This little ditty is based on the oft-suggested idea that Henry Williams (translator/writer of Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was complicit in deceiving Māori by using the word ‘Kawanatanga’ as a translation for ‘Rangatiratanga’.

Well… duh!

Though the likes of Don Brash, Judith Collins and (ick) Mike Hosking might argue today that the VERY reverend Williams would never countenance such a thing, the jury (not Durie) remains out on whether or not Williams was culpable.

The Brash Principle – that Māori knowingly and willingly surrendered their sovereignty to Hobson/Queen Victoria – has been refuted by the highest courts in our land.

ID10M seeks to pin the nefarious conduct of the colonists onto like-minded modern anti-Māori political/media players. Thus we have Judith, Don and Mike as the three little piggies negotiating a ‘get out of jail free’ card via Williams’s notorious ‘cover letter’ to the two translations of the Treaty.

My problem with this piece is not the rough 2D caricatures, or the dialogue, or even the intent. I just feel that the children’s story of the 3 little piggies isn’t the right vehicle for the polemic.

The Spider-Wolf doesn’t huff or puff or blow their houses down. They don’t run weeweewee from one ruined house to the next until the clever piggie who built his house from bricks finally kills the ‘spider-wolf’ – that’s how the story ends remember?

In this re-telling, the Spider-Wolf, who appears to represent Ngā Rangatira Māori who refused to sign the Treaty, simply exits because he/she feels ‘uncomfortable’, while the somewhat confusing Fox, who appears to represent the chiefs who did sign, wears the mantle of ‘kūpapa’.

I don’t get it.

Yes it’s funny – hangareka ana even – but the ideas aren’t connected and all that remains is a cacophony of grievance. And what’s the 10 in the middle of the word ‘idiom’ all about?

On the other hand, Nicola Kawana’s play, Kupapa, is disturbing and glorious – listen here.

For ID10M, see here.

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