke 2016 me ōna katoa. Heoi, i West Papua, ka mauheretia, ka kōhurutia hoki te tangata kōrero i te reo taketake o te whenua rā. Kei a tātou te kawenga kia waha ake i o tātou whakaaro mō ēnei kaupapa,” says Raimona Tapiata, Co-President of Ngāi Tauira.

Mā tātou te reo kawe name mo te hunga kua mū nā ngā aupēhitanga. Papua Merdeka – is the West Papuan call for freedom...” - After ‘...’ just keep going. With what is already there.

Uplifting our language and customs and all that it embodies. People in West Papua are imprisoned or killed simply for speaking their language. How could we not say something?, says Raimona Tapiata, Co-Tumuaki of Ngāi Tauira.

"We are the voice that West Papuans do not have. Papua Merdeka - is the West Papuan call for freedom. They use the Indonesian term to speak to the oppressors. What use is our voice if we don't use it?" says Tapiata.

"But we also want more in Aotearoa. Te reo Māori should be compulsorily available in schools, not just a subject in the curriculum. Civics education should also be taught so that people know the history of our own whenua."

The hikoi will be meet by MPs Marama Fox (Māori Party), Catherine Delahunty (Green Party) and other MPs on the steps of Parliament.

"We want the New Zealand government to speak up in international forums so that West Papuans can be free to live. We want New Zealanders to speak out. We should not stand by while these atrocities are happening."

Te Huinga Tauira o Te Mana Ākonga will be from 25-28 August and will include kapa haka, hākinakina, tautohetohe over the three day conference.

ENDS

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