Academic literature on the topic '950310 Tikanga Māori (Māori Customary Practices)'

Māori tribal and social histories are founded on whakapapa (genealogy). Whakapapa and the knowledge of one’s ancestry is what connects all Māori to one another and is the central marker of traditional mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge). Knowledge of one’s whakapapa and ancestral links is at the root of Māori identity and heritage, which can be re-connected with even if a person has been dislocated from it by colonization, urbanization and/or marriage. The collective experiences of Māori are contextualized within whakapapa and narratives of iwi (tribe), hapū (sub-tribe) and whanau (family). Within the context of colonization, whakapapa as a meaningful epistemological framework has not been erased and continues to connect Māori to one another and our tribal lands, histories and stories. Whakapapa and Māori identity are underpinned by an epistemology based on Māori tikanga (customary practices) that take into account the importance of a collective vision. However, research on counseling with people of indigenous descent from Aotearoa/New Zealand has found that for people of mixed Māori and Pākehā (European) heritage, it is important to recognize both sides of a person’s family in working on mental health issues. To address the complications of mixed identity, this article is written from an autoethnographic point of view to share how whakapapa and genealogical links have shaped my identity as someone of mixed Māori and Pākehā heritage.

Informal end of life caregiving will increase over the next 30 years in line with the anticipated increase in older Māori deaths. Of concern, New Zealand’s neo-colonial trajectory (loss of lands, cultural disenfranchisement, urban migration, ethnic diversity, global diaspora and changing whānau (family, including extended family) compositions) has restricted some indigenous whānau from retaining their end of life care customs. This article reports on a qualitative pilot study on Māori whānau end of life care customs undertaken to explore how those care customs contribute towards strengthening whānau resilience and bereavement. Five whānau, including thirteen individuals from diverse iwi (tribes), took part in one of six face to face interviews. Kaupapa Māori research methods informed the analysis. The findings report a high level of customary caregiving knowledge among older whānau carers as well as a cohesive whānau collective support system for this group. Tribal care customs were handed down via 1) enculturation with tribal principles, processes and practices 2) observing kaumātua processes and practices and 3) being chosen and prepared for a specific care role by kaumātua. Younger participants had strong cultural care values but less customary care knowledge. The pilot concluded the need for a larger systematic qualitative study of Māori tikanga (customs) and kawa (guidelines) as well as the development of participant digital stories to support a free online educational resource to increase understanding among whānau, indigenous communities and the health and palliative care sectors.

IntroductionStats NZ provides the world-leading Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to help improve New Zealanders’ lives. Ngā Tikanga Paihere (the Tikanga Framework) is a tool designed to ensure data use is carefully considered, and practice occurs in good faith. It also aims to build and maintain public trust and confidence in the way Stats NZ manages administrative data in the IDI. It draws on general customary concepts from Te Ao Māori (Māori world) and sits in alignment with the current model of the Five Safes Framework for access. Objectives and ApproachTikanga are appropriate customary practices or ‘layers of the culture’ developed by Māori communities and individuals and informed by common cultural values and concepts. Stats NZ applies the framework when reviewing applications to use data in the IDI and Longitudinal Business Database (LBD). The framework is used with the original ‘Five Safes’ framework in the review process to ensure that data will be used in an appropriate and collaborative way, without marginalising any specific populations. In research proposals relating specifically to Māori, researchers are asked to demonstrate what value their work will bring to Māori communities and how the researchers will work collaboratively with those communities. ResultsUse of Ngā Tikanga Paihere has been well received. Stats NZ is now looking to broaden the use of Ngā Tikanga Paihere to assess all integrated data research proposals that focus on minority, identifiable, and marginalised populations. Conclusion / ImplicationsWhile Ngā Tikanga Paihere does not resolve data governance or cultural licence issues, it encourages researchers to actively engage and collaborate with Māori groups when these communities are potentially impacted, or when the project might use data about these communities. Stats NZ sees data governance and cultural licence matters as an ongoing conversation between agencies and Treaty/Te Tiriti partners. Ngā Tikanga Paihere should be a tool to help guide the government data system to work with Māori data ‘in good faith’.

