On Sally Anderson's Kauae

Fresh page.

I have started and restarted writing this post so many times.  This is the first post I've ever done by request.  It is belated and post discussion now, but I do not care.  It took me a while to fully unravel my feelings about it not just because of the subject matter, but also because it was hard amongst all the many voices of strong opinions and varying takes on history and personal narratives to feel my voice worthy enough.

Yep, that is little Hannah.

Because yes, I have Māori heritage.  But I grew up within a  Pākehā framework in a post-colonial New Zealand.  I grew up with understanding of Marae, but distanced from them.  I grew up proud of my where I came from, but discouraged from engaging in that culture*.  I live with white privilege and the knowledge that I have cousins, Aunts and ancestors that never had, nor will ever have this.

 

I feel a little like I'm living in The Matrix - I'm aware of The Matrix, but no matter what I do I cannot escape it.  I have been told my approach to this discussion is post-colonial and this is undeniable.  But most approaches will be, because this is the time we live in.  And for a while this is why I thought I shouldn't write about this.  But I realised my perspective does not negate the many other peoples truths I have read.  There are many possible truths.

 

I am also writing from a place of knowing Inia Williams, the artist who did Sally Anderson's Kauae.  And knowing his perspective on performing tā moko on Pākehā.  I do have some knowledge of the history of tā moko through both a strong personal interest and tertiary arts education where I opted in to learning about te toi a Māori.  I have been offered two tattooing apprenticeships in my life, and one of those offers came from Inia**.

Sally Anderson with her kauae

 

So if you don't already know - Inia's position is basically that Pākehā have been given tā moko by Māori since first contact.  These is plenty of evidence to back this theory***.  It was used as a way of integrating those early Pākehā settlers who wanted to join iwi.  Sometimes, it was used as a way of identifying them as 'property' of specific iwi.  I am certain there were other reasons too.  So knowing this, at first glance at this I thought sure - Sally's husband is Māori, this is their way of integrating her into his whanau and culture.

Me with my tā moko                 

As someone with white skin who has tā moko designed by Inia, I can relate.  Especially given that this was designed for my Pākehā Grandmother.  At the time, I never even questioned this.  My Grandmother had asked me to help her get her first tattoo for her 70th birthday.  Inia was the best tattooist I knew, but he only did traditional tattoos.  The design itself uses general design motifs used in tā moko and whakairo.  The concepts conveyed are basics in te ao Maori: that of whanaungatanga, whakapapa and universal connection (through Io).  My Grandmother is not Māori, so many will refer to her tā moko as kirituhi - which is fair****.

It took me a long time to work out why I feel so differently about my Grandmothers tattoo than I do Sally Andersons kauae.  And what it really comes down to is intent.  My Grandmother did not seek out tā moko.  Inia was just the best person I knew to create a tattoo for my Grandmother - and of course, I want the best for my Grandmother.  Sally Anderson specifically asked for a kauae.  She asked artist after artist after artist who turned her down and they will have told her why they turned her down.  She asked until she found someone who would.  And she has subsequently used her kauae as currency in marketing herself as a 'guru'.

In choosing to get a kauae, against much advice, Sally Anderson utterly and actively disregarded how her choice would  impact on Māori women.

I have read articles by Māori women saying that moko kauae is the right of every Māori woman.  I have also read articles by Māori women saying that in order to be worthy of moko kauae you must be of a certain age and also meet a list of specific criteria.  I read that Inia's decision to give the kauae came from a place of misogyny (Sally as her husbands property).  I read Moana Maniapoto's take on this debate.  And while all of these pieces came from different places - the key feeling there was the same - moko kauae is for Māori women.

Why this has felt like a punch in the gut for many Māori is that it is the perfect illustration of white colonisation - the continued taking of something that does not belong to you for selfish means. 

And the reason this still hurts is that things are still unequal between Pākehā and Māori.  Massively.  The median net worth of Pākehā in New Zealand is almost 5 times that of Māori.  I read a fantastic article yesterday which summarises this so well that if you do not see or understand this imbalance I strongly recommend you read it.  It's completely understandable why Māori feel this is yet another massive transgression - so much has already been taken from them.

