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Category Archives: Māori Studies

Inaugural Te Tumu Symposium a showcase of diverse research excellence

On Wednesday 5 June, Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, hosted its inaugural research symposium to share and celebrate research from Te Tumu. The day began with a welcome from Te Tumu Dean Prof Patrick Vakaoti and a history of Te Tumu from Prof Michael Reilly. The programme included four sessions of Te Tumu staff and postgraduate students’ presentations, constructive question and answers segments, feedback, and encouragement.

Supported by Te Tumu’s Research Committee and Postgraduate Committee, the event welcomed attendance from those who are based in Ōtepoti, as well as distance students who are based in Te Whanganui ā Tara, and as far afield as New Caledonia. With special Tītī and fry bread kai, this gathering was truly an inspiring occasion and speaks to exciting research work that Te Tumu staff and students are doing locally, and regionally that are important contributions for their communities, and for the growth of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies scholarship.

Session 1 was facilitated by Dr Paerau Warbrick, a lecturer in Māori Studies, and included presentations by Te Tumu staff member Paia Taani on intergenerational language transmission; and PhD students, Jenni Tupu who presented about transracial adoption, and Ella Cameron-Smith who presented on Ngaati Korokii Kahukura kai identities.

Session 2 was facilitated by Dr Telesia Kalavite, a lecturer in Pacific Studies, and included presentations by four PhD students: Frédéric Dichtel who presented on te reo grammatical structures; Regina Maniam who presented on engaging Indigenous values and methods in doctoral research; Stacey Kokaua-Balfour who presented on Cook Islands’ creative texts relating to the environment and climate change; and Jay Quintos who presented on critical perspectives on films about the Tboli people in the Philippines.

Session 3 was facilitated by Prof Michael Reilly, the Postgraduate Chair of Te Tumu. The session included staff member Prof Richard Jackson who presented on non-violent approaches to counterterrorism, and two PhD students: Jude Bautista who presented on visual social semiotics and critical lenses in discourse analyses; Kim Cope Tait who presented on personal sovereignty in the poetry of Hinemoana Baker.

Session 4 was facilitated by Dr Emma Powell, lecturer in Indigenous Studies and Programme Coordinator of the Master of Indigenous Studies (MIndS). The session included three MIndS distance students: Melissa Denzler, based in Te Whanganui ā Tara who presented on the cultural taxation of kaiako Māori; Elizabeth Hamilton, based in Whakatū, who presented on a approach for honouring Te Tiriti specifically relating to language learning policies for migrants and former refugees; and James Uri-Puati, based in the Cook Islands, who presented on a critical Indigenous framework for theorising second language learning.

Te reo Māori o ngā Kūki ‘Āirani: Dr Akevai Nicholas

Earlier in the week Te Tumu hosted a visiting scholar from the University of Auckland,  Dr Akevai Nicholas.  Akevai is from the island of Ma‘uke (Cook Islands) and is a Senior lecturer in Māori studies at the University of Auckland.  She has a linguistics and Māori Studies background and her research focuses on the description, documentation, and revitalisation of her ancestral language.

Staff and students of Te Tumu, and the wider University community, were fortunate to meet and engage in a rich and insightful kōrero with Akevai.  Informal in nature, the discussion and questions from those present kept rolling in and Akevai’s knowledge and expertise in the area of linguistics associated with te reo Māori o konei me ngā Kūki ‘Āirani was notable.  A sobering point of discussion was the worryingly low proportion of Cook Islands Māori speakers in Aotearoa and the home island, it is a language that is very much in critical need of revitalisation and initiatives to teach the youth their language, sometimes alongside their parents.  There is no denying a connection between Māori of Aotearoa and Māori of Kūki ‘Airani, genealogically, culturally and linguistically,  therefore, a call to support and work together to achieve their reo aspirations is needed.

Some of the other key messages and kaupapa discussed included intergenerational language transmission, the geography and demography of the speaking populations, the introduction and interaction with English speaking people and some key researchers and leaders in linguistics of Indigenous Polynesian languages from the 1960’s to now.  It was not difficult to hear the impact Dr Akevai Nicholas is making with her research,  a trail blazer, a strong advocate and a passionate Ma‘ukean, who is a crucial champion of and for the revitalisation of te reo Māori o ngā Kūki ‘Āirani and te reo Māori Aotearoa.  Meitaki nui Dr Akevai Nicholas.

 

Te Poroāki o Lachy Paterson & te Pōhiri o Roma Donaldson-Gush

Last week Te Tumu celebrated well with the retirement of Emeritus Professor Lachy Paterson and the arrival of new Māori Studies pūkenga, Roma Donaldson-Gush. Roma, of Ngāti Porou, Taranaki, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Kotirana descent, joins Te Tumu staff with a background in bilingualism and intergenerational language and culture transmission for Māori. Roma will be completing her PhD studies as well as teaching into the Māori Studies programme. She is a Te Tumu alumnus having previously completed postgraduate study looking at Te Reo Māori in urban New Zealand. The pōhiri, held on Wednesday 28 June, included representatives from Office of Māori Development, Te Huka Mātauraka, Te Rōpū Māori, staff from Te Tumu and the wider university. Roma was supported by her whānau, colleagues, and friends in a day filled with the celebration of new relationships and excitement for the future of Te Tumu.

L: Dean of Te Tumu Patrick Vakaoti garlanding Lachy with a salusalu. R: Angela Wanhalla, Lachy Paterson and whānau

Ara mai he tētēkura, wehe atu he tētēkura.  With a new frond beginning, a mature frond leaves. 

With over 16 years of service as a teacher, mentor, friend, and conspirator, Lachy Paterson was farewelled in an intimate gathering of colleagues and whānau on Friday 30 June. Many spoke of the contributions Lachy has made to Māori Studies, Te Tumu and the university as a whole with several teaching, administration and leadership roles. Stories unfolded about his days as a student, teaching fellow and ultimately his unrelenting commitment to Te Tumu. Although it was a bittersweet day, Te Tumu looks forward to a continuing relationship with Lachy as an emeritus professor and eagerly await his future publications and foray into YouTube.

Seminar: Ecotourism and Cultural Tourism

For more details, click to enlarge.

Amelia Fa’otusia, a PhD candidate at Australia National University, is currently in New Zealand undertaking research on whale tourism, as part of a wider comparison with similar ventures in Fiji and Tonga, and has kindly agreed to give a seminar to Te Tumu on “Ecotourism and Cultural Tourism”.

Amelia’s seminar will be in Te Iringa Kōrero (R3S10, 3rd floor of Te Tumu) at 3pm (NZ Time),  on Wednesday 24 May.

This will also be available via Zoom. Click here to enter the Zoom Room.

Meeting ID 961 7927 4242

Password 534243

All interested people are most welcome to attend.

Please click on the poster for more information,

Seminar: E kore au e ngaro – whānau & the CDH1 gene

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Assoc Professor Karyn Paringatai of Te Tumu has been collaborating with Professor Parry Guilford of Te Aho Matatū – Centre for Relational Cancer Research in a Marsden-funded project on the impact on Māori whānau of the CDH1 gene, a condition with a high risk of stomach cancer.

Come along to the next Te Tumu seminar to hear how Humanities and the Health Sciences have been working together to create positive outcomes for Māori whānau.

When and where? At 3.00pm in Te Iringa Kōrero (third floor of Te Tumu), Wednesday 18 May.

People can also “attend” via Zoom.  Click here to enter the Zoom room.  Meeting ID:  928 1934 1721  Password: 457587.

Click on the poster for more info.  All Interested people are most welcome to attend.

Reflections on ‘To Hell With Drowning’ AAPS Conference 2023

With fellow Māori scholars (L-R): Sam Iti Prendergast, Alice Te Punga Somerville, Marama Salsano, Innez Haua, Karamea, Jo Maarama Kāmira

The following is a reflective piece from Karamea Moana Wright, one of Te Tumu’s PhD candidates in Pacific Islands Studies.

