Māori and Indigenous Studies Papers
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This collection houses research from Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao - Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies, at the University of Waikato.
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Item Local Contexts: Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels for Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki(Conference Contribution, University of Waikato, 2022-07-27) Hamilton-Pearce, JanetteHow can the Local Contexts Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels ground the rights of Ngāi Tai ki Tamaki in datasets and digital infrastructure? This presentation will help to address this question.Item Rolling Our Eyes Towards God: An Intervention Arising from Mormon Missionary YouTube Activity and The Cultural (Mis)Appropriation of Haka(Journal Article, Taylor and Francis Group, 2023-02-05) Simon, HemoperekiThis Kaupapa Māori Research writing inquiry explores the (mis)appropriation of haka and the social media video-sharing platform YouTube in that (mis)appropriation. The article examines the specific case of a group of Latter-day Saint missionaries in Wangarratta, Australia, who wrote and performed an English- language haka that the author finds violent and offensive. The article outlines Aileen Moreton-Robertson’s White Possessive doctrine in relation to the Church and white patriarchal salvation. Haka’s cultural background and appropriation are explained. Theoretical explanations of collective and cultural memory and YouTube as a social media platform and cultural archive follow. The author highlights YouTube grey literature sources on haka cultural (mis)appropriation. The 2006 case study “missionary haka” video is critiqued and analysed. Case study issues are discussed. The Church’s history of racial discrimination and violence and its religious aetiology of skin colour make this video ”misappropriated,” according to research. This performance uses haka to promote white and religious supremacy and the idea that you must be white and/or religious to be fully human. This message helps the LDS Church mission of possessing Indigenous souls and remaining the “true religion”.Item Racism and Employment: A Narrative Review of Aotearoa New Zealand and International Qualitative Studies(Journal Article, Massey University, 2024-01-01) Tan, Kyle K. H.; Collins, Francis L.; Roche, Maree; Waitoki, WaikaremoanaIn Aotearoa New Zealand, employment inequities exist for minoritised ethnic groups (Māori, Pasifika, Asian, racialised migrants and refugees) in the forms of barriers to employment, occupation inequities, differences in promotion to leadership roles, ethnic pay gaps and discriminatory experiences at workplaces. In this review, we compiled Aotearoa qualitative studies to depict the dynamics of racism alongside other intersectional forms of prejudices that disadvantage the employment processes and career progression of minoritised ethnicities. Literature gaps in Aotearoa research were identified through reviewing international literature published between 2016 and 2021. Reviewed Aotearoa studies were categorised into three themes: unemployment and underemployment, workplace discrimination, and strategies for navigating racism. Drawing upon a framework that recognises racialised processes as spanning across micro- (individual), meso- (organisational) and macro- (institutional) levels, we found most Aotearoa studies analysing racism in the workplace focus on micro-level experiences. Compared with international literature, research in Aotearoa has yet to consider the roles of organisations and technologies as racialised structures that engender employment inequities, and the interaction of individuals in response to meso- and macro-structures that build on settler colonialism and racism. Our review echoes the call of Aotearoa scholars to name racism as the overarching oppressive mechanism embedded within organisations and to use anti-racism praxes such as te Tiriti o Waitangi as a way forward to promote employment equity.Item Genealogical Violence: Mormon (Mis)Appropriation of Māori Cultural Memory through Falsification of Whakapapa(Journal Article, MDPI, 2024) Simon, HemoperekiThe study examines how members of the historically white possessive and supremacist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States (mis)appropriated Māori genealogy, known as whakapapa. The Mormon use of whakapapa to promote Mormon cultural memory and narratives perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and white supremacy, as this paper shows. The research discusses Church racism against Native Americans and Pacific Peoples. This paper uses Anthropologist Thomas Murphy’s scholarship to demonstrate how problematic the Book of Mormon’s religio-colonial identity of Lamanites is for these groups. Application of Aileen Moreton-Robinson’s white possessive doctrine and Hemopereki Simon’s adaptation to cover Church-Indigenous relations and the salvation contract is discussed. We explore collective and cultural memory and discuss key Māori concepts like Mana, Taonga, Tapu, and Whakapapa. A brief review of LDS scholar Louis C. Midgley’s views on Church culture, including Herewini Jones’s whakapapa wānanga, is followed by a discussion of Māori cultural considerations and issues. The paper concludes that the alteration perpetuates settler/invader colonialism and Pacific peoples’ racialization and white supremacy. Genetics science and human migration studies contradict Mormon identity narratives and suggest the BOM is spiritual rather than historical. Finally, the paper suggests promoting intercultural engagement on Mormon (mis)appropriation of taonga Māori.Item Kaumatua Mana Motuhake Poi: a study protocol for enhancing wellbeing, socia connectedness and cultural identity for Maori elders(Journal Article, BMC, 2020-10-02) Hokowhitu, Brendan; Oetzel, John G.; Simpson, Mary Louisa; Nock, Sophie; Reddy, R; Meha, P; Johnston, K; Jackson, A-M; Erueti, B; Rewi, P; Warbrick, I; Cameron, Michael Patrick; Zhang, Yingsha; Ruru, Stacey MariuBackground: The Aotearoa New Zealand population is ageing, accompanied by health and social challenges, including significant inequities that exist between Māori and non-Māori around poor ageing and health. Although historically, kaumātua (elder Māori) faced a dominant society that failed to realize their full potential as they age, Māori culture has remained steadfast in upholding elders as cultural/community anchors. Yet, many of today’s kaumātua have experienced ‘cultural dissonance’ as the result of a hegemonic dominant culture subjugating an Indigenous culture, leading to generations of Indigenous peoples compelled or forced to dissociate with their culture. The present research project, Kaumātua Mana Motuhake Pōī (KMMP), comprises two interrelated projects that foreground dimensions of wellbeing within a holistic Te Ao Māori (Māori epistemology) view of wellbeing. Project 1 involves a tuakana-teina/peer educator model approach focused on increasing service access and utilization to support kaumātua with the greatest health and social needs. Project 2 focuses on physical activity and cultural knowledge exchange (including te reo Māori—Māori language) through intergenerational models of learning. Methods: Both projects have a consistent research design and common set of methods that coalesce around the emphasis on kaupapa kaumātua; research projects led by kaumātua and kaumātua providers that advance better life outcomes for kaumātua and their communities. The research design for each project is a mixed-methods, pretest and two post-test, staggered design with 2–3 providers receiving the approach first and then 2–3 receiving it on a delayed basis. A pre-test (baseline) of all participants will be completed. The approach will then be implemented with the first providers. There will then be a follow-up data collection for all participants (post-test 1). The second providers will then implement the approach, which will be followed by a final data collection for all participants (post-test 2). Discussion: Two specific outcomes are anticipated from this research; firstly, it is hoped that the research methodology provides a framework for how government agencies, researchers, and relevant sector stakeholders can work with Māori communities. Secondly, the two individual projects will each produce a tangible approach that, it is anticipated, will be cost-effective in enhancing kaumātua hauora and mana motuhake.