An attempt to be Moari

Being as I read the Herald to keep up to speed with what people are thinking as opposed to gathering news, Fridays are relatively easy going as there are great globs that can be ignored. Silly Red Glasses is a lost cause and Rudman gets back on track by wasting his entire space on trees. There's half a page that doesn't need reading right there. Factor in the Golf Warehouse, Bunnings and Briscoes ads and there is only about a page left that is worth reading.

The Editorail is usually worth scanning, but it's bloody trees again. The bulk of the comments page (remembering that Silly Red Glasses is here and can be ignored) is taken over by an article from Pita Sharples. Ignore the fact that he shares a hairderesser with Brian Connell and I much prefer Jason Eaton's mullet. Ignore the shells around the neck - what are they all about? Ignore all that and his piece really ought to be read. This so for two reasons in my estimation. 1) he is not stupid and 2) he has a position of influence and deserves a hearing. You do not have to agree with what someone says to listen to them say it. This article is very heavy going. I'm sure there are some valid points in there somewhere but it is very hard to tease out the wheat from the chaff. He is trying to address the question of what it is to be Maori. He is obviously going to struggle to get this sorted in three half columns of newsprint. There are some valid points well made interspersed with a load of rot. The concept of whakapapa is stressed a hundred times if it is mentioned once and the overwhelming prominence that this has over blood purity seems to be the central plank of his argument. I think I'm going to have to read this again (if I can be bothered on such a nice sunny day) before I decide if it is a valuable contribution to my somewhat rudimentary understanding of all this. I suspect it is not and I will remain largely a non understander.

Tweet