CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women)

Kia ora,

I attended the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women) for Change Women's Human Rights Education Institute in Toronto with the trainers Alda Facio, Martha Morgan and Angela Lytle. Many women and one man from many different countries attended this one week workshop. It was an honour to hear the different perspectives of Human Rights for Women from differing countries. I highly recommend such workshops for those wanting to understand the United Nations, how it works, how Conventions work, who the State Countries are that ratified this convention, how State reports are done and how NGOS are important. This was an amazing learning and experience. You can found out more from the following:

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/

Opening date set for symbol of Ngati Awa unity

Kia ora, I am very happy about the return of this ancient ancestral home being re-established in my hometown. Tino pai, Taima

Opening date set for symbol of Ngati Awa unity
Whakatane Beacon; Tuesday, 10 May 2011

The Ngati Awa cultural Te Manuka Tutahi Marae complex containing the historic Mataatua Wharenui will be officially opened in September. The Ngati Awa cultural Te Manuka Tutahi Marae complex containing the historic Mataatua Wharenui will be officially opened in September.
THE final act in a 130-year journey will be completed in September when the much-travelled Mataatua Wharenui is re-opened in Whakatane.
Te Runanga o Ngati Awa recently confirmed Saturday, September 17 as the official opening date for the carved Maori meeting house, which was originally opened in Whakatane in 1875.
The Mataatua Wharenui is the focal point of the Te Manuka Tutahi Marae complex, being constructed on Muriwai Drive.
Only five years after its original opening, the wharenui was disassembled by the New Zealand Government, packed into crates and sent to Sydney for the 1879 British Empire Exhibition. So began a series of journeys that would see the house taken to Melbourne, London and Dunedin.
Te Runanga o Ngati Awa chief executive Jeremy Gardiner said the house was originally constructed to “unite and re-inspire” the hapu of Ngati Awa, who were reeling from the effects of the raupatu (land confiscations), and the purpose of unifying and signalling renewed development is still the case today.
“One of the main reasons Mataatua Wharenui was built was to unite and bring hope to Ngati Awa at a particularly dark time in our history. One hundred and thirty years later, this is still very much the case. Mataatua Wharenui is a symbol of Ngati Awa unity and resilience – a place where, together, we can celebrate our history, our present and our future.”
Mr Gardiner says this sense of unity was intrinsic to the wharenui, in that all members of Ngati Awa can trace their ancestry to at least one of the ancestors represented in the house’s carvings.
“The carvings in the wharenui represent some of our most prominent ancestors and, in fact, well known ancestors across the country.
“All of Ngati Awa will have a genealogical connection to at least one of these ancestors.”
The complex is also expected to bring significant benefits to the Whakatane community as a medium-to-large conference and events venue.
“The wharenui can accommodate meetings and conferences of up to 200 seated while the wharekai (dining room) can seat up to 150 restaurant-style.
“A conference venue with such an inherent cultural significance is certainly a point of difference and one that could be quite attractive to local, national and even international audiences.”
The complex will also boast a world-class visitor experience centred on the fascinating story of Mataatua Wharenui.

Book: The Rigoberta Menchu Controversy by Arturo Arias

Kia ora all, I am currently reading the Rigoberta Menchu controversy and finding it a really great book. What it reveals to me, is a number of lessons: tesitmonio vs bibliography; copyright and ownership; Indigenous storying vs anthropology; addressing racism; and importantly, why it is so important that Indigenous peoples keep on writing their stories and telling the world what happened to them. This is an awesome read, Taima


About the book: A balanced appraisal of the bitter debate surrounding the autobiography of Guatemala's 1992 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

Guatemalan indigenous rights activist Rigoberta Menchú first came to international prominence following the 1983 publication of her memoir, I, Rigoberta Menchú, which chronicled in compelling detail the violence and misery that she and her people suffered during her country's brutal civil war. The book focused world attention on Guatemala and led to her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. In 1999, a new book by David Stoll challenged the veracity of key details in Menchú's account, generating a storm of controversy. Journalists and scholars squared off regarding whether Menchú had lied about her past and, if so, what that would mean about the larger truths revealed in the book.

In The Rigoberta Menchú Controversy, Arturo Arias has assembled a casebook that offers a balanced perspective on the debate. The first section of this volume collects the primary documents-newspaper articles, interviews, and official statements-in which the debate raged, many translated into English for the first time. In the second section, a distinguished group of international scholars assess the political, historical, and cultural contexts of the debate, and consider its implications for such issues as the "culture wars," historical truth, and the politics of memory. Also included is a new essay by David Stoll in which he responds to his critics.


Arturo Arias is director of Latin American Studies at the University of Redlands.

New Book: Being Again of One Mind: Oneida Women and the Struggle for Decolonization

Kia ora, I received an email about a new book: Being Again of One Mind
Oneida Women and the Struggle for Decolonization by Lina Sunseri. Details about the book are below: Taima


Being Again of One Mind combines the narratives of Oneida women of various generations with a critical reading of feminist literature on nationalism to reveal that some Indigenous women view nationalism in the form of decolonization as a way to restore traditional gender balance and well-being to their own lives and communities.

By giving a voice to Oneida women’s thoughts on tradition and nation, this book challenges feminist ideas about the masculine bias of Western theories of nation and about the dangers of nationalist movements that idealize women’s so-called traditional role. Its unique blend of theory and narrative shows that the insights of mainstream feminism cannot be applied universally to all women or to societies with traditional forms of nation based on good relations between men and women. Contrary to theorists who present the concept of nation as a recent Western phenomenon, Lina Sunseri shows that the Six Nations had a long history of nation that preceded contact with Europeans and the transformation of gender roles that followed.

This alternative theory of gender and nation shows that Oneida women do not view nationalism and the embrace of tradition as threats but rather as a way for Indigenous women and men to be again of one mind.

