Sad Joke on a Marae

Reading Sad Joke on a Marae by Apirana Taylor really got me thinking about how Maori men are portrayed as being alcoholics who spend all their time and money at the pub and are violent people who spend time in jail. This is shown in the text by saying “Ngatai DB is my tribe. The pub is my marae. My fist is my taiaha. Jail is my home”. I believe that this is a terrible stereotype for the natives of our country to have and also believe that it is completely wrong. This stereotype of violence and alcoholism also means that they are seen as ‘scum’ in society and people will be less likely to want to befriend them therefore leading to loneliness which I know is one thing I would not want to be.

Apirana Taylor is trying to get the message out that Maori are forgetting or not knowing enough about their culture and language, this is shown in the last line with “I said nothing but Tihei Mauriora for that is all I know”. I think that Maori people not knowing enough about their own language and culture is a bad thing. Personally I have not met any Maori people who are fluent in both Maori and English. This makes Maori a dying language and I believe that Maori should be taught to children as well as English so that it does not become a lost language or culture and would mean that Europeans have almost completely taken over the land that Maori once use to own and created a lost culture which would be a terrible day in New Zealand