The first Australia Association for Pacific Studies’ conference I participated in was held primarily online in 2021, with separate hubs in Aotearoa and Australia. Because we were in groups on our own campuses, I don’t think I fully understood the magnitude or value of the conference and the association itself until this month, when I attended for the first time in person.

The four days in Canberra at the Australian National University were packed with phenomenal panels, plenaries, roundtables, and whakawhanaungatanga with incredible Pacific thinkers, researchers, artists, leaders, and poets influential in our region and discipline.

This conference opened my eyes in greater measure to salient contemporary conversations taking place in the field, how my own research sits within the broader landscape of Māori, Pacific, and Indigenous Studies, and to see what is possible in my work moving forward. The AAPS conference has left me hopeful, motivated, refreshed, rejuvenated, and encouraged, underscoring the necessity to return for the next AAPS conference in 2023, held in Sydney.

Te Tumu’s UORG success

Three Te Tumu staff, Pai Taani, Dr Telesia Kalavite and Associate Professor Karyn Paringatai, have been awarded University of Otago Research Grants (UORGs) that will allow them to undertake or further research projects.

Paia Taani (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Whare, Te Ūpokorehe, Ngāti Uenukukōpako)

The title of Paia Taani’s research project is “I ahatia taku reo Māori? Tracking intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori within whānau”.  She says, “my own experiences of learning te reo Māori as a second language and raising my own children with the language sparked my interest to investigate what happened to my language. This research project will therefore investigate the intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori within my whānau.”

Paia’s aim is to is to contribute to the existing research and literature about the use of te reo Māori within the context of whānau.  Her research includes analysing whānau narratives to examine the historical intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori and will highlight critical moments within these narratives to explore the factors which affected language transmission within her whānau. The key themes emerging from these accounts will inform future language pathways for her whānau, and may also be used to generate recommendations to offer other whānau who may be seeking to reclaim their language.

The University of Otago Research Grant will help fund travel to the North Island to undertake hui and kōrero with participants, and will also fund a research assistant to undertake transcription work.

Paia expects that she will publish at least two journal articles from her research project, and she will one conference presentation.  Another expected output of this research project is a hui with her participants where she will disseminate her findings and discuss ways to move forward with future research and support for whānau wanting to reclaim their language.

Telesia Kalavite (Nukuleka, Tonga)

Telesia Kalavite’s research project explores “The implications of changing cultural practices in Tongan wedding celebrations in New Zealand”, and how these changes impact on Tongan people’s lives in New Zealand.  This project has national and international significance in understanding the development of Tongan culture and identity in the diaspora as well as the myriad cultural, social, economic, political and environmental impacts that are encompassed in Tongan wedding celebrations. It will identify and map out traditional cultural practices in Tongan weddings over time and space. This will provide a context in which to explore contemporary factors affecting Tongan wedding practices in Aotearoa.

Telesia sees this as a pilot study for a larger project in the future on how Tongan celebrations impact on Tongan people’s socio-cultural and economic development in Aotearoa New Zealand. She says “I am a Tongan researcher, and it is very important that to get this kind of research righ; there should be people with clear expertise and connection to it, like myself.”

Karyn Paringatai (Ngāti Porou)

Karyn Paringatai is collaborating with Marcelle Wharerau, formerly a Te Tumu student and staff member who is now an academic based at the Tauranga campus of Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao – Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Waikato. Their project is titled “Te Aho Tāngaengae: Māmā, Wahine, Māori, Academic”.   Socio-economic stability through intergenerational mobility is a priority of whānau Māori; ensuring that future generations have full access to a range of resources that enhances intergenerational whānau wellbeing. Income, education and occupation feature predominantly in intergenerational mobility studies as primary indicators of social and economic status. However, this focus is too narrow and neglects the importance of also embedding cultural stability and responsibility. Whilst socio-economic stability and upward mobility is a priority of Māori, equally important is the intergenerational transmission of te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.

Colonisation has had profound negative effects on all aspects of te ao Māori, including maintaining intergenerational responsibilities for protecting and enhancing the mana of whānau, hapū and iwi. In this unique research, Karyn and Marcelle aim to show how the reestablishment of this intergenerational responsibility to contribute to the decolonisation of te ao Māori must be a deliberate priority and why it is of urgency to do so.