Endorsements


"Sunseri provides a beautifully woven methodological framework that answers first to Oneida traditions and then to sociological or feminist ones. This is an important example for other scholars who wish to move beyond a critique of Western knowledge methodologies and into action."
-- From the Foreword by Patricia A. Monture, Professor of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan

About the Author


Lina Sunseri, whose Longhouse name is Yeliwi:saks (Gathering Stories/Knowledge), from the Oneida Nation of the Thames, Turtle Clan, is an assistant professor of sociology at Brescia University College, an affiliate of the University of Western Ontario. She is co-editor of Colonialism and Racism in Canada: Historical Traces and Racism, Colonialism, and Indigeneity in Canada.


Contents


Foreword by Patricia A. Monture
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Theorizing Nations and Nationalisms: From Modernist to Indigenous
Perspectives
2 A History of the Oneida Nation: From Creation Story to the
Present
3 Struggles of Independence: From a Colonial Existence toward
a Decolonized Nation
4 Women, Nation, and National Identity: Oneida Women Standing
Up and Speaking about Matters of the Nation
5 Dreaming of a Free, Peaceful, Balanced Decolonized Nation:
Being Again of One Mind
6 Concluding Remarks
Notes
References
Index

Native Social Work Journal

kia ora,

the following site has a number of awesome articles relevant to Native/Aboriginal social work practices and theories. Volumes 1-7 are available online for free. You can view by author or title of articles.

https://zone.biblio.laurentian.ca/dspace/handle/10219/378

Awesome reading, Taima

NZ Parliament passes controversial bill

NZ Parliament passes controversial bill: in NZ Herald 24 March 2011:

Legislation that repeals the Foreshore and Seabed Act and gives Maori the right to seek customary title to parts of the coastline has been passed into law after a passionate debate in Parliament.

The Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Bill passed its third reading today on a vote of 63 to 56.

It has divided Parliament and split the Maori Party - Hone Harawira's opposition to it was the main reason he quit to become an independent.

National, the Maori Party and United Future backed the bill while Labour, the Greens, ACT, the Progressive Party and Mr Harawira opposed it.

Only about 30 Maori supporters were in the public galleries as the bill was passed, breaking briefly into song as the vote was read out.

Sitting with them was a small group who apparently opposed it. One man got to his feet and shouted in Maori before walking out.

Attorney-General Chris Finlayson, the minister in charge of the bill, said the third reading marked the end of more than two years' consultation and policy development on an issue that had vexed the nation for almost a decade.

"We have had a very long conversation, and one thing that has become very clear is that noise does not always equal principled opposition," he said.

The Maori Party staked its future on the bill, and said it had delivered on its promises to repeal the 2004 Act and restore Maori access to the courts.

"We have honoured our word," co-leader Tariana Turia said.

"The challenge now is to test this new law. The message we have been getting from some iwi leaders is that now that the right of access to the courts has been restored, case law in customary rights may be politically achievable."

Mrs Turia urged whanau, hapu and iwi to grasp the opportunity and go to court to seek customary titles.

Labour opposes the bill because it doesn't believe it will be a lasting solution.

"Only the lawyers are going to benefit from this, precious little else will be achieved," MP Shane Jones said.

"This bill is a betrayal and Maori people have been sold out."

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said the bill was not what National wanted in every respect but the alternative would have been unresolved resentment and ongoing injustice.

"This bill isn't perfect but I suspect it will be lasting," he said.

Mr Harawira, whose appeal yesterday for a two-year moratorium on the legislation so it could be carefully considered by Maori fell on deaf ears, said it was "a sad betrayal" of all those who had voted for the Maori Party.

"This is a racist bill, nearly all Maori oppose it...our sovereignty is lost under this bill," he said.

Despite his fierce opposition to the bill, Mr Harawira forgot to cast a vote on its second reading and nearly missed his chance again today.

He cast his vote in Maori, and Deputy Speaker Lindsay Tisch said the translation represented it as "a view, not a vote".

Mr Harawira protested but Mr Tisch ruled the vote invalid.

National minister John Carter intervened, seeking the permission of Parliament for Mr Harawira to vote again.

It was granted, and Mr Harawira succeeded in having his vote counted.

The Green Party also said the bill was racist because it guaranteed free access to any beaches held under customary title.

Co-leader Metiria Turei said the 12,000 freehold titles already existing on the coastline did not guarantee that right.

The ACT Party tried to delay the third reading debate by putting up 700 questions to the chairs of select committees, a procedure which is allowed and, if it had worked, would have taken up so much time that the bill would not have passed before the 6pm adjournment.

But more than 600 were ruled out of order and the Government made sure most MPs who chaired select committees were not in the debating chamber to answer the others, so they had to be postponed.

ACT deputy leader John Boscawen managed to ask about a dozen pointless questions, wasting about 20 minutes.

Speaking during the debate, he said customary titles conferred on their holders rights over the coastline that no other New Zealanders could have.

"It could be a huge amount of the coast, billions of dollars of mineral wealth, a small group of Maori will have benefits denied to everyone else," he said.

Book: Indigenous Social Work around the World

Hello all

just been reading articles from the following book: Indigenous Social Work around the World: Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice by Mel Gray, John Coates and Michael Yellow Bird.

The book follows the thought that seeks to ask: how can mainstream Western social work learn from and, in turn, help advance Indigenous practice?

It is interesting and enlightening to read how different authors understand concepts such as decolonization, Indigenous practice, addressing diversity and cultural contexts. From my own perspective, it makes sense to find out how to address a range of cross-cultural contexts when applying a helping practice, however I do wonder at what expense this has on the First Nation or the Indigenous group on which the the practice is applied. A thought, Taima