Twenty-one-year-old Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, the youngest lawmaker in New Zealand in 170 years, performed haka in her parliament speech last month. The video of this cultural performance has resurfaced on the internet and is going viral. In her maiden speech, Maipi-Clarke said, “I will die for you … but I will [also] live for you.”
“I truly feel like I’ve already said my maiden speech outside the steps of Parliament last year, for the 50th anniversary of Te Petihana,” she said, adding she dedicated that speech to her grandparents. “However, this speech today … is dedicated to all our children,” she told parliament in December.
At the opening of the speech, she performed Māori haka, the war dance of the Māori people in New Zealand.
Here’s a look at the video:
🚨🚨⚡ 🇳🇿In a groundbreaking moment in New Zealand’s political landscape, 21-year-old Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke delivered a captivating maiden speech that echoed the strength of her heritage and challenged the status quo.
Maipi-Clarke, the youngest lawmaker in 170… pic.twitter.com/PSDiWa5jkD
— Fahad_ Heaven™ (The Wise) 🇵🇸 (@Fahad_Heaven) January 5, 2024
Who is Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke?
Born in 2002, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been representing the Te Pāti Māori also known as the Māori Party as an MP since last year’s New Zealand general election. She is the youngest lawmaker since James Stuart, who was elected in 1853 at the age of 20.
Her grandfather, Taitimu Maipi, was a member of the Māori activist group Nga Tamatoa. According to a report by the NZ Herald, her great, great, great grandfather was New Zealand’s first Māori minister in parliament.
“Hooki mai too mokopuna kia koe. My great x4 grandfather, Wiremu Katene, first Maaori Minister in Parliament. My first stop taaku kaitiaki i roto i teenei whare,” she said in a post on Instagram last year.
