[The Mighty Mongrel Mob Nation]
- Title:
- [The Mighty Mongrel Mob Nation]
- Alternate Title:
- [The Mighty Mongrel Mob Nation]
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Date:
- 2018
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2398.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2398_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1960 - Present
- Subject:
- Other Moral & Social
Pictorial
Unusual Graphics/Text - Measurement:
- 33 x 23 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This map of New Zealand is overdrawn to dramatize the scale and in-your-face culture of the “Mongrel Mob,” that nation’s largest and most violent criminal gang. It is the frontispiece of a remarkable photo essay on the gang by John Rotman, “Mongrelism. The Mighty Mongrel Mob Nation of Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The Mongrels were originally formed by white youth in the 1960s, but soon accepted members from a wide range of ethnicities and is today predominately native Maori. It has over 1,000 full ("patched") members operating in a loosely affiliated network of more than 30 chapters. Their symbols include the bulldog wearing a World War II German helmet and the Nazi swastika, both well represented on the map. Members have heavily tattooed faces and use "Seig Heil" and barking (like a dog) as greetings. Taonui 2016, 164; Gilbert 2013, 42-43.
At first glance, it seems incongruous for a predominantly Maori group to adopt the symbols of Nazi Germany. But to the Mongrels, these symbols have nothing to do with race; they relate instead to the outrageous, socially unacceptable behavior that set them apart even from other gangs. "Violent and antisocial acts became core elements within the Mongrels" as the gang committed "some of the most notorious crimes of physical and sexual violence in modern New Zealand history." They adopted the swastika "in symbolic defiance of social norms," as "a perfect example of mongrelism" exactly because New Zealanders saw it as "something terrible and despicable." Gilbert 41-42.
At least one chapter of the Mongrels announced in March 2019 that as a result of the Christchurch terrorist attack by a white supremacist, it would no longer use the "Seig Heil" greeting. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6836675/Mongrel-Mob-gang-ditch-Nazi-cry-sieg-heil-official-motto-wake-Christchurch-massacre.html, accessed April 17, 2019.
For other examples of overprinted or otherwise repurposed maps in the collection, Search > "repurposed".
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Source:
- Rotman, John. 2018. Mongrelism. The Mighty Mongrel Mob Nation of Aotearoa New Zealand. London: Here Press.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.