"Humans are so difficult" - revelation of the century.

[chairman_wow]

So, this is an interesting story. (I don't even want to think about the articles tabloids will print about it, though.)

The BBC World Service had a short radio interview with someone from the museum earlier this morning (probably the spokesperson; I was still half asleep at the time so I didn't catch her name), and the interviewer kept pushing her to say something about how many people in modern New Zealand actually believe in these spirits. She brushed the question off in the end, but is it really important, anyway? Churches don't care if you're Catholic or not, they still won't let you in if you're wearing shorts or a sleeveless top (always the ladies :/). Museums are institutions of learning, and banning a certain group from learning is 100% a dick move, but it's not an outright ban, just a warning. (Excluding those women from the behind-the-scenes-tour does seem like a dick move to me, especially since they were museum staff, so this is their career.) On the radio, it sounded like they were doing it at the request, or at least on behalf of the Maori whose objects they are, so what else is the museum going to do? It is the Maori's stuff.

What do you guys think?

In tangentally related news, did you hear about Druids getting Real Proper Grown Up Religion status? I like it, I just wish people would stop touting Druidism as the oldest religion in Britain, because that is a complete lie and a twisting of historical fact.


I should start my archaeology blogging up again. My theory courses so far (the three lectures/seminars I have had, that is) have been about 200% as interesting and mind-bending as any I've had before. Did I tell you how I have only just now realised the significance and influence of imperialism (on EVERYTHING)? .__. The reading is also pretty depressing on a regular basis. What is the point of anything if we cannot even agree on basic principles akadhskjf;shdfkjhumans are so difficult. But then I'll read something else that is so right and I totally agree with (except for the bits I don't). STOP PLAYING WITH MY HEART ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY.

Breakfast time now, I think.

Comments

[ilthit]

There's an interesting angle to this which is that New Zealand's museum is actually being amazingly respectful to the objects' makers and their religious significance. This is amazing to me because when I was in Canada I looked at a whole lot of Kwakwaka'wakw sacred masks and art that were never meant to be seen by anyone outside of a particular tribe, not to mention I've seen the mummies of kings who were buried with great ceremony and secrecy to make sure nobody would ever defile their bodies by, you know, placing them on display or something.

So in a way it's awesome that the museum is relaying the objects' owners' wishes to the public even at the cost of losing female customers and creating a hullabaloo (although the latter probably just helps publicity). I further noticed that not only is the request not binding, it's directed towards Maori women. Either the owners of the objects consider the spiritual significance to be for Maoris only, or don't really care if Pakeha miscarry...

But, then, this kind of consideration for Maoris is not unusual in NZ from what I've seen. Of course I'm only an outsider but there is the Maori party, Maori is an official language, you get Maori cultural centers and public figures etc etc. They SHOULD have all of this and they could have more. This is just a hell of a lot more than what our asshole colonizing European majorities usually allow.

So on that account, go NZ! Actually respecting museum items' cultural significance! On the other hand, boo for hurting female museum employees' careers... But then again this might not be the case if they're Pakeha and don't care, or the museum can make it right by offering extra positions for those female workers who had to/chose to skip this one.

[chairman_wow]

Oh yeah, I should probably have stated that explicitly in the post, I think it's incredibly awesome and commendable that they're being respectful like this. I didn't hear that it applied to Maori women only, actually. That makes the whole "imposing your religious beliefs on us" angle even less relevant, in a way. There's a difference in telling/warning someone about something and imposing it on them.

[ilthit]

I could be wrong about the advice being for Maori women specifically, but I seem to recall reading another article about this that mentioned that.

[chairman_wow]

I seems to be a lot of mixed information going around on who this actually applies to and whether it's a ban, or a warning, or a very very strong warning so if you go while pregnant no-one will talk to you or what. It's kind of hard to judge from all the way over here how big of a deal it is.