John Rutherford, the 'tattooed Englishman'

Those early times Inia is referencing were very different to now.  These times were pre-Treaty, and pre Treaty breaches.  These times were before the unnecessary take down of Parihaka.  They were before the use of Māori medicine was outlawed, before the renewed land grab of the 1950's and 60's.  Basically, this happened before Māori saw Pākehā take and take and take.

It took me a while to come to this realisation because, like many of us with Pākehā heritage I understand the attachment to Māori culture.  Many of us are descended from settlers that have been here so long we have no direct affiliation with other countries.  This is our home, and for some of us Māori culture is a large part of that identity.  Of course, Pākehā have their own culture, but as a relatively recently colonised nation it has taken many of us a long time to understand exactly what that is, and how we fit into it.

I personally wish that moko kauae could be for those Pākehā who, like those early settlers have integrated into iwi and worked with and for Māori communities.  As the most tattooed nation where one in three of us wear permanent ink, this feels to me like a natural progression.

 

But I know this is a fanciful wish.  Because we live in this post-colonial New Zealand with so much history of loss.  And the thing is that all the Pākehā women I know working within Māori communities understand this.  This is why we do not see them asking for, or wearing moko kauae.  This is why we do not see them asking for what Sally Anderson asked for.

I am grateful for Inia's decision because it has created a platform for these discussions.  In truth, he can be a bit of a shit stirrer - his work has always gone against the grain of many other traditional tā moko artists.  I understand why he felt it was racist not to perform her request.  But I also understand why he is perceived as racist to have chosen to do it.  We, especially those of us who sit betwixt two (or more) cultures walk the tightrope of racism on a daily basis.  It is not easy to keep your balance. 

However, I am shocked that someone who considers herself a healer and who believes she sits outside of 'white' culture, could think this was a good idea.  In doing so, she exemplifies an ideology associated with colonisation - that of taking without consideration.

For most of us, moko kauae is associated with status; mana.  Taking the kauae for herself feels like an attempt to bestow this mana upon herself.  While I very much understand her need to self heal past hurts through tattoo***** I do not understand why she had to do this through moko kauae.  Either this act was consciously designed to enliven debate, or it was an active choice in ignorance.

Nanaia Mahuta - a strong Māori woman that I respect

 

Either way, I hope she, and all of us, learn something from what has happened.  I am grateful for the voices of wahine toa I have heard subsequently.  I am grateful that they are not silent.  And I am glad I have opted out of silence.  I am scared of the response to this post more-so than anything else I've ever written.  I am scared of being called a racist.  But I am hopeful that I will live to see a New Zealand less ignorant and more equal than it is now.  And I know we have to have walk these awkward tightropes to get there.

Because I still have fanciful wishes

 * When I was younger. This did a complete 180 when I got to Unitec which totally embraced me as Māori.  Our amazing Tohunga-a-Toi Tim Worrall encouraged us to learn, if we so chose, more about toi Māori beyond the curriculum and supported all of us who were wanted to do this.  It was the most welcome and comfortable I have ever felt being Māori and I am forever grateful to him for this.  I even got to lead the waiata on our noho Marae in Kawhia and it felt amazing.  It felt like the acceptance I never had growing up in a predominantly white area where the local Marae were (understandably) not very accepting of Pākehā, where I was actively discouraged by my Māori peers and local elders not to participate in kapahaka outside of school.

** I felt a lot of guilt in turning his offer down because I felt so privileged to be asked.  And I know this will sound strange, but while I love designing tattoos and I love having them, I do not feel I could indent them into someone else's skin.  I do not have that confidence.  I second guess myself too much.  It took me a long time to turn down his offer because I didn't know how to, but it was the right thing to do.

*** Read Pakeha Maori by Trevor Bentley for more information and references.

**** Although I do find it strange that this same family tattoo becomes tā moko when on me.  But I guess this is about contextualisation - like how we view something differently on someone's living room wall to in a gallery.

***** After drinking a bottle of wine and crying in the bath one night circa 2002, I decided I needed to cover up one of my biggest scars so designed myself a tattoo.  While I still think it was a pretty awesome tattoo, I have never gotten it and have no regrets because many years down the track that scar is much smaller, and tattoo's on ones pubis mons are not really my thing.