Cultural baggage

I talked about this with my Uncle while I was in Warwick. With him I could share our knowledge and awareness of tikanga Māori and matauranga Māori. Shared some of our Māori narratives and discussed historical injustices.

We talked about how easy it was walking around Warwick - learning the history - soaking it up. The place at Warwick castle felt so ancient that Papatuanuku was snoozing now in relative peace where the castle sits upon her. The bloodshed was so far off - it was a really different vibe, totally different energy than at home.

At home - you go anywhere and you feel this weight. Papa is still hurting. Constantly being hurt and subjected to assualt and violence. The cultural baggage weighs you down. Knowing what happened as you drive through places, on roads built for genocide. To be fair - this is similar for me in Europe like when I walked into Dachau and driving on the Autobahn.

But the cultural weight at home is so heavy - sometimes it's all I think about. That vibration of hurt and shame. Horrific injustices and systemic abuse.

Here - the hurt is still there but time has lessened the weight.

Walking around the colloseum yesterday - I knew others had walked where we had, died in the halls and underneath... But the length of time between then and now is massive. It feels unreal that it happened. Even though we know it did.

So why is it hard for us to understand our immediate history? The events that take place even now. The bloodshed and hurt that is ongoing.

So that's a bit of what's on my mind right now.

Ngā mihi x