Mãori Santa in Welly
Wellington’s Aro Park looks set to be swamped as Nelson’s Ma¯ ori Santa comes to town.
Earlier this month, Robert Herewini appeared as ‘‘Ma¯ ori Santa’’ Hana Ko¯ ko¯ in Nelson’s Santa parade, sparking criticism about it not being a traditional Santa, with some of the comments racially charged.
That backlash – and a desire to let Herewini know that those comments were not typical of New Zealand – sparked a Facebook page, Bring Ma¯ ori Santa To Welly!
Aro Valley’s Lexi Taylor, who set up the page along with Natasha Crombie, said the original idea was to send a message of support to Herewini.
But given the overwhelming support for the idea – and Herewini’s agreement to come – it started a real plan to bring the Ma¯ ori Santa to Aro Valley’s December 22 Summer Sounds event at Aro Park to be the ‘‘star of the show’’.
By yesterday, 810 people had said they would attend and another 4600 said they were interested in attending. A crowd funding page had raised $1442 to bring Herewini to the capital.
Wellington mayor Justin Lester, who will be out of town on the day of the event, said it was good to see Wellingtonians get behind Ma¯ ori Santa.
In the Nelson parade, Herewini wore a red korowai (cloak) in place of the traditional red and white Santa suit. The change sparked complaints from many parents who said their children were upset by it.
Speaking on TVNZ’s Marae programme on Sunday, Herewini said it had been a difficult few days following his Hana Ko¯ ko¯ appearance. ‘‘It’s been pretty tough with all the comments and stuff that they’ve said on Facebook – it’s been quite draining and it’s had an effect on my family.’’