Whiri Kemara's Anarchist Links

"Urewera 17" arrestee Te Rangikaiwhiria (Whiri) Andrew Kemara also goes by the name of Rangi Kemara.

While his links to the Tame Iti/Tuhoe wing of the "Urewera 17" are obvious , Kemara also has ties to the Wellington based anarchist faction.

Kemara has often posted on the Indymedia website, which is edited by two anarchist "Urewera 17" arrestees, Omar Hamed and a Swiss national who still has name suppression.

Kemara also works closely, in the Maori Internet Society with Teanau Tuiono, who is both an indigenous activist and an anarchist with links to the Wellington scene.

Tuiono draws inspiration from the Zapatista revolutionaries of Mexico, who have turned indigenous Mayan peasants into an army strong enough to create a semi autonomous state in Chiapas State.

Much like some Tuhoe seem to be attempting in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

An event entitled "Nice n Native" was held in the Waikato early this year.


The idea was to bring together a small group of indigenous activists...who were all actively working towards a different world to wananga (explore, sit, think and share ideas) indigenous self-determination. It is not often that indigenous peoples are given the opportunity to sit and share with other indigenous peoples stories of how our communities are surviving in the face of colonization, capitalism, westernism and other external influences.

Our whanau (family) that came together for the week ranged from the four corners of the earth, bringing together tangata whenua (peoples of the land) from Alaska, the Phillipines, The desert in Arizona and New Mexico, Australia and Aotearoa. Many peoples, many tribes, many mountains, rivers, clans where brought together at Motakotako Marae.


This gathering of domestic and foreign radicals was organised by Conscious Collaborations, an organisation run by Tuiono Tuiono and Kiritapu Allan.

Conscious Collaborations has played a leading role in the "Urewera 17" arrestee support network.

Of the 25 odd Maori activists attending Nice n Native three were the "Urewera 17" arrestees Emily Bailey, Ira/Tim Bailey and of course Rangi Kemara.

Emily Bailey incidentally has visited a Zapatista stronghold at Oventic in Chiapas.

Also attending Nice n Native were Tuhoe activist Ati Teepa, brother of "Urewera 17" arrestee Maraki Teepa and former Maoist activist, Helen Te Hira.

Kane Te Manakura, of Tuhoe, gave his impression the event;

The collective power of the people brought together for Nice n Native has spurred on the realization that this, and a sustainable indigenous self-determination is not only necessary but possible. By being so thoroughly but supportively humbled I was able to listen and see from a fresh perspective, and the very real hope that our communities can be healthy, whole and function independently of the capitalist empire is what I saw.

I have come to recognize something of how deeply colonized I am, a good thing because now I can start the positive and humbling process of de-colonisation.

Guess who has offered to host the next Nice n Native gathering?

Ngai Tuuhoe has put in a tono (offered) to host the next Nice 'n' Native in their rohe (tribal region) in the heart of the Urewera. It is proposed that Nice 'n' Native 08 will take place in March 22-28 2008.

Given recent events, I wonder if a change in venue might not be a good idea.

New Zeal Someone, presumably involved with Conscious Collaborations has diverted my links to a report on the Nice n Native gathering and to Conscious Collaboration, so they cannot be reached from this blog.

To find them Google these links;

http://www.conscious.maori.nz/page.php?4

http://www.conscious.maori.nz/front.php

If they are similarly altered just Google "Nice n Native 2007 report" or "Concious Collaborations"

Truth will out.