Whanganui letters: Land ownership a tangled web

Taranaki tribes signed no treaty to give up their land, writes Potonga Neilson. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Opinion

Yes, colonisation has been a huge problem for us Kiwis, but it all depends upon where and by whom.

Colonisation has been going on all around the Pacific Ocean for thousands of years with very little in the way of war and bloodshed. There was plenty of room for all of us.

But then Europeans turned up with their delusions of ownership. They totally ignored the Pacific-wide culture which had no such concept. Why? Because such things are not a part of the natural world in which they all lived.

To cut a long story short, our Pacific ancestors were asked to sell their land. The answer was, of course, no. The colonials replied, it’s all right, we will just wave our magic wand and you will own the land and be able to sell it. No, no, no, right up to this very day. The rest is that tangled web in which we all live. Our Taranaki tribes signed no treaty. I signed no settlement for my iwi. But we have lost it all anyway.

Due process for Māori under the law, right back to the year 1840, is the only way forward for us, culminating in the return of the custody of all our papakainga to the descendants of the original occupants. Justice must be seen to be done, nē?

G POTONGA NEILSON

Kaihaukupe (Castlecliff)

No soul in computers

Finn Williams’ piece (Opinion, June 23) about AI art nails it. It’s not the work of someone’s hand (or mouth or foot, in some artists’ cases), and it’s the human touch that is so important in all aspects of life: computers don’t have soul.

We were designed to communicate and to create, whether our creating makes music, pictures, a fence or a wiring system for a house. It’s good for the soul to feel that sense of achievement. Thanks Finn.

ANGELA STRATTON

Whanganui

Time to review rugby

There is much talk about the game of rugby losing spectators because there are too many stops.

It is a game that caters to body shapes that don’t fit most team sports so it would be a pity to change the rules so the game would not cater for front rowers and locks.

Make forwards jog straight to lineouts, Sir Wayne Smith’s idea, if you kick to the corner for a lineout from a penalty the defending team gets the throw in.

We need more room. We could widen the fields but that’s not practical in most cases, so we could remove the second five eight and perhaps even the blind side flanker, with the halfback to cover there.

Play with a smaller ball for quicker, longer passes. All lower grades should play with the smaller ball.

Allow rolling mauls to only go 5 metres, then feed the backs, or bent arm penalty awarded, tap and go. We might need more lines on the field to help referees; this might also help with the defence creeping offside, and the wings being in front of the kicker.

Get rid of white line fever with a limit of three pick and goes then a wide pass.

GARTH SCOWN

Whanganui