Mana Whenua: Belonging

• In Event: The Role of the Body in Indigenous and Decolonizing Research Methodologies

Abstract

It was an epiphany moment realising that a process of decolonisation had occurred. A narrative of a mother and daughter: the daughter expecting her mataamua (first born), the mother eagerly awaiting her first mokopuna (grandchild). A story of the mother 30 years earlier shunning the birth practices of her people yet not knowing why, but then later and embracing those practices through the wisdom and knowing of her daughter.

This auto-ethnographic account resonates with key Kaupapa Māori (Māori knowledge and philosophy) principles (Smith, G. H., 1997; L. T. Smith, 1999; Pihama, Cram & Walker, 2002; Pohatu, T., 2004); Bishop, R. 2008). The concept of whakawhanaungatanga (process of establishing relationships) (affirms the relationships established not only between mother and daughter but through the generations before and the generations to come. This whakapapa (means of establishing relationships / genealogy) link exemplifies Smith’s (1999) the notion of “connecting” (p.148) through the practice of physically burying the whenua (afterbirth) of a newborn in their ancestral homelands thus connecting them to the whenua (land) and their whakapapa. The word ‘whenua’ translating to mean both afterbirth and land shows the simultaneous embodiment of this relationship and the innate sense of belonging – Mana Whenua.(Ministry of Education, 1996)

In considering contributions to the discussion, there are key principles of kaupapa Māori theory that can be outlined in relation to the topic; examples such as taonga tuku iho ( to validate and legitimise Māori ways of knowing, doing, and understanding of the world), whakawhanaungatanga and whakapapa. These dimensions support the significance of the whenua/mokopuna experience in the process of decolonisation.








References

Bishop, R. (2008). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. In C. McGee & D. Fraser (Eds), The professional practice of teaching (3rd ed., pp. 154–171). Melbourne/Albany: CENGAGE Learning.

Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early Childhood Curriculum (pp14-16, 31-38). Learning Media, Wellington.

Pihama, L., Cram, F., & Walker, S. (2002). Creating methodological space: A literature review of Kaupapa Māori research. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 26(1), 30-44.

Pohatu, T. (2004). Āta: Growing respectful relationships. Te Pukenga kōrero: A Journal of Māori Studies, 8(1), 1-21

Smith, G. H. (1997). The development of kaupapa Maori : Theory and praxis. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books.

Author

• Meri A. M. A. Marshall, Victoria University of Wellington