Dismantling Racial Injustice and Reclaiming Cultural Identity in a Māori Community in Aotearoa/New Zealand

• In Event: Reclaiming Cultural Identity: Research on Indigenous Empowerment Through Language, Art, and Historical Knowledge

Abstract

The 2024 American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting theme focuses on “unapologetically centering race, racial injustice, and other forms of oppression in the work of educational researchers, while building spaces of emancipation, justice, and dignity.” This theme aligns with research efforts by members of Ngāti Hineuru iwi or tribe to regain their cultural histories that were stripped away through acts of colonial oppression. Specifically, this study documents their efforts to trace the history of “Te Rongopai,” a whare puni or small meeting house, that features traditional Māori external carvings and internal paintings, which are important symbols of the cultural and spiritual identity for their iwi.

Authors

• Teracia Smith, Massey University Te Putahi-a-Toi

• Ivy Kahukiwa Smith, Te Kōpere o te Iwi o Hineuru

• Margaret J. Maaka, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa