The 21-year-old New Zealand MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, her country’s youngest MP since 1853, honoured the Indigenous people of New Zealand by performing a traditional haka, or war cry, as part of her maiden speech in December. In the resurfaced video, the chant reverberates around the parliamentary chamber as other Māori MPs join in with the haka.
Maipi-Clarke’s inaugural address comes amid fears for Māori rights after a new government, led by the conservative National Party, was elected in October and announced plans which critics describe as the most significant step backwards for Māori rights in decades. Thousands have taken to New Zealand’s streets to protest the proposed plans.
In an interview with Time magazine, the young MP slammed the new government’s “racist rhetoric” and vowed to stay “strong” in her fight against it.
Lorde performs one of her songs also in Maori (the song’s OV is in English, the song is called ‘Solar Power’). You may also be in interested in Olivia Foa’i, a singer who also performs in Gagana Tokelau, the indigenous language of Tokelau, a collection of atolls between Australia and Hawaii, and in this story.