Art of Ta Moko

If I hurt feelings as I write this I am sorry. This has never been my idea of what I would like done to my face. I guess I would be insulted if someone "lied" about my culture, or told it different then how I would express it. But that doesn't help me with the issues of tattoos and moko. One is injecting ink into you the other is carving it into your face. The culture that resolves around the Moko think of their scars (don't know if that is the right word,) They believe that it shows how high up their family is and who is their ancestors are. It tells everyone about the individual with the burnt skin. (I don't mean that offensively either) I think the song writer Maniapoto got her point cross very clearly. I think she is talking to people like me, the skeptics, the people who don't necessarily believe in the type of culture that is established. But it is everyones right to practice the type of culture they want. 

Truthfully I have no idea if it is opinion or fact. Most people though go on opinion rather than fact. What they have learned from examples around them. I think that Maniapoto used her opinions on what her culture meant to her in order to write down her song. I think her approach was effective for her purpose to a degree. People of her own culture will listen to her song and rejoice! For everyone else I can't say, did it do anything for me? No but then I am a skeptic. 

She  truly shows that she loves her culture and that is what she believes in. Or she's a very good liar.  She wants her own culture to stay with her people. She doesn't like it when people mess up on her culture, the difference between tattoos and moko. the difference is very real to her and the culture that it symbolizes.  She likes her own culture and she doesn't want that to be ingrained on anyone else. Though odds are she likes other facts about globalization. 

I don't believe someone can be completely against globalization, because everywhere you go there is going to be things from different countries.