Maori

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New Zealand Hands Haka Protesters Record Suspensions

'Are our voices too loud for this house?' responds one lawmaker

(Newser) - New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Maori haka to protest a proposed law. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days, reports the AP...

NZ Lawmakers Who Danced the Haka to Be Suspended

Maori party calls it 'the worst punishment handed down EVER in our history'

(Newser) - A year after taking part in a viral performance of the haka on the floor of New Zealand's House of Representatives, three Maori MPs now face lengthy suspensions. Parliament's privileges committee has recommended suspending the three members of the Te Pati Maori party for acting "in a...

This Mountain Is Legally a Person
This Mountain Is
Legally a Person
Jan 30, 2025 9:07 AM CST

This Mountain Is Legally a Person

Designation in New Zealand puts a 'very Maori Indigenous concept into western law'

(Newser) - A forest, a river, and a mountain in New Zealand have something unusual in common—they're all legally people. Taranaki Maunga, the second-highest mountain in New Zealand, was granted legal personhood in a unanimous vote in the country's parliament Thursday, RNZ reports. Mount Egmont, the name Captain Cook...

New Zealand's Maori Once Again Have a Queen

27-year-old queen becomes 2nd female Maori monarch after her father's death

(Newser) - They came in their thousands in the freezing dawn, parking cars far away and winding down rural roads on foot, children riding on their shoulders. They arrived in mourning black with crowns of ferns and kawakawa leaves, bone carvings or wedges of deep green pounamu—New Zealand jade—resting on...

This Feather Is Worth 40 Times Its Weight in Gold

Feather from extinct huia sells for $28K, becoming most expensive feather ever sold

(Newser) - Someone just paid nearly $30,000 for ... a feather. Granted, it's a rare and pretty feather, but still one worth more than 40 times its weight in gold. The most expensive feather ever sold, it comes from the long-extinct huia, "the largest of New Zealand's wattlebird species,...

Whales Just Gained Personhood Here
Whales Just Gained
Personhood Here
Apr 2, 2024 12:26 PM CDT

Whales Just Gained Personhood Here

Polynesian Indigenous groups sign treaty they hope will lead to greater protections

(Newser) - Whales are people, too, according to the Indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands, who've acted to bestow personhood on whales. New Zealand's Maori and other Indigenous groups from Polynesia signed a treaty that recognizes all whales as legal persons as part of an effort...

She's First Prime-Time Anchor With Chin Tattoo

Maori woman Oriini Kaipara makes history in New Zealand

(Newser) - A Maori news anchor in New Zealand is making history by virtue of a chin tattoo traditional in her culture. Oriini Kaipara has become the first woman to anchor a prime-time news show with the tattoo, known as moko kauae, reports USA Today . The tattoo is seen as a rite...

Maori Tribe Wants Anti-Vaxxers to Stop Using Famous Haka

Ceremonial dance was performed by protesters in NZ capital last week

(Newser) - A Maori tribe in New Zealand wants anti-vaccine protesters to stop using its ceremonial dance immediately. The country's All Blacks national rugby team has permission from the Ngati Toa tribe to perform the Ka Mate haka before games, but no such permission was granted to protesters who performed the...

It's a Necktie to the Speaker, 'Colonial Noose' to an MP

New Zealand's Parliament kicks Maori lawmaker out of session for dress code violation

(Newser) - The speaker of New Zealand's parliament has thrown a member out of a session for a dress code violation—a dispute the booted Maori Party member said is about cultural identity. Rawiri Waititi twice tried to ask questions during the session but was stopped by Speaker Trevor Mallard because...

Playboy Model's Photo Has the Maori Fuming

It's 'inappropriate' to pose nude on sacred Mount Taranaki, tribe says

(Newser) - Imagine someone parading naked on the grave of your relative. That's what the Maori of New Zealand accuse a Playboy model of doing atop Mount Taranaki, a volcano that the Maori consider an ancestor. New Zealand native Jaylene Cook, 25—who appeared in Playboy Mexico in January—climbed the...

Maori King Snubs Prince William, Kate

90 minutes not enough time for proper meeting, his people say

(Newser) - Ouch: Prince William and wife Kate have been refused a meeting with New Zealand's Maori king, because they didn't offer up enough time. Wills and Kate, along with son Prince George, will be in New Zealand next month, and asked to meet with King Tuheitia for 90 minutes....

Maori to New Zealand: We Own the Radio Waves

Claim by indigenous people might delay rollout of 4G

(Newser) - New Zealand hopes to roll out 4G technology across the nation this fall, but an unusual legal dispute is threatening to force a long delay: The indigenous Maori tribes have claimed ownership of New Zealand's radio waves, reports the Wall Street Journal . If the claim is true, that means...

Tyson Tattoo Suit Won't Delay Hangover II

But Warner Bros will likely owe the artist a few bucks

(Newser) - Mike Tyson’s tattoo artist won't stop this weekend's release of Hangover II, notes the Hollywood Reporter . S. Victor Whitmill has sued for copyright infringement because one of the characters ends up with same tattoo Whitmill designed for the boxer. But a federal judge has ruled that it'...

Tyson's Tattoo Artist Sues Over Hangover II

He claims Warner Bros. violated copyright law by using it movie

(Newser) - Mike Tyson's infamous Maori-inspired tribal tattoo is back in the spotlight. Tyson's tattoo artist is suing Warner Brothers on the grounds that the studio committed "reckless copyright infringement" when it allowed the well-known marking to appear on the face of Ed Helms' character in the upcoming Hangover ...

136 Years Later, French Sending Maori Head Home

Rouen Museum displayed mummy for 136 years

(Newser) - A mummified Maori head is finally going home, after 136 years on display at a French museum, reports AP . The Rouen Museum, which has little information about how it acquired the head from a mysterious Parisian in 1875, had agreed to return its head in 2007, but was blocked by...

New Zealand Bird Gobbled Up Humans

40-pound extinct bird was the 'lion' of the skies

(Newser) - A 40-pound bird with a 10-foot-wide wingspan swooped from the sky at 134 mph to feed on large flightless birds and small humans, according to a Maori legend that scientists have now confirmed is likely true. Researchers re-examining bones of the Haast's eagle found that the bird was a hunter,...

Five Found Guilty in Maori Exorcism Death

Mentally ill woman was drowned in attempt to purge her of evil spirits

(Newser) - Five people who drowned their niece in an attempt to rid her of evil spirits have been found guilty of manslaughter by a New Zealand court, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The 22-year-old woman, who prosecutors said was mentally ill, died after the group poured water over her face for...

Trial Begins in Maori Exorcism Death

Woman drowned during ritual to rid her of evil spirits

(Newser) - Nine Maoris accused of killing a mother of two during a botched exorcism have gone on trial in New Zealand, the Daily Telegraph reports. The six women and three men have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the death of the 22-year-old woman who drowned when the accused restrained her...

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