A major New Zealand Web site has pulled the books of a local author after she made comments about incoming minister of foreign affairs Nanaia Mahuta that many considered offensive.
Mahuta is the first woman to be appointed to the role of New Zealand foreign minister and the second-ever Maori.
Mahuta in 2016 became the first Maori woman to display a moko kauae (sacred facial tattoo) in parliament and has been promoted from New Zealand associate minister of housing and Maori affairs to one of the highest ministerial portfolios.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Author Olivia Pierson on Monday publicly criticized Mahuta, making comments about her moko kauae and suggesting it was inappropriate for a diplomat.
“Moko is a statement of identity, like a passport,” Mahuta, of the Waikato-Maniapoto people, told the Guardian in 2016. “I am at a time in my life where I am ready to make a clear statement that this is who I am, and this is my position in New Zealand.”
Mahuta had the moko kauae inked in 2016, alongside 13 other prominent Maori women.
They are usually bestowed on high-ranking Maori women as a reflection of their standing and mana, or power, in the community.
“Apart from the fact that I find her moko kauae stunningly beautiful, it is an expression of her whakapapa [genealogy] and uniqueness,” Maori Party coleader Marama Fox told the Guardian in 2016. “I’m proud as a Maori woman to sit alongside her in parliament.”
“Facial tattoos, especially on a female diplomat, is the height of ugly, uncivilised wokedom!” Pierson wrote on Twitter.
On her Web site, Pierson describes herself as a “free-thought advocate.”
Her most recent book is Western Values Defended: A Primer.
Pierson’s comments were quickly censured, with many Twitter users in New Zealand encouraging her to delete her original post.
The New Zealand general goods Web site Mighty Ape took swift action and said that it would stop selling Pierson’s books immediately, bringing applause from many.
Pierson’s supporters said that she had become a victim of “extreme wokeness,” and the move by Mighty Ape was an example of “cancel culture” in action.
Mahuta, who has been a lawmaker for more than 20 years, has previously said that she wanted to break down the negative associations that moko kauae have with gang membership in New Zealand.
“I think there is an emerging awareness about the revitalization of Maori culture and that facial moko is a positive aspect of that. We need to move away from moko being linked to gangs, because that is not what moko represent at all,” she said.
Mahuta said that since she was inked, the majority of responses had been positive and inquisitive — and had sparked conversations about Maori culture and traditions in modern, multicultural New Zealand.
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