Saturday, March 30, 2024

FROM THE RIDGE: Statues shouldn’t be set in stone

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In these troubled and uncertain times it’s great to live in a country where the single biggest issue of the week has been about statues.
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I like a good statue.

Much to the disappointment of my boys as they grew up I’d insist on stopping the car or, worse, detouring to view a statue or monument.

Making them even unhappier would be my insistence they get out to have a look and I’d read out all the inscriptions and plaques relating to the monument.

“This is dumb” or “I thought we were going to McDonalds” would ring out, making me grumpy at their lack of a sense of history, the boys grumpy at being made to do something they considered irrelevant and Jane grumpy because everyone else was grumpy. Bitterness and rancour would fill the car as we carried on our way. Those were the days.

However, it’s true I hadn’t noticed 90% of the statues were middle aged or old white men and certainly not a reflection of the society we lived in or that even existed when these guys had statues erected to their memory and achievements.

So, the debate has opened my eyes.

Now these fellas are in great peril of being removed, defaced, painted and toppled.

Except, of course, the likes of Colin Meads, Michael Jones and Kate Sheppard.

Captain John Hamilton hardly survived the first day of the debate with his removal. I liked the suggestion he should have been left in place but Hamilton City removed him instead.

Hamilton never set foot in Hamilton. He fought against Maori in the Land Wars and was killed near Tauranga in 1864. In his last act he sprang up onto the parapet shouting “follow me men”. Then was shot in the head and fell dead. History doesn’t record whether his men choose to bounce up to follow his example or deftly sprang back into their trench keeping their heads well down.

There are a few other statues dotted around the land shivering in their boots as local communities debate whether to shift them or let them stay.

I’m keen on leaving them in place but with more information on the rights and wrongs these fellows committed and why not everyone is so pleased to see them.

That way dads for generations to come can get the kids out of the car and engaged in deep and meaningful conversations along the lines of how the victors write their own version of history and why the vanquished don’t see it the same way. The kids are going to love it.

Mind you, someone, possibly Marcus Aurelius, once said something along the lines of not venerating a man who had turned to ash so perhaps the very idea of statues is bad and outdated.

I’m also big on monuments. Stonehenge is one of my favourite places. The tenacity and commitment of those folk 5000 years ago to drag huge stones all the way from Wales has to be admired. Now, that person whose idea it was must be the motivator of history. But this and other ancient stone circles all around the world were put in place for spiritual and calendar reasons, not to mark an individual.

However, the great pyramids are exceptionally large tombs and a message to the populace about who is in charge and no one wants them despoiled. Likewise, the Taj Mahal and other elaborate mausoleums. They are a valued part of human history.

I noted in Mexico how the conquering Spanish used large chunks of the Incas’ and Aztecs’ incredible stone constructions in the foundations of their Christian churches as a propaganda message to show who was now in charge.

Place names are also in grave danger of being changed.

I’m relaxed about that prospect, if it ever happens.

After all, I went to schools in Takapau and Waipukurau, farm in the Whatuma area and live not far from the towns of Onga Onga, Tikokino, Waipawa, Otane and Porangahau. The creeks on our farm feed into the Maharakeke, which, in turn, flows into the Makaretu then the Tukipo, which all combined join the Tuki Tuki River.

No statues or place names commemorating army generals or politicians around here. Mind you, Waipawa did have a big, yellow, concrete duck called Pawa for about 10 years but it was tragically removed because, after the council spruced the town up, it was felt it didn’t fit in with the new look.

Yes, Picton has always been Picton but is named after a nasty slave trader who became a bad governor of Trinidad.

Cromwell, named after Oliver, is also going through the name change debate. He murdered thousands of innocent Irish not to mention being guilty of regicide when he was instrumental in Charles I having his head lopped off. Tirau is the Maori name for the area.

We don’t want to bury or ignore history, good or bad, but we also need to be cognisant of the feelings of people about that history.

The debates are a good thing.

I’m sure there are compromises and solutions where these sorts of issues can work both ways.

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