Toshi Seeger and Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Death 4 References 5 External links

Personal life

Toshi Seeger was born Toshi Aline Ohta on July 1, 1922, in Munich, Germany. Her father, Takashi Ohta, was a Japanese exile from Shikoku, while her mother, Virginia Harper Berry, was an American originally from Washington D.C. Her grandfather, who had translated Marxist writings into Japanese, had been ordered to leave Japan. However, Takashi Ohta took his father's place, as permitted under Japanese law at the time, and went into exile. He met Virginia Berry while traveling, and they married and lived in Munich. Toshi and her parents moved to the United States when she was six months old, and she was raised in Greenwich Village and Woodstock, New York. She attended the Little Red School House in Manhattan and graduated from The High School of Music & Art in 1940.

She met her future husband, Pete Seeger, at a square dance in 1939. The couple married in 1943 with an engagement ring bought with money borrowed from Pete's grandmother. In 1949 they moved to a log cabin without running water or electricity, with a view of the Hudson River. She has been credited as the foundation of Seeger's personal and professional success. Toshi, along with their children, went with Pete to his hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in Washington during the 1950s. Pete Seeger was cited for contempt of Congress in 1961, but his conviction was later overturned. Career

Toshi Seeger helped to set up the Newport Folk Festival during the early 1960s. She has also been credited with helping to discover Mississippi John Hurt, a country blues musician, during the same era. In 1965, she took part in the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. She developed a career as a filmmaker and producer, often focusing on folk music and musicians. Many of her films are preserved at the Library of Congress. In 1966, she released Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison, which focused on the traditional songs sung by Texas prison inmates as they chopped down trees. Pete Seeger's ban from television appearances for his political views was lifted in 1965. From 1965 to 1966, Toshi produced and directed a public television series, Rainbow Quest, hosted by her husband. Her official credited title for the show was "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer."

Toshi and Pete Seeger co-founded both the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and its related musical offshoot, The Great Hudson River Revival, also known as the "Clearwater Festival". She used the festival to rally public support for cleaning up the Hudson River. Under her direction, the festival also instituted a number of ideas which were not utilized at other music festivals during the 1970s and 1980s, providing sign language interpreters, handicapped accessible wheelchair access, and recycling programs. She recruited up-and-coming musical artists to perform at the festival through its planning committee, including Tracy Chapman, before they achieved popularity elsewhere. The Clearwater Festival now attracts more than 15,000 attendees to Croton Point Park each summer.

Toshi Seeger executive produced the 2007 PBS documentary, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, which won an Emmy Award. She was 85 years old at the time of the documentary's production. She served on numerous civic, environmental and artistic organizations, including the New York State Council on the Arts. Death

Toshi Seeger died at her home in Beacon, New York, on July 9, 2013, at the age of 91, nine days before what would have been her 70th wedding anniversary. She was surrounded by her husband; their children Daniel, Mika and Tinya; six grandchildren, including singer Tao Rodríguez-Seeger; and one great-grandson. Pete Seeger died six months later, on January 27, 2014, at age 94.

Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 and Toshi Seeger

Contents 1 Background 2 Provisions 2.1 Powers to the Māori Land Court 2.2 Powers to owners 2.3 Restrictions on transferring ownership of Māori land 3 Calls to change the act 4 References 5 External links

Background

Te Ture Whenua Māori Act replaced the Maori Affairs Act 1953 and is administered by Te Puni Kōkiri (the Ministry of Māori Development). Under previous Acts, like the Native Act 1894, any communally owned Māori land could be converted to freehold land (sometimes automatically). Under this Act, the Māori Land Court can "determine and declare, by a status order, the particular status of any parcel of land". Provisions Powers to the Māori Land Court

The Treaty of Waitangi (Article 2) confirms Māori customary title (recognises that when a state acquires sovereignty over another country, the pre-existing rights of the indigenous population remain) to the land. Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 gives the Māori Land Court the jurisdiction to consider this claim. Without limiting any rights of the High Court to make determinations, the Māori Land Court may declare the particular status of any land. For the purposes of the Act, all New Zealand land has one of six statuses: Māori customary land Māori freehold land General land owned by Māori General land Crown land Crown land reserved for Māori.

For example, "land that is held by Māori in accordance with tikanga Māori" may be declared "Māori customary land". There are limitations to acquiring or losing this status and the status of Māori freehold land. Powers to owners

The Act provides: New forms of trusts Ability to incorporate (so that owners have all the powers of a body corporate) Promotes groups of buildings that allow Māori to live sustainably on their land (papakainga)

Also provides for a variety of trusts which address ownership in a variety of different ways. Restrictions on transferring ownership of Māori land

More powers are given to the Māori Land Court for enforcing when land is allowed to change hands. Land is preferably transferred to descendants of the owners. Calls to change the act

There have been calls to have the Act changed in response to the New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy. Green Party MP Metiria Turei advocated amending the Act "so that any customary title in foreshore and seabed could not then be turned by the court into private title".
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