New Zealand's recently elected youngest Member of Parliament took the opportunity of her maiden speech to perform the Haka 'war cry' of the Māori indigenous community. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke made an impactful first Parliament appearance by representing her Māori roots with the enactment. Other Māori people in the Parliament symphonised with her to create a culturally powerful environment. She addressed the Māori children longing to learn their native tongue in the speech.
She said, "I will live for you... but I will also die for you," the New Zealand Herald reported. "To the Māori (children) who have been sitting in the back of their classroom their whole life... Never fit in. You are perfect. You are the perfect fit." A video of the performance that happened in December is now going viral globally on social media.
Who Is Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke?
21-year-old Maipi-Clarke was elected to the parliament in October during the New Zealand general election in 2023, making her the youngest MP in the country. Before her, the youngest MP was in New Zealand was in 1853, when 20-year-old James Stuart-Wortley was elected.
Maipi-Clarke's motto is to amplify the voices of the Māori community. She has ancestry in the Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Te Āti Awa, and Ngāi Tahu regions. Her father, Potaka Maipi is a journalist with TVNZ. Maipi-Clarke graduated from Te Wharekura o Rākaumangamanga (The University of Rakumanga) in Huntly.
Maipi-Clarke runs a Māori community garden in Huntly that educates children about gardening according to the community's lunar calendar, according to The Guardian. When she was just 17, she published a book called Maahina about the Māori lunar calendar.
Activism for the Māori community runs in her blood. Maipi-Clarke is the granddaughter of Taitimu Maipi, whose activism contributed to the removal of the Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton statue in June 2020 as the Black Lives Matter protests took over the USA. She is the grand-niece of activist Hana Te Hemara, who fought for the recognition of their native language in the Parliament in 1972.
Maipi-Clarke first got global recognition for her speech outside the Parliament during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori in September 2022. Several political parties approached her afterwards, asking her to consider joining them. Recalling this in her December 2023 Parliament appearance, she said, "I truly feel like I've already said my maiden speech outside the steps of Parliament last year, for the 50th anniversary of Te Petihana... I dedicated that one... to my grandparents... However, this speech today... is dedicated to all our children."
/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/iUYfaBbcMozaYLoGnoov.png)
/shethepeople/media/member_avatars/6PFAqAWygpdpsW9HJtjQ.png )
Follow Us/shethepeople/media/media_files/RCHodNEYs8IW6cgSj2kw.png)