New Zealand appointed its first Indigenous female foreign minister Monday to represent what's shaping up to be one of the most diverse parliaments in the world.

Nanaia Mahuta, who is Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, four years ago also became the country's first female member of parliament to wear a moko kauae, a traditional tattoo on her chin. The country's previous foreign minister, Winston Peters, is also Māori.

"I'm privileged to be able to lead the conversation in the foreign space," Mahuta said, according to national broadcaster Radio New Zealand.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's center-left Labour Party was reelected in a landslide last month, winning 49.1% of the vote according to preliminary results. Taking 64 of the 120 seats, her party was the first to win a majority since the country's current political system was introduced in 1996.

Ardern's incoming parliament looks set to be one of the most diverse in the world. Almost half of the country's lawmakers will be women -- significantly higher than the global average of 25%.
Mahuta was first elected to parliament in 1996, and has previously held a number of portfolios, including the minister of local government and Māori development.

She is related to the late Māori queen, Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu, and the current Māori monarch, Kingi Tuheitia, according to RNZ. The Kīngitanga, or Māori King movement, dates back more than 160 years and is a significant political presence in New Zealand.

In 2016, Mahuta took part in a traditional moko -- or Māori tattooing design -- ceremony, and became the first woman to wear a moko kauae to parliament.

Moko are hugely symbolic and contain information about a person's ancestry, history and status. There are also sacred protocols around tā moko -- the act of applying a moko to a person. Historically, moko were applied with chisels but now tattoo machines are often used.

At the time, Mahuta said she hadn't given a lot of thought to how her tattoo would break new ground. "I've just thought about more a longer projection of my walk in life and kind of the way I want to go forward and make a contribution. That's the main thing for me," she said, according to the RNZ report. Rukuwai Tipene-Allen, a political journalist for Māori Television who also wears a moko kauae, said Mahuta's appointment was hugely significant.

"The first face that people see at an international level is someone who speaks, looks and sounds like a Māori," she said. "The face of New Zealand is Indigenous."

She said the fact Mahuta wears a moko kauae is hugely empowering.

"It shows that our culture has a place at an international level, that people see the importance of Māori, and the point of difference that being Māori brings to such a role," Tipene-Allen added. "Wearing the markings of her ancestors shows people that there are no boundaries to Māori and where they can go."

Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum congratulated Mahuta on her appointment as foreign minister, with Simon Bridges -- the former leader of the center-right National Party -- saying: "It's an important time internationally and you'll be great."

Green Party politician Golriz Ghahraman -- who was New Zealand's first elected refugee MP -- congratulated Mahuta, saying it was "exciting" that the country was "decolonizing" its voice in foreign affairs.
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During the premiere for his new movie, Aquaman, Momoa performed the haka (an ancient ceremonial dance of the Māori) alongside his children and local New Zealanders he met while filming the movie.

He's one of Hollywood's fastest rising stars and stands tall at 6ft 5" inches tall. And Jason Momoa, 39, was the star attraction at the Aquaman premiere where he broke into a performance of the haka with his children on the red carpet at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on Wednesday.

The Game Of Thrones star commanded attention at the premiere when he arrived carrying a golden trident which he snapped across his knee, ferociously.

Jason was quickly joined by a large group, including his children Lola, 11, and Nakoa-Wolf, nine, who also took part in the Maori ceremonial dance of New Zealand.

Jason, from Hawaii, has long been a fan of the New Zealand All Blacks and looked right at home alongside New Zealand's Temuera Morrison who plays Aquaman's father in the film.

The haka is a ceremonial dance or challenge in Māori culture. It is a posture dance performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Although commonly associated with the traditional battle preparations of male warriors, haka have been performed by both men and women, and several varieties of the dance fulfil social functions within Māori culture. Haka are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions.


Jackson and Hokowhitu state, "haka is the generic name for all types of dance or ceremonial performance that involve movement." The various types of haka include whakatū waewae, tūtū ngārahu and peruperu. The tūtū ngārahu involves jumping from side to side, while in the whakatū waewae no jumping occurs. Another kind of haka performed without weapons is the ngeri, the purpose of which was to motivate a warrior psychologically. The movements are very free, and each performer is expected to be expressive of their feelings. Like the ngeri they were performed without weapons, and there was little or no choreographed movement.

A New Zealand unit recently gave a traditionally intimidating farewell to visiting U.S. artillery troops in the form of a haka, a chant and dance from the country's indigenous population, the Maori.

The Haka is iconic throughout the world. If you are interested in rugby, then you probably know that the All Blacks perform a haka at the start of each of the rugby games. But, did you know why they do it? There are multiple reasons; and it comes back to the fact that the haka is important to the indigenous people of New Zealand; the Māori. It is an important, iconic part of their history and traditions.

The first hakas were created and performed by different Māori tribes as a war dance. It is an ancestral war cry. It was performed on the battlefields for two reasons. Firstly, it was done to scare their opponents; the warriors would use aggressive facial expressions such as bulging eyes and poking of their tounges.

They would grunt and cry in an intimidating way, while beating and waving their weapons. The second reason they did this was for their own morale; they believed that they were calling upon the god of war to help them win the battle. They were heavily choreographed and performed in time. It gave them courage and strength. This type of haka is called a peruperu haka.

Overtime, the haka evolved and it came to be used for more than just battles. It became a way for communities to come together and it was a symbol for community and strength. This type of haka is called a ngeri haka.

