45,000 arrive at Parliament in Wellington, flying the red, black-and-white Māori sovereignty flag, and waving placards announcing tōitu te tiriti, “protect the Treaty”. For New Zealand, this is a big protest, and one steeped in claims and counter-claims. It also represents a new “awakening” of Māori tribalism across the country.
An elder Estonian offered me this thought, and that what is occurring today in NZ took place in his homeland in the mid to late-1800s. One parallel is that most New Zealanders today are largely ignorant of what Māori self-determination would mean, or of the country’s history or of democracy. So, too, in Estonian territory during Tsarist times, although, in this case, the Estonians may be forgiven.
There had been no self-government in Estonia in more than 600 years, and no tradition of Westminster-style, representative, parliamentary democracy. The achievement of Estonian leaders was, therefore, nothing less than astonishing, in planting the seed of a separate, independent, democratic nation state.
Literature appeared and flourished in the 1800s, written in the Estonian language, including the poems of Lydia Janssen whose last name changed to Koidula, “of the dawn”. Other members of the national awakening also took on Estonian-sounding last names.
In 1881 a student designed a national flag, horizontal stripes in cornflower-blue, black, and white. A procession took this flag from the university town of Tartu, south to Otepää three years later where they consecrated it in the pühajärv, the holy lake, and then hid it.
While falling short of establishing an Estonian nation, these events were profound and fundamental - following the end of the Tsarist regime and during a military power vacuum – to enabling courageous individuals to stake a claim to Estonian-speaking territory, and declare independence on 24 February 1918. Our grandfather was a very young soldier at this time.
Today Estonia is once more a picture of uncertainty. An eastern neighbour embroiled in a war of its own making, to the south and east, while Estonia has become a haven for those fleeing the conflict: war-weary Ukrainians, and young Russians avoiding conscription and likely, untimely death or injury.
Even so, Estonia’s population is in gradual decline, young people seeking a better life abroad, while the government outlaws Russian-speaking schools in a bid to safeguard the country’s cultural identity and integrity.
Where is Estonia going? Does our homeland – our kodumaa – have a future, in the long run? I raised this subject at a Christmas celebration of the Esto community in Wellington; there was much shrugging of shoulders. After all, young and old had left Estonia, for one reason or another. Others, like me, were born abroad, and speak only a rudimentary eesti keelt. We may have a passport, but what of it.
It seems strange to me that a country that fought hard for its re-independence in 1991 sits today on the brink of fate. I am curious to learn how the Estonians will continue to survive and thrive, and so intend to visit in 2025, where I have unfinished business.
Postscript
Today is 20 December, our father’s birthday. He would have been 92 today. Dad and grandma became grateful citizens of New Zealand; they worked, raised their families and contributed to their new home, which stands now close to being torn apart.
The question must be asked: does New Zealand do the right thing by Māori tribal leaders and establish equality between this leadership and the government of NZ (which the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 could be said to hint at), or does New Zealand remain a democracy, like Estonia, in which all citizens, regardless of ethnic origin or when they arrived to these shores - provided they subscribe to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship - have equal rights.
Equal rights means, among other things: equal rights and access to vote, to healthcare, to education, to law and order, to freedom of speech, and to the rule of law.
This also means rewards to those who work, raise our families, contribute to our communities, including in politics, and make our country a better place for everyone.
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