A model’s nude Instagram post atop a sacred mountain in New Zealand sparks outrage
Photos of Playboy model Jaylene Cook scantily clad or nude are nothing new to her 326,000 followers on Instagram.
But even still, her latest post has proven to be controversial.
On Friday, Cook posted a photo of her atop a mountain in New Zealand, wearing sneakers, gloves, a hat and nothing else. In the caption, she called the hike “the hardest thing I have ever done,” and thanked her partner for his support.
People soon noted, however, that the photo came from the top of Mount Taranaki, a volcano that is sacred to the Maori tribe, a local indigenous people who make up about 15 percent of New Zealand’s population. And members of the tribe were quick to criticize Cook, accusing her of disrespecting a holy place for the Maori.
“It’s like someone went into St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and took a nude photo,” a tribe spokesperson told the BBC.
“It's a sacred place and something like this is just very inappropriate.”
The spokesperson also said the tribe rarely ever climbs to the top of the mountain except for religious ceremonies, because they see it as a burial ground for the tribe’s ancestors and even consider it to be an ancestor itself.
“I'd imagine you will be getting a few comments from people saying 'what's wrong with that? Who cares?' But I also know cousins and relatives who will be quite upset about it. They would consider it as being disrespectful towards the mountain,” Dennis Ngawhare, a Maori academic, said, per stuff.co.nz.
Cook, for her part, claimed she did her research before the climb and claimed that her being naked was not an inherent sign of disrespect, per stuff.co.nz.
“(The photo's) not crude or explicit in any way. We made ourselves knowledgeable on the history of the mountain,” Cook said. “We were quite respectful. Being nude is not something that is offensive in any way. It's natural and pure and it's about freedom and empowerment.”
An online poll from stuff.co.nz found 83 percent of respondents did not consider the post offensive. But two local mayors also criticized the photo.
“They should ask themselves how they would feel if someone took a photo of themselves naked on the grave of a great-grandparent,” Neil Holdom, mayor of New Plymouth, told stuff.co.nz.
“It's culturally insensitive and not what I would expect someone to do on the summit of Mt. Taranaki,” Neil Volzke, mayor of Stratford, said. Both Stratford and New Plymouth are nearby the mountain.
This is not the first time nudity atop a mountain has caused controversy. In 2015, a group of Western tourists in Malaysia took nude photographs on top of Mount Kinabalu, a sacred peak. Those photos were blamed for an earthquake soon after that killed 15 people, per USA Today.
This is also not the first time the Maori have fought for protections of a geographic landmark. In March, the government officially recognized the Whanganui River as a person after petitions from the Maori, who see the river, like the mountain, as a living being.
This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 9:37 PM with the headline "A model’s nude Instagram post atop a sacred mountain in New Zealand sparks outrage."