Tina Ngata

Tina Ngata is an advocate for environmental, Indigenous and human rights based in New Zealand.

Quotes

• Whereas diverse genders have a home and a history here, on and from this whenua and in this region of the globe – transphobia does not. It was brought here on a boat, along with white supremacy, and is rallying now, alongside its sibling of white supremacy, for its survival.
  • Tina Ngata, [1] Tina Ngata, March 25, 2023

• The fires of colonization robbed us of so much.
  • Tina Ngata, [2] Tina Ngata, March 25, 2023

• In the tens of thousands, New Zealanders are showing up to call for an end to the collective punishment, the indiscriminate killing, the unjust occupation, and to rightfully name these acts for what they are: crimes against humanity.
  • Tina Ngata and Tameem Shaltoni [3] Tina Ngata, November 28, 2023

• The 2023 New Zealand elections have arguably been the most racialised in our nation’s history.
  • Tina Ngata, [4] E-Tangata, October 8, 2023

• While every New Zealand election is customarily (and also unacceptably) characterised by race-baiting politics and the throwing of whānau Māori under the colonial bus for the sake of majority votes, this year we’ve seen multiple lines crossed that indicate a mainstreaming of extreme, violent anti-Māori rhetoric.
  • Tina Ngata, [5] E-Tangata, October 8, 2023

"Once were gardeners, lovers, poets… and warriors" (2018)

Tina Ngata, "Once were gardeners, lovers, poets… and warriors", The Spinoff (December 19, 2018)

• Colonisation does not uphold itself voluntarily. Like any structure, with time, if neglected, it will begin to crumble.

• The myth of the violent, brutish, immature, dependent warrior race is one such tool, used to hold up the structure of colonisation. It does this by legitimising the need for a parent state to oversee us, correct us, and dominate us. The truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as a genetic disposition towards warfare and violence. There is no “warrior gene”. Conflict was, as with all peoples, just one dimension of our complex reality.

• We are not a warrior race.

• We are, and always have been, a race of voyagers, scientists, gardeners, lovers, poets, composers, philosophers, artists, orators, mathematicians, dancers, astronomers, builders and healers. We were peacemakers and keepers as much as warriors – and in many cases more so.

• The trope of the savage indigenous man is one that is capitalised upon by media and state in a way that is harmful and diminishing.