Maori themed residential complex in TX

My apologies if this has been posted before but several searches didn't give me any results pretaining to this.

Apparently developers, one being a New Zealander but not a Maori, are creating a Maori themed apartment complex in Plano, TX. and the Maori are less than tickled about it. It was to be called 'Kiora Park", Kiora being a bastardized version of 'Kia ora". I see in the .pdf brochure that they have decided to use the name "Kia Ora Park", probably after catching some grief from the Maori party.

I tend to lean toward the culturally sensitive side and don't care much for ruffling up the feathers, so to speak, of other people/cultures. I wonder if any other tiki, Hawaiian or otherwise Polynesian apts., motels, restraunts, etc. have ever been the subject of cultural criticism.

IMO-the place looks very contemporary/victorian but it's hard to make out any detail on the online brochure and rendering, nor could I see any art or sculptural pieces they claim to have. I was kind of dissapointed when I didn't see any intricately carved meeting houses and such. (Am I guilty of supporting 'cultural theft' for rather having seen meeting house replica's instead??!!??)

What's YOUR opinion?

The article: New Zealand Maoris furious over plans for a themed apartment complex in Texas
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article01.asp?id=477

The developers website w/ pdf file brochure and .jpg rendering:
http://www.legacypartners.com/Legacy.asp?loc=r_dev11&div=R

From the picture, the complex appears to fit the mold of non-descript "luxury" apartment developments that dominate the landscape north of Dallas. My wife and I lived in one for nearly four years. It was generic as all-get-out for 364 days out of the year. The lone exception was the complex's annual Luau with roasted pig and hula dancers.

Who knows? Now that the Dallas Trader Vic's is back up and running, maybe the city will become a thriving center of polynesian pop culture in the tiki-starved Great State of Texas.

"New Zealand Maoris furious over plans for a themed apartment complex in Texas."

"A proposed Maori-themed apartment complex outside Dallas recently served as a platform for the New Zealand natives to proclaim their pride. In June, after California-based Legacy Partners announced plans to build a residential complex featuring Maori themes and folk art in suburban Plano, the company received dozens of emails charging the company with “cultural theft.” Complaints centered on the name of the complex, “Kiora Park,” taken from the Maori expression of welcome. The problem was that the phrase is properly transliterated as “Kia Ora.” "How many more mistakes will there be?" Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia asked. "We're all very proud of the culture and more than willing to share it with people who come here, but to have it transplanted into Dallas, that sounds a bit incredible," she said."

That is about the most self-rightous BS I've heard in awhile! :roll: I would bet there are at least one or two 'Howdy Partner' Texas style steakhouse in NZ (I've certainly seen more than a few around the world) and they don't pitch a fit in Dallas, TX over that! :lol: Maybe the Aussies should be upset about Outback? In my 3 years working in Australia as a chef the only thing I find Aussie about Outback is the maps on the wall! :roll: But they're not spittin' the dummy in Darwin Mate! :P

BTW unlike the Ab-originals who were in Australia 35-40,000 years before white men and the Native American 'Injuns' who were in the Americas 20-25,000 years before white men, the Maoris were in NZ only a few hundred years before anyone else. So no arguments about how much more long standing the Moaris culture is compared to the West please. :wink: :P

Looks pretty harmless to me...and it sounds like they were only upset about the name, which was apparently changed because of the complaints. I could see them getting upset if they had a big sign out front with a cartoon Maori and some native/broken English caption underneath (even though political incorrectness was a big part of what tiki used to be), but this looks like your typical contemporary apartment complex here in Generica, TX.

I live just a couple of miles from Plano so once it's built I'll take a closer look at the art and sculptural pieces mentioned in the article.

[ Edited by: Kenike 2007-06-27 05:49 ]