Let's get one thing straight here. No disrespect to the members of the Māori Party, but they are not the representatives of Māori. Without question they are Māori representatives, but they are no more the Māori representatives than Don Brash or Helen Clark are the representatives of mainstream New Zealand.
This is a small distinction that seems to be constantly lost in Treaty debate, here in Aotearoa. A question I've been pondering for awhile now is, why is there an onus placed on Māori to produce a single voice? And further to this question, why do white rednecks always think that there is only "one Māori culture"?
By definition a 'culture' does not present a unified face. Any culture is a mixture of all kinds of overlaid ideas, values, mores and issues. Furthermore, no culture is 'static'. Again this is impossible. Not only do cultures constantly change within themselves, but as soon as you expose them to almost any other culture, they change in response.
This isn't rocket science. Your culture, whatever it is, is constantly under change at variable speeds. Sometimes that change is very slow, for instance when the leadership within the culture is both entrenched and very conservative or 'traditional' (and discourages change or enforces conformity). Sometimes that change is very fast, for instance in the case of Māori post-1800.
Here's an example. In my te reo class (I'm walking the walk) I learnt last week that Māori is a bit like the Romance languages. Then you're addressing someone, or talking about something, the 'o' or 'a' used in particular part of a sentence will change. I've embarrassingly left my notes behind, but as I remember it the words 'tōku' and 'tāku' both indicate belonging, as in "Ko Che tōku ingoa' (My name is Che).
The difference between the two is in their usage. In French for example, 'La' denotes a feminine noun, 'Le' a masculine. In Māori though, 'tōku' can indicate a superior relationship, 'tāku' an inferior. The kicker, the one that would put the spin in the tail of our stronger sisters, is normally I'd use 'tāku' when referring to a woman, so "Ko Marian tāku wahine" could be translated as "Marian is my woman".
That usage of 'tāku' when referring to women is common to most iwi. Except Ngāti Porou that is. There, everyone uses 'tōku'. And why? Because no one pushes Ngāti Porou women around, and they're proud of it.
Refering to 'sexism in Māori culture' in shorthand is a bit like saying that the Māori Party represents all of Māori society. It is both right and wrong. And therein lies the problem. I think I'll be having a little trouble expressing things as well as Phil here, who really takes the condescending white women to task. I particularly like the bit where he points out that to stand and respond to the challenge laid down is exactly the right thing to do, not to run off bleating to the media with a monocultural axe to grind.
And it's a bit of a line I've heard run in different forums this week. It usually goes, "why are white women the only ones bitching about this?" I'd add, how about spending a little more time insisting that white menfolk spend more time doing their own cooking, or cleaning their own toilets, and less time complaining about things you don't really 'get'?
You'd think that people would learn that bashing a culture you don't really understand is really just preaching to the converted?
There are at least a couple of well-known stories I've heard about Ngāti Porou women being asked to sit down in. And they refused. They stood up to the men and explained to them in no uncertain terms, and in a language they understand, that they had the right to stand.
What we have there is an instance of cultural change. Māori are not partaking of a 'stone age' culture, as Dr. Bassett seems to state, but are part of an evolving culture still assimilating globalised mores. When you start talking about feminism, you're referring to a concept only grudgingly made mainstream as few as thirty years ago. Using it as a stick to justify petulance and a lack of understanding is petty, churlish, and childish.
Once again, you can't assume that all of Māori society and social protocol is sexist just because the women sit in the back. As Phil points out, women play key roles in traditional ceremonies, and I'd add to that that anyone whose total exposure to Māori society is likely to be watching 'Once Were Warriors' is not the right person to be commenting on how a diverse Māori society and culture advances.