Te Waka Toi/Creative New Zealand Indigenous Residency Program: Larry McNeil

Friday, 16 October 2009

Larry McNeil, Northern Tlingit artist from Alaska and recent recipient of the Te Waka Toi/Creative New Zealand - Longhouse Artist Residency, reports on his experiences in New Zealand.

 

It was a great honor to have recently completed an Artist Residency in
Aotearoa, which is the Māori name for New Zealand. It was a month-long artist residency that was sponsored and organized via a partnership between Te Waka Toi/Creative NewZealand and the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center; The House of Welcome at The Evergreen State College.

 

In my opinion, the best thing that happened as a result of the Artist Residency was the extended networking that went on between the many Māori artists, scholars, arts professionals, students and myself. In this sense, my role was that of an Indigenous artist representing North America as a kind of cultural ambassador. The networking allowed me to learn the commonalities and nuances between the Māori and the Indigenous people of the Americas. For an example, while in Whakatane, I was completely awed by Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, one of three institutions designated as wānanga. These institutions provide an education in a Māori cultural context, under their Education act of 1989. I was able to spend a few days with students and Tina Wirihana (the first artist to visit Evergreen through this international residency program). As a University Full Professor, I was deeply impressed by the intellectual rigor that their students brought to their studies in conjunction with artistry that can provide a large challenge to any arts curriculum. Their website states that “The formation of Awanuiārangi was an important step, which recognized the role of education in providing positive pathways for Māori development.”

 

If I could speak a bit more personally, I was constantly struck by how the Māori are so much like our own people on this continent. We both have a history of formidable warriors defending the homeland against foreign invaders, and are fiercest when it comes to defending families. Maybe another way of saying this is that our love for our people is fiercest of all and it is what has allowed us to persevere against all odds and has successfully taken us into the present and is laying the groundwork for the future. And I think that being a warrior today translates to getting the best education possible and constantly defending our mutual rights, land and cultural values. I was fed many of their best delicacies and was again struck by the commonalities we share. While talking on the phone to my brother about my trip he jokingly commented that either we’re the Northernmost Māori or they’re the Southernmost Tlingit!

 

I would like to thank all of the people at Te Waka Toi and the Evergreen Longhouse for their confidence in my ability to fulfill the ideals of this residency.

 

Tina Kuckkahn, the Director of the Longhouse and Puawai Cairns, the
Policy and Projects Adviser at Māori Arts have been my primary contact
people with the substantial logistical planning. There were also many people behind the scenes who had critical input into the residencies, like Sandy Adsett, Natalie Robertson, Takirirangi Smith, Bob Janke, June Grant, John Miller, Arnold Wilson, Megan Tamati-Quennell, among others. (Please excuse me if I don’t name them all here.)

 

To read Larry's full article, or more of Longhouse Education and Cultural Center's newsletter, click here.