A Moko On The Street

A Moko in the Street

(James is Pākehā and was raised in Māori education. He holds a master’s and is a Te Tiriti o Waitangi educator and cultural supervisor.)

E te iwi tēnā rā koutou katoa , E nga ihi, e ngā wehi, te niko makaurangi i ngā whakairo whare kia ora koutou, Kāti, patua ki tahatū o te rangi, waiho te tangata haere wā kia haere āna , e rongo ai i te kōrero. Pai mārire ki a koutou katoa. Hēmi

In this post I share some thoughts on inequality in Aotearoa — a critique of capitalism, of liberal Pākehā organisations, post-settlement iwi authorities, and a suggestion for what I think could be a fairer way forward. My starting point is simple: the most powerful force of misery in our country is material poverty. What follows is food for thought, and hopefully a spark for discussion.

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A Moko on the Street

The other day I was walking down the street and saw a fulla with a full moko on his face. His pants were slipping down, and he was begging for money. I don’t carry cash, so I couldn’t help him directly. But it got me thinking — about the bigger system that produces this reality, the cultural layers around it, and the aroha we feel for our iwi Māori and for anyone struggling on the street.

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From “That’s America” to Here

When I was growing up, we thought homelessness was something you only saw in America, not here. But after neoliberalism — capitalism on steroids — kicked in through the ’80s and ’90s, New Zealand now has over 100,000 homeless people: 36% Pākehā, 28% Māori, and 22% Pasifika.

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Culture Rising, Poverty Rising

At the same time, well-meaning Pākehā organisations were learning how to do pōwhiri, appointing kaumātua and Māori advisors after taking Treaty courses. I support this — I’ve worked alongside many doing that mahi. But while these cultural shifts were happening, poverty kept rising.

In Māori circles, we worked hard to strengthen te reo and culture — both good and necessary. Still, I wonder: if Māori and Pākehā had also come together around economic imperatives, pushing for real change through government, we could help the poor.

It reminds me of a recent comment from a Māori Party member that te reo me ōna tikanga should be the priority. But when I think of our homeless — who now sometimes say “whaea” or “matua”when they are on the street begging — I can’t help but ask: what comfort is a mihi back when you’re living in a car?

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Grotesque Wealth, Everyday Struggle

Our economic system has created grotesque wealth at the top: just 311 families own as much as 2.5 million people at the bottom. Outrageous. And both major parties either defend this setup, or are too weak and subservient to change it.

Economics — the material wellbeing of people — is the foundation of wellbeing. Take whānau on the benefit, raising kids at near-poverty levels. In a wealthy country, this is a disgrace.

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Capitalism of the Mind

Capitalism doesn’t just exploit people materially; it colonises the mind. It reduces life’s purpose to consumerism — competing over stuff, endlessly comparing ourselves on social media’s big “compareathon.”

That mentality has hollowed out class-based, economic analysis — in earlier times, there was a critique of capitalism through trade union movements and grassroots Māori activism. Capitalism has done its job, though perhaps, as a broad-scale critique, like most organised left politics, has been largely destroyed and fragmented. Other than when people find personal meaning, like particular land block protests, for example (which I support). Most people just go along with what capitalism has to offer; it’s easier to get along than rebel, I guess. I also believe many see the contradictions but don’t have the tools to articulate something different. Bringing the kind of unity we need to actually challenge this system. We need to be literate in what capitalism is, so we can deconstruct it and build something different.

Understanding Marx and other critics of capitalism can help us — not just in critique, but in shaping a Māori response. Because whether we admit it or not, we are all influenced by these ideas.

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Settlements and Their Shadows

Even when the Crown “settled” with iwi, the structures they required were modelled on capitalism. Over time, many iwi organisations joined the corporate world, chasing profit.

Think of figures like Thomas Russell, Frederick Whitaker, and other bankers who pressured Governor Grey into stealing millions of acres of land. Their profits laid the foundation for today’s inequality.

The irony is hard to miss: some iwi structures now resemble the very class of people who dispossessed Māori in the first place. They may be more benevolent than the average Pākehā corporation, but poverty still sits at our doorsteps.

To be clear, the Crown is ultimately responsible for this inequality. But it’s troubling how some iwi organisations now use Māori culture to justify capitalist structures.

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Remembering a Different Way

This feels contrary to our Māori upbringing, which — for lack of a better English word — was socialist. And throughout Aotearoa’s history, we’ve had glimpses of socialist policy: my father studied at university for free, the state once ran electricity, and there was a major state housing programme. So hope is not lost.

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A Fairer Share

The Greens propose a modest 2.5% wealth tax on the richest elites, to fund things like an income guarantee, free childcare, and free dental. That would go a long way. Personally, I’d go further. Considering today’s obscene inequality, doubling it — say to 5% — seems fair.

The billionaires built their wealth on our labour, our shared infrastructure, and a system we all support with our taxes. Redistributing even a small share of that would help the homeless, the solo mother with hungry kids — and the matua with the moko I saw that day.

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Whose Responsibility?

Poverty is a government responsibility. Their policies created today’s inequality: around 23% of Māori live in poverty, a similar rate for Pasifika, and about 14% for Pākehā. And since Pākehā make up 70% of the population, they also represent the largest number of people in poverty.

That matters, because it shifts how we think about solutions. From my perspective, universalism is the way forward. Picking winners and losers builds resentment and is how capitalism was established and how it is maintained. Anybody in poverty should be helped. Once people are freed from economic struggle, then I’d support targeted funding for cultural and health reintegration for Māori, and similar programmes for others.

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Tikanga and Unity

I pakeke mātau i roto i te whanaungatanga — kāore i māwetewete. He taonga whoatu noa atu. Kāti. Ki te mātakitaki tāua i te tuhituhi a Reweti Kohere, he whakapai i te aroha, i te noho tahi, i ngā tikanga ataahua a te ao Māori — kua ui au I konei, he aha koia ēnei pūtake? He ture ohanga whakaora i te rawa kore i wawata ngā koeke. E te iwi, te runga, te raro , pakeke mā , ngai whakahuatau, kia ora koutou katoa.

We grew up in a sharing, caring environment. In te ao Māori it was so natural, so generous, it wasn’t even questioned. Reweti Kohere, writing in Te Pipiwharauroa, praised the more loving and generous nature of the Māori world compared to the Pākehā world. And I totally agree.

So the question I ask: what are the Māori ethics of the economy that will bring wellbeing to the least among us — the kind of world our old people once dreamed of? To everyone who has read to hear a big mihi, kia ora.

Here’s a song that serendipitously came across as i was editing as a waiata tautoko, perhaps, a song about being poor, albeit in America.

“Eyes bright, it seems like the fight is dim in em, I call my man cousin like I’m kin to him, he’s trying to stay straight, the streets have been in him”