Western values have long dominated discourse on what constitutes success and achievement in education. New Zealand’s own education system has been described as one which “... gives first priority to academic and western values of success” (Lee, 2008, p. 81). Emphasis is placed upon the individual, academic excellence, literacy and numeracy, economic outcomes, and competence in what western society deems valid knowledge, and as such, current assessment measures are reflective of this. While such measures are accepted as ‘best practice’ for mainstream institutions, it is argued that where indigenous education is concerned, “...success also lies in more holistic ways of knowing and participating within a rich cultural context” (Bell, 2004, p.30). Situated in a Māori world view, this paper considers success through a Māori lens. It is argued that Māori notions of success are not only premised upon academic results, rather cultural factors are considered equally as important to knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori (Māori world view), tikanga Māori (Māori customary practices), whakapapa (genealogy), hītori (histories and tradition) and te reo Māori (the Māori language). This paper seeks to highlight Māori expressions of educational success for Kura Kaupapa Māori (KKM) through the implementation of a holistic approach to education, underpinned by the guiding philosophy, Te Aho Matua. This paper will draw on my doctoral research. Graduates experiences are an integral part of this paper and research, as they give voice and validity to KKM educational success.

In this paper I will explore what is it in Kapa Haka (Māori Performing Arts) that maintains or retains ‘old ways of knowing’ where, instead, it could present itself today in ‘new ways of doing’. The question arises: Why, in this ‘new’ age of Kapa Haka, do Kapa Haka tutors and performers insist on reproducing onstage, components of ‘old’ tikanga marae (customary marae practices)? Is it because some tutors and performers have not yet reconciled with the fact that Kapa Haka taken to the stage is theatre and therefore opens the way for a performance that is not based on tikanga? Why, in this millennium, are the same judging processes of Te Matatini[1] that have been in place for some forty years still being maintained. Why have we not explored further and implemented a new competitive judging system?

The onset of COVID-19 in 2020 saw media, politicians, and government organisations quick to comment that these are “unprecedented times.” However, in Aotearoa/New Zealand, the 1918 influenza (mate rewharewha urutā) pandemic, and sporadic outbreaks of tuberculosis (mate kohi), and HIV/AIDS (mate ārai kore), have presented challenges similar to COVID-19 today. Focusing mainly, but not limited to, the 1918 influenza pandemic and the many tuberculosis outbreaks that plagued Aotearoa, this paper will contextualise the Māori experience and explore the challenges, prejudices, and assaults on Māori customs in times of pandemic. This paper focuses on Governmental responses to COVID-19 in regard to tangihanga (funeral rites) and hongi (pressing of noses), and shows in times of pandemic, a pattern exists where these cultural practices come under attack. The significance of these practices must be understood by health officials in the full context in order to assist the government in creating new health policies. Incorporating the contemporary voices of kaumātua (Māori elders) interviewed during the COVID-19 outbreak, I will examine the significance of Māori cultural practices in Māori society and highlight challenges that kaumātua endured during the COVID-19 lockdown. Far from being “unprecedented times,” this study will show many of the same challenges Māori faced in past pandemics have resurfaced again in the time of COVID-19. Kaumātua hold a collective memory of pandemics and other crises. During the height of COVID-19 restrictions, some Māori elders have reflected that these restrictions were nothing new to them. Rather, disease and disease mitigation measures have been incorporated as part of their intergenerational collective memory corpus. With COVID-19’s arrival on Aotearoa’s shores, Māori leaders, kaumātua, and communities galvanized to protect their communities, instigating community roadblocks, delivering food packages, and adapting tikanga (protocols and customs). Māori communities drew upon the past experiences of their tīpuna (ancestors) of disease, passed down as taonga tuku iho (treasures handed down from the ancestors), to inform their responses to COVID-19. Drawing upon kaumātua kōrero (analysis), this paper highlights the role of intergenerational collective memory of past pandemics in informing Māori communities’ tikanga based responses to COVID-19. In doing so, this paper draws particular focus to the continual importance of the concept of tapu (sacred, prohibited, restricted) and its role in mitigating disease and maintaining hygiene during customary community gatherings and rituals, and at home.