Canadian here. A number of years ago my family visited New Zealand, and while falling in love with the country and the culture, I also discovered the Hei Matau - the Maori fish hook.

This has haunted me ever since, and I want to carve one for myself. However, we've spent the last decade starting to understand the relationship between European settlers and the North American Indigenous people.

So what I do in my basement with carving tools is my own business, but I ask honestly if wearing a Hei Matau in public is considered respectful or appropriation. And also if the material matters in this context. (It would likely be from a tagua nut - "vegetable ivory" - although it's possible I could get some whale bone from my coastal friends.)

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[–] liv@lemmy.nz 3 points 4 months ago

Maori themselves play a huge part in that though - the gains here have always been hard-fought-for by Maori.

Obviously there are historical differences like method of assimilation and resulting population proportion, and political biculturalism (which wouldn't work in Canadian context due to Francophones, Metis and "salad" multiculturalism, etc). But at every step of the way, Maori have been at the forefront.

For that reason, it's important that people like @HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world continue to call out Govt when it is wrong. Because that's how progress happens. Complacency about not being even worse shouldn't stand in the way of continuing to strive for something better, especially in the face of what feels like a massive swerve backwards by our current govt.