Wednesday, January 27, 2010



Some fun from New Zealand

Someone is a bit too outspoken for their own good
"Writing "fake Maori" on their faces with marker pen tattoos to attract tourists has landed a Kiwi tour operator in hot water. The venture, called Discovery Heritage Centre, has admitted hiring Europeans, including French and Israelis, to dress in traditional Maori outfits and poke their tongues out in Maori war dance custom to lure tourists from cruise ships.

The director of the company has added fuel to the fire by saying she's only employing the "fakes" because Maori people in the North Island New Zealand town of Tauranga are too lazy to work. "Some of our Maori are too slack to promote themselves. Some of our Maori are too lazy to get out of bed to do that," Terina Puriri told the Herald on Sunday. "They don't turn up and it's a known thing for Tauranga Maori to do that."

The company provides "cultural liaison" and on-board dance performances for cruise ship tourists. Performers include a few authentic part-indigenous people and at least three foreigners dressed in feathered robes, holding traditional wooden weapons and with pen marks scrawled on their faces.

Ms Puriri said she had no problem using foreigners, adding that tourists didn't mind because they "love us purely because we are proud of (Maori) culture and we look beautiful".

Source

From the surname I gather that Ms Puriri is herself Maori or part Maori. Maoris are Polynesians -- like native Hawaiians

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So what's the big deal? If you go to the "Polynesian Cultural Center" on Oahu, you will find it is run by the Mormons and it hires a lot of kids from Utah to dress up like natives and serve at their luaus.

Anonymous said...

"Ms Puriri said she had no problem using foreigners, adding that tourists didn't mind because they "love us purely because we are proud of (Maori) culture and we look beautiful".

A rather interesting way to insult people and get away with it. I wonder if they also have people dressed up like Muslims to reenact beheadings.

Anonymous said...

See what happens when the door is left open?

Tamatoa AUDOUIn said...

The same happens here: Tahitians just don't see the point of showing their culture for money. Instead, french metropolitans flock to Tahiti and learn about the culture and set up all sorts of businesses with their recently acquired knowledge (mono'i oil, massage, tour guides, etc.)
Nevertheless, some part-tahitians now begin to set up their own businesses related to their culture.
For those interested in local island life, Huri Translations
publishes the PUNA VEĆ¢€™A, a bimonthly article about cultural and
linguistic stories related to French Polynesia at
http://www.huri-translations.pf/english/punaenglish.rss