Te Aho Tāngaengae gives voice to the narratives of wāhine Māori academics who are first in family to complete higher education/university and the mechanisms they employ in the intergenerational transmission of cultural capital. Increasing the capacity, and linguistic and cultural capabilities of Māori across generations who can tangibly contribute to improving the social, economic and political wellbeing of te ao Māori must be a priority. This research is important to reveal new insights into the methods used that have the potential to accelerate transformative change within whānau for generations to come.

Opinion Piece in Newsroom

An “op-ed” from Lachy Paterson has just appeared in Newsroom, asking why New Zealand still lets fireworks off for Guy Fawkes Day, when there are far more relevant historical events from Aotearoa that we could be remembering, such as on the 5th of November when the infamous invasion of Parihaka occurred.   Click here to read the article.

August graduands

This Saturday (20 August) is graduation day.  It is always wonderful when Te Tumu students graduate, but especially postgraduate students.  Completing an Honours, Masters, or Doctoral degree requires a huge amount of determination, because it encompasses a significant piece of self-directed research.  A dissertation or thesis is not easy task.  He mihi tēnei hei whakahōnore i ngā tāngata kua whakaoti i taua haerenga.

 

Sammy Hughes and whānau

Sammy Hughes

Iwi: Te Whakatōhea, Te Whānau-a-Apanui
Village: Leimatua (Vava’u) – Tonga
I have just recently finished as the Chief Advisor of the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh and am about to start as a Senior Manager in EY’s Consulting Division. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity and the Global Atlantic Fellows space working with individuals and groups across the globe in the global equity space.
Sammy is graduating with a Master of Indigenous Studies.
Dissertation title: Unrelenting Achievement With Attitude – Iwi Based Education On The Rural East Coast of Aotearoa: A case study on Te Kura-a-Rohe o Ūawa me Kahukuranui – Tolaga Bay Area School me Kahukuranui’s localised and responsive curriculum
Sammy’s supervisors were Paerau Warbrick and Karyn Paringatai (Te Tumu).
Abstract: Unrelenting Achievement With Attitude is the school motto of Te Kura-a-Rohe o Ūawa me Kahukuranui – Tolaga Bay Area School me Kahukuranui on the rural East Coast of the North Island in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Located in the heart of Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti and sitting on Mangarara Pā, the former residence of Te Kani-a- Takirau, Hauiti me Ngāti Poroutanga are fixtures of the school’s localised curriculum. This case study looks to answer the question of ‘how can schools develop a localised curriculum and outcomes alongside iwi aspirations?’. The ontological position taken within this essay is that Māori success will look different within localised contexts, as well as that iwi aspirations can be given life within the New Zealand education system alongside the New Zealand Curriculum guidelines. Kaupapa Māori and indidenous approaches have been used to outline the ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological approaches taken throughout this work, as well as autoethnographic narrative and autoethnographic methodologies to give context to these approaches.

Ahinata Kaitai-Mullane

Ahinata Kaitai-Mullane.

Iwi: Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe and Waitaha
At the moment I am working as a tutor and a research assistant at Otago, primarily working on a research project with Anaru Eketone on Māori suicide postvention. I am in the process of enrolling to do my PhD at Victoria University of Wellington, looking at studying learning about, and care for, identities related to gender, sex, sexuality and body amongst Kāi Tahu young people. I am excited to continue weaving together knowledge around gender and Māori identities in my future research, working with my whānau, hapū and iwi.
Ahinata is graduating with a Master of Indigenous Studies.
Dissertation title: Decolonising Taera: Representations of wāhine Māori from early colonisation into contemporary pornography.
Ahinata’s supervisors were Angela Wanhalla (History) and Anaru Eketone (Social Work)
Abstract: This research answers the question of the impact colonisation has had on representations of wāhine Māori bodies, identities and sex, tracking the extent to which this continues in contemporary pornography. This research project takes a decolonial and Mana Wahine approach, answering this question by evaluating early colonial depictions and descriptions of wāhine Māori, comparing them to those in contemporary pornography. The significance of this lies in identifying themes in how colonial ideas continue to be impacted on wāhine Māori bodies in pornography, influencing sexual scripts, discourses and treatment of wāhine Māori in broader society. This is carried out through qualitative thematic image and textual analysis of a sample of 50 video thumbnails and titles collected from PornHub. This project argues that colonisation has influenced social discourses and scripts of wāhine Māori bodies, selves, and sex, seeing this colonial impact continuing in contemporary pornography. This project is ultimately a challenge to the power colonisation holds over wāhine Māori and our representation.

