For Māori. For Sure.

Suzanne Tamaki’s sardonically titled photographic series Treaty of Why Tangi, 2005–11 uses word play to agitate discussions about

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colonisation and its effect on Māori culture. Taking the New Zealand flag as her starting point, Tamaki destabilises symbols of nationhood in a diptych of portraits of Māori model Lisa Ward. In the first image, For God, For Queen, For Country, 2011, Ward wears a top hat, gloves and pearls, and is draped in a New Zealand flag that has handstitched tāniko (weaving) through the red cross to imitate korowai (traditional Māori cloaks). In the second image, For Māori, For Sure, 2011, Ward stands defiantly, fiercely clutching scissors in one hand and a ripped flag in the other. Gone is the top hat to better display her moko kauae (chin tattoo), as is the pearl necklace, which has been replaced by a pounamu and earrings made from white satin ribbon. When read together, Ward moves from what Tamaki describes as ‘the perfect colonised native’ to a wahine toa (female leader), claiming tino rangatiratanga (sovereignty).

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