OPINION
A royal scarf, slogan T-shirts and statements of self-determination play a pivotal role in enhancing the message during Hīkoi mō te Tiriti.
When you consider New Zealand’s history of protest, it’s often marked by visual cues.
It might be homemade banners on Bastion Point in 1977 that read “so
That same era saw the likes of Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan – the pioneering politician who held the Southern Māori electorate for 29 years – use fashion as a way to communicate her values, including a custom dress that incorporated Māori motifs by artist Sandy Adsett, worn to a 1980 protest during Māori Language Week to demand that the Māori language have equal status with English.
The deliberate choice of dress during a time of protest is a significant example of why in a critical time of self-determination, self-expression is key.
In 1975, when the late and great kuia Dame Whina Cooper set upon her journey to Parliament from Te Hāpua in the Far North with her 3-year-old granddaughter Irenee in tow, the moment was captured by photographer Michael Tubberty, and to this day remains my favourite photo from a newsroom archive.
With Dame Whina wearing a red knit cardigan, a long black skirt, her signature headscarf and a walking stick, the visual of young and old embarking on a united front in search of equality for all Māori is an image that sits in parallel with today’s cross-generational 35,000-strong hīkoi to Parliament to protest against Act’s Treaty Principles Bill.
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In a dignified display of leadership and solidarity today, the Māori Queen, Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō was part of the national hīkoi making its way to Parliament today, wearing the Te Miro a Te Wherowhero tartan scarf made from 100% wool, designed to pay homage to the first Māori king, King Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (who was anointed in 1858 and died in 1860).
The scarf uses the blue and gold of the Kīngitanga with the gold stripes representing the seven waka that carried the Māori tūpuna to Aotearoa and is reminiscent of the tartan cloaks worn by Māori chiefs during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Her presence today, as with her succession in general, is one of hope and unity.
“The Māori Queen is willing to help lead a conversation about nationhood and national unity but she will not accept a unilateral process that undermines Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” said Kiingitanga spokesman Ngira Simmonds.
The tartan, officially recognised by the official Scottish Register of Tartans, is another example of personalised protest.
“Personally, as a person who believes in the power of clothing to communicate, I am a great admirer of Māori activists who use this language with great mastery,” says New Zealand Fashion Museum founder Doris de Pont (ONZM).
“I’m referencing the forced change of dress code in Parliament and the careful choices of dress by Te Pāti Māori to demand attention.
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Advertise with NZME.“Today this was powerfully on show with the warriors leading the hīkoi; the handknitted Tino Rangatira flag jumpers, the various personalised protest garments, the pōtae worn by Tāme Iti. He always has the right pōtae for the occasion, and Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō, the Māori Queen, wearing the Kiingitanga Tartan, a symbol of unity.”
As protesters gathered at Parliament, it was a culmination of a week-long movement that saw several using clothing as a symbol of identity, pride and unity where the colours of the Tino Rangatiratanga flag – red, black and white – played a pivotal role in unifying the message of its peaceful protest.
As co-leader of Te Pāti Māori, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer told the New York Times last year, “When you want to get a message out fast, fashion is a way to do it.”
Last week as she stood in unity with co-leader Rawiri Waititi and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke in their now world-famous haka in Parliament, the visual cues of what they wore also helped in the continued effort to have their voices heard, specifically through their choice of adornment - Hana wearing a badge of the Tino Rangatiratanga flag pinned to her blazer, Debbie with her bone hei-tiki pendant and matching heru (comb) and Rawiri with his signature pōtae (hat).
Today, Hana displayed her solidarity with the hīkoi by also wearing the Te Miro a Te Wherowhero tartan scarf with a signature leather jacket, a wardrobe item itself synonymous with protest (Black Panthers, Polynesian Panthers). It is a garment Hana also employed in one of her more recognisable Te Pāti Māori portraits, wearing it with a red beret.
Rawiri is no stranger to fashion as a form of protest. After walking the runway at last year’s Kahuria: New Zealand Fashion Week for Māori fashion designer Kiri Nathan, Rawiri explained on TikTok “we must continue to decolonise our spaces down to our shoelaces”.
As explored in a recent interview with Viva, Manawatū-based crochet maker and academic Aorangi Kora’s unique designs have become a central part of personalising the Tino Rangatiratanga flag through her approach to slow fashion. Handmade crochet knit jumpers and hats have already offered a welcome tonic to ubiquitous Tino Rangatiratanga T-shirts, the designer engaging with a range of customers, and more importantly, with a younger generation present during the hīkoi.
For artist and curator of Hoea! Gallery in Gisborne, Melanie Tangaere Baldwin, her distinctive Toitū Te Tiriti T-shirts have also become synonymous with the protest, as several at the hīkoi wore the design. While in London, she shared a photo of her mother attending the hīkoi Ruatorea wearing the T-shirt, which was worn earlier this year in May by leading New Zealand / Māori model Noah Tumataroa in Sydney.
The T-shirt is currently available on a pre-order basis from Moana Fresh.
Today was a reminder of how in a time where we’re all trying to harness a sense of who we are as New Zealanders, clothing and the way we communicate our values through self-expression can help strengthen the impetus to never give up on each other.
Dan Ahwa is Viva’s fashion and creative director and a senior premium lifestyle journalist for the New Zealand Herald, specialising in the intersections of style, luxury, art and culture. He is also an award-winning stylist with more than 17 years of experience and is a co-author and co-curator of the book and exhibition Moana Currents: Dressing Aotearoa Now. Recent stories to catch up on include looking at how some of the country’s leading executives and CEOs get dressed for work, interviewing Team NZ CEO Grant Dalton and a look at why LinkedIn can sometimes be cringe.
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