Hi guys! Kiwi here. Thanks for covering this, it was covered so well! Some pronounciation notes: - Typically the blend “wh” in most Māori dialects is pronounced “F”, but in the dialect of the local iwi, Wanganui is actually pronounced “w” as you did, so good job on that! - the intonation on “tangata whenua” was a wee bit off, so probably worth looking at again the next time te reo comes up. Overall great work and thanks for covering this and good on you for having a go, ka pai e hoa!
Crash Course Philosophy described personhood as the quality of "deserving moral consideration". I don't know about the moral part (I don't really have any way of connecting to the spiritual/sentient part of Te Awa Tupua), but considering a river as a person reminds me of the Gaia hypothesis (about the Earth itself behaving as a single, self-regulating organism). At the very least rivers (and also nature in general) deserve ecological consideration, seeing how we depend on them for things like water, food (fishing), transportation, and (hydro) power. Moreover, it's quite possible that the religious/spiritual consideration came from recognizing the ecological importance (so much so it transcended to the non-mundane/sacred sphere), so that's basically another way of expressing something we all should recognize.
Instead of “belief” I prefer to think of it as “ways of being”. People live with the river in the same way they live with each other. A couple of rivers and Mother Water have been granted legal personhood in Peru as well.
It's not just the rivers the Māori consider ancestors. Mountains, or Maunga, are also considered ancestors, or tipuna. They take this seriously enough that Taranaki received a credit in the movie The Mountain (2024).
Oh hey, the colonisers also did the same thing with the word “dharma”. Now in Hindi along with its original meaning we also use the word dharma to mean religion, since there is no word for religion in the western sense.
The constitution may prohibit laws respecting an establishment of religion, but that doesn't necessarily stop them from making a law disrespecting an establishment of religion. /s
Hmm, so recently I had a conversation on what it would mean if an ai was granted human rights. This video made me think person hood really isn't dependent on sentience. Like company's having personhood and even a river.
So fascinating to me that anyone so highly educated who understands that cultures the world over view "religion" so differently, but remains identified with the one that's more-or-less in which they were raised.
Hi guys! Kiwi here. Thanks for covering this, it was covered so well! Some pronounciation notes:
- Typically the blend “wh” in most Māori dialects is pronounced “F”, but in the dialect of the local iwi, Wanganui is actually pronounced “w” as you did, so good job on that!
- the intonation on “tangata whenua” was a wee bit off, so probably worth looking at again the next time te reo comes up.
Overall great work and thanks for covering this and good on you for having a go, ka pai e hoa!
I learn so much from John. He just makes so much sense in his videos that I'm more curious about this stuff than I have been in 6 years ö
Reminds me a lot of the Japanese religious traditions. I've always found this way of interpreting the world to be beautiful.
9:55 the fact that the US Supreme Court deemed that corporations can be people is really telling of what the US religion is.
…Y’know, the point that we legally recognize corporations as people does make the recognition of a river’s personhood seem a lot less silly
Crash Course Philosophy described personhood as the quality of "deserving moral consideration". I don't know about the moral part (I don't really have any way of connecting to the spiritual/sentient part of Te Awa Tupua), but considering a river as a person reminds me of the Gaia hypothesis (about the Earth itself behaving as a single, self-regulating organism). At the very least rivers (and also nature in general) deserve ecological consideration, seeing how we depend on them for things like water, food (fishing), transportation, and (hydro) power. Moreover, it's quite possible that the religious/spiritual consideration came from recognizing the ecological importance (so much so it transcended to the non-mundane/sacred sphere), so that's basically another way of expressing something we all should recognize.
Instead of “belief” I prefer to think of it as “ways of being”. People live with the river in the same way they live with each other. A couple of rivers and Mother Water have been granted legal personhood in Peru as well.
Yay this is my favorite notification I get all week! It’s religion nerd time! 😊
This entire concept needs to be applied to a lot of things in the environment, honestly.
In India , we already treat river as God , like Ganga,Yamuna,Kaveri etc
if corporations can be persons then rivers definitely can
10:17 I love the idea of Saul Goodman having to do a court case for Te Awa Tupua cause someone ties to sue them.
Kia ora, looks like I'm the first Kiwi to leave a comment. Thanx for making this John
Interesting that in order to respect and protect something, we need to make them a "person"
It's not just the rivers the Māori consider ancestors. Mountains, or Maunga, are also considered ancestors, or tipuna. They take this seriously enough that Taranaki received a credit in the movie The Mountain (2024).
Really loving this series, and I can't wait for the new episode every time!!! シ
It's important to recognize that one person cannot dictate what another person's religion is.
i cannot WAIT for next week
Love that John is doing this crash course ❤
Oh hey, the colonisers also did the same thing with the word “dharma”. Now in Hindi along with its original meaning we also use the word dharma to mean religion, since there is no word for religion in the western sense.
It's so nice to get to watch these things every week. Regularly scheduled pockets of learning
The constitution may prohibit laws respecting an establishment of religion, but that doesn't necessarily stop them from making a law disrespecting an establishment of religion. /s
Let's hope tuberculosis isn't a person
I like my rivers like I like my women ... with rights 😉
Shinto people from Japan would certainly say yes (animism)
I didn’t know about this. Cool stuff!
i love you john
Sacred nature, I love it!
Impatiently waiting for every episode of this series. ❤
We’re getting comments! Thanks in advance to those moderating, I’m sure it’s not an easy task on these videos
Wow! This is amazing! We love this! 🙏🏻💖✨
What an interesting insight, keep uo the good work 👍
Love from Indonesia, a land of numerous cultures and religions
Great video! Keep up the good work!
Yay! Thank you!
Hello John 😊
Hmm, so recently I had a conversation on what it would mean if an ai was granted human rights. This video made me think person hood really isn't dependent on sentience. Like company's having personhood and even a river.
So fascinating to me that anyone so highly educated who understands that cultures the world over view "religion" so differently, but remains identified with the one that's more-or-less in which they were raised.
Did you not watch the video?
makes sense, it's just the way being a human is