Ko wai tatou?/ Who are we?
No doubt you have seen this REBELNATIVES.COM Neon sign in the Gallery of our Tattoo / Moko studio, but what does it mean?
We have noticed in this day and age the majority of our public are fixated with their phones, so rather than displaying our message on the shop wall, we have used this format to garner your attention.
Natives as a studio is the only one of its kind in Palmerston North and by its very existence was intended to be a rebellious act against social norms. What once started as Natives T-shirts being sold at the local flea markets in 1998-2006, progressed into Natives Tattoo Company 2012 and now serving our community after 2 decades of Moko, Maori art and urban flava, we have created this blog so we can Mihi to all of our like-minded entrepreneurs, share our story and offer our tautoko.
Our studio ranks have been filled with Design school Graduates, Maori Visual arts Graduates, Carving school dropouts, Highschool dropouts and ex inmates that first learnt Whakairo/ Maori Carving inside Correctional Facilities.
We have worked alongside some of the most influential Maori Artists of our time and the novice. Natives are an all inclusive open domain for all levels of broader knowledge and experience, in Arts/ Life/ Philosophy and more..
Rebel Natives Cause
The cause, is in support of wider Native Enterprise around the globe. We Māori are the indigenous people of Aotearoa and are disproportionately represented when compared to non Māori in the area of Health, Education and Literacy, Poverty, Wealth distribution including Assets and Business Ownership. In a Land that was once possessed entirely by our Great Grandfathers, Maori people have found ourselves representing the highest number of inmates among any other race currently in our Correctional Facilities. From Land confiscations and the incarceration of our Tūpuna, generations later we are represented in some of the poorest socio economic statistics in our own land.
Rebel NativesTerminology
The above excerpt in the Header of this page is from the National Library of New Zealand. It pertains to The Crowns papers relative to Military operations against the infamous Taranaki War Chief Titokowaru and his "Rebel Natives" this is where we draw the name.
Needless to say, The Wealthiest Taranaki land owners in the home of our ancestors are not of Māori blood, and I don't need to explain why.
Rebel Natives and the Crown
If you are a Native Business owner in the 21st Century, if you are Māori home owner or land owner I commend you on your efforts. We don't celebrate our success's often enough, as colonization has shown us poverty for so long that we sometimes mistakenly accept that poverty as an inheritance. But our true inheritance is one of Mana, Power, Dignity, Land ownership, Kaitiakitanga, abundance, Leadership and of course Māori owned Trade and Commerce.
NZ doesn't celebrate the fact, that before The Crown set about stealing all that there was to steal, The Maori Nation traded with Europe and NSW. Maori owned Sea faring ships 100's of Crew, Farms and Plantations, Whaling Stations and more, all owned and governed by Maori. NZ history doesn't celebrate the documented proof of shipping manifests belonging to the many Maori tribes of Aotearoa. Just as much as you can identify with the pain in your whakapapa, you can also identify with the Victory!
Rebel Natives Power
Rebel Natives are Powerful, Defiant, Intelligent, Entrepreneurial, Creative Visionaries and Pioneers.
Your Great Grandfathers navigated and settled the largest ocean on the planet with little more than Hard mahi, wisdom, capable hands and undying faith in their abilities, you too can claim that inheritance of ungoverned mana.
As we today live under Crown Rule. Privately buying back our little pieces of whenua little by little supporting and feeding our whānau, serving our hapū, succeeding and thriving, therefore defying The Crowns inheritance of Poverty that was intended for us.
I acknowledge you my fellow Rebel Natives.