Unlike the peruperu, the ngeri does not use weapons. Their purpose is different; they are performed to simply move the performs and viewers physcologically, rather than to cause fear. This different goal is reflected in the way that they are performed.


Their movements are more free, giving each participant the freedom to express themselves in their own movements. Both males and females can perform a haka; there are special ones that have been created just for women.

New Zealand leader in Kahu huruhuru praised as proud moment for female leaders and Māori worldwide

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has caused a stir with a striking image of her walking the halls of Buckingham Palace swathed in a traditional Māori cloak during this week’s Commonwealth heads of government meeting.

The prime minister wore a Kahu huruhuru; a Māori cloak adorned with feathers and bestowed on chiefs and dignitaries to convey prestige, respect and power, said Mark Sykes, guardian of Māori special collections at Te Papa, the national museum of New Zealand.

Sykes said Ardern’s choice was a proud moment for Māori around the world. “Cloaks are worn for warmth, protection and to symbolise your status and mana [power],” said Sykes. “I think it shows how she is portraying herself as a leader of Māori, of all of New Zealand, of everyone. It made me feel proud. She wore it well. She wore it so well.”

On social media in New Zealand the striking image went viral, with many people commenting that the picture captured the inversion of traditional gender roles; a female world leader wearing a powerful cloak while pregnant and representing her country.

There are more than 10 varieties of Māori cloak, broadly referred to as Korowai, and the Kahu huruhuru become prestigious from the mid-1800s, with Kiwi feather cloaks the most valuable and sought after. Two of them were given to the Queen and Prince Philip on their 1954 tour of New Zealand, and were later worn by other members of the royal family when they visited the country.


According to Te Papa, in the Māori world birds were given the task of carrying spiritual messages between the gods and people, and their feathers were prized and sacred.

Ardern’s Kahu huruhuru has been loaned to her from the London Māori club Ngāti Rānana.


Modern-day Kahu huruhuru are often made from the feathers of birds killed by predators or on motorways, because many native New Zealand birds such as the Kereru and Pukeko are endangered and protected species.
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Say kia ora to the fiercest and cutest Maōri warrior the internet has ever seen.

Herea Winitana from Rotorua, New Zealand (or Aotearoa ), shared a video of an adorable baby over the weekend — and just like that, Down Under's collective heart was melted.

According to TVNZ, baby Atutahi has only just turned two-years-old, but he's well on his way to mastering the powerful show of Maōri culture and identity that is the haka. Just watch.

Judging by the comments, this little cutie (and the other kids who can be heard in the video) have struck viewers right in the feels.

One commenter wrote, "As a non Maori, seeing tamariki [children] as young as this baby, performing a haka in a non formal environment (with probably his father), I can't help but appreciate the whanau [family or community] of this young boy. Great work, and keep inspiring us here in Aotearoa and around the world, with your young ones raw passion for hakaz... Chur 🤙😀 much aroha. [love]"

"I love this on so many levels. My 'original' culture was stripped from my ancestors by force. Even though I'm not Maori, I'm still filled with pride knowing that his will be passed along for at least one more generation," wrote another.


And there's more where this video came from. Another haka Atutahi performed last year (with his dad, Manii Konui, chanting along) who and shared by the Facebook page Maōri Worldwide, garnered 11 million views.


Impressive work, little warrior! The future is in good hands.
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Mount Taranaki in New Zealand is to be granted the same legal rights as a person, becoming the third geographic feature in the country to be granted a “legal personality”.

Eight local Māori tribes and the government will share guardianship of the sacred mountain on the west coast of the North Island, in a long-awaited acknowledgement of the indigenous people’s relationship to the mountain, who view it as an ancestor and whanau, or family member.

The new status of the mountain means if someone abuses or harms it, it is the same legally as harming the tribe.

In the record of understanding signed this week, Mount Taranaki will become “a legal personality, in its own right”, said the minister for treaty negotiations, Andrew Little, gaining similar rights to the Whanganui river, which was granted legal personhood earlier this year.

Little said the agreement offered the best possible protection for the landmark, which is becoming an increasingly popular tourist attraction after Lonely Planet named the Taranaki region the second best place to visit in the world last year.

“As a New Plymouth local I grew up under the gaze of the maunga [mountain] so I’m particularly pleased with the respect accorded to local tangata whenua [local people] and the legal protection and personality given to the mountain,” Little said.


“Today’s agreements are a major milestone in acknowledging the grievances and hurt from the past as the Taranaki iwi experienced some of the worst examples of Crown behaviour in the 19th century.”

As part of the agreement the New Zealand government will apologise to local Māori for historical breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi against the mountain, although local tribes will receive no financial or commercial redress.


The chief negotiator for Taranaki iwi, Jamie Tuuta, told Fairfax the agreement was significant for Māori people nationwide.

“It [Mt Taranaki] provides that sense of place, social association and identity,” he said.

Gerrard Albert, who negotiated legal personhood for the Whanganui river earlier this year after a 140-year fight, said all Māori tribes regarded themselves as part of the universe, at one with and equal to the mountains, the rivers and the seas.


The new laws being introduced honoured and reflected their world view, Albert said, and were setting a precedent for other Māori tribes in New Zealand to follow in Whanganui and Mt Taranaki’s footsteps.

“We can trace our genealogy to the origins of the universe,” said Albert. “And therefore, rather than us being masters of the natural world, we are part of it.”


Mount Taranaki is 120,000 years old and is the country’s most perfectly formed dormant volcano, last erupting in 1775. It is also thought to be New Zealand’s most frequently climbed mountain.
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