Louise Kewene-Doig

Lousie Kewene-Doig

Iwi: Waikato/ Ngāti Maniapoto
(Louise notes “our ancestor Kewene Te Haho hangs in the main room of Te Tumu. Was always lovely to see our tūpuna hanging there.”)
Currently I am working as a Policy Analyst here at the Dunedin City Council. It wasn’t a role I had thought of doing but it has been really rewarding.
I am able to use all the knowledge and expertise gained throughout my PhD journey into this role. It has been rewarding because I can see real world applications from all the knowledge I have gained. I am also an independent researcher involved in collaborative projects with the Māori and Pasifika Education Trust. I am currently working towards publishing my thesis as a book and continuing my work with the digital archive app Tutuku I created for my PhD.
Louise is graduating with a PhD.
Thesis Title: He Kohinga Kōrero: A selected group of Māori musicians and performers’ experiences of the 1960s through the Māori Showband movement.
Louise was supervised by Karyn Paringatai, Michael Reilly (Te Tumu) and Professor Emerita Khyla Russell.
Abstract: This thesis examines the unique identity of the Māori Showband movement through the narratives and experiences of a selected group of Māori Showband musicians and entertainers of the 1960s. The Māori Showband musicians and performers are connected through the whakapapa (genealogical connections) of the showband communities.
“He Kohinga Kōrero: A Selected Group of Māori Musicians and Performers’ Experiences of
the 1960s Through the Māori Showband Movement,” is grounded in Māori Studies but
informed by previous research in Ethnomusicology. The written component of this thesis is
partnered with my nominated creative component Tutuku. Tutuku is a digital archive created alongside “He Kohinga Kōrero,” which uses the research gained as informed commentary within the digital archive.
This thesis creates a new understanding of the Māori Showband identity and success.
Scholarly research surrounding this popular musical movement is sparse. The first part of this thesis investigates the cultural and social climate for Māori before 1960 that lead to the
opportunities and emergence of this musical movement. Chapter one introduces the digital archive and discusses the barriers to accessing stories and knowledge. It also lays down the ground work of the research methods used and the importance of kaupapa Māori research methodologies.

Karyn Paringatai (& the CDH1 gene)

Associate Professor Karyn Paringatai has been on Research & Study Leave since 1 October last year, working on her Marsden funded research project entitled ‘E kore au e ngaro – The enduring legacy of whakapapa.
As many of you may know, Karyn has a genetic mutation (in the CDH1 gene) that increased her chances of getting diffuse gastric cancer to around 80%. That chance is now 0% as she had her stomach completely removed in 2010.
Karyn has been collaborating with affected whānau, and with health science practitioners and academics, and there are some events coming up next week which may be of interest to you.
On Monday 1 August 1pm Dr Jeremy Rossaak (Tauranga Hospital) and Erin Gardiner (Kimihauora Health and Research Clinic) are giving a seminar in the Dunedin Public Hospital. Jeremy and Erin work closely together to ensure whānau are supported appropriately throughout the whole stomach removal process – before and after. It’s a really great relationship that signals the direction that the healthcare system needs to work towards.

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Karyn will also be speaking with three other people heavily involved in saving CDH1 mutated affected whānau around the country, in a conversation style Q&A panel led by Rangimārie Elvin (the granddaughter of one of the original whānau research team leads) and Kahurangi Tipene (PhD candidate on the project).

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This panel session is on Tuesday at 5.30pm in Burns 1.  Both events are open to interested people.