Presenters’ Abstracts (subject to change)
Please note that these are listed below in alphabetical order,
according to the surname of the presenter. With group presentations, it
is according to the first-listed presenter. The abstracts for the Invited
Speakers are shown elsewhere on the website under Invited Speakers.
Times for presentations are also shown below.
Service in practice, practice in service, negotiating a path to the future
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Annabel Ahuriri-Driscoll, Maui Hudson, V. Baker & M. Hepi
Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR Ltd)
Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai & C. Mika
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
The sustainability of cultural knowledge and practices, and
environments to support these, are subject to the pressures of a
globalising western society. Traditional Māori healers find themselves at
the centre of such impacts and experience a unique set of tensions in
working to sustain a healing tradition dependent on maintaining the
integrity of both the environment and mātauranga Māori. In addition
to balancing their existing relationships between the environment and
traditional knowledge, they must also forge new relationships and
practices in the development of health services.
The practice of traditional healing is founded on the notion of service
to the community where practitioners respond to a ‘calling’, and
commonly have a gift for the work. The practices of traditional healers
evolve from serving the people, and notions of koha and reciprocity
permeate this relationship. However, within the health system,
concepts of practice and service are substantially different. Services
are delivered to clients and rely on consistent application of skills by
professionals organised around particular specialties. This alters the
nature of the therapeutic relationship and the expectations of both the
healer and the community. Transitioning from a ‘practice’ based
approach to one of ‘service’ delivery requires careful negotiation of
challenges in terms of changing relationships, expectations of quality,
and maintenance of capacity.
Research and evaluation have a distinct role to play in developing a
pathway to the future in both the retention and development of
indigenous health knowledge that informs traditional healing, and in
producing the type of evidence necessary to support the
development of rongoā services within mainstream health systems.
Learning to read the world through other eyes
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Vanessa Andreotti
School of Māori, Social and Cultural Studies
University of Canterbury
This presentation outlines the context, theoretical framework and
methodology of the UK based project Through Other Eyes (TOE) hosted
by the Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice at the
University of Nottingham. TOE offers a free online programme of study
for teachers and student teachers focusing on engagements with
indigenous knowledges and indigenous perceptions of the
development agenda (i.e. poverty, education, equality, progress, etc.)
[available at www.throughoutothereyes.org.uk]. The course uses an
enquiry approach based on postcolonial theory and aims to enable
teachers and teacher trainees:
 to develop an understanding of how language and systems of
belief,
values and representation affect the way people interpret the
world
 to identify how different groups understand issues related to
development and their implications for the development
agenda
 to critically examine these interpretations - both 'Western' and
indigenous - looking at origins and potential implications of
assumptions
 to identify an ethics for improved dialogue, engagement and
mutual
learning
 to transfer the methodology developed in the programme into
the
classroom context.
Towards inclusive global citizenship: a study of problematic policies
and practices in England
TUESDAY 1.30-2.00
Vanessa Andreotti
School of Māori, Social and Cultural Studies
University of Canterbury
This presentation outlines the findings of a research project that
examined representations of poverty, development, otherness, culture
and knowledge in policies and practices related to global citizenship
education in England. This work addressed the interface between the
cultural and economic dimensions of international development and
the potential implications of different pedagogical frameworks for
development education in terms of social relations and the
reproduction and/or contestation of inequalities and discrimination.
The examination of policy involved two documents published by the
Department for Education and Skills (DfES) of the English government in
2000 and 2004 respectively: Developing a Global Dimension in the
School Curriculum and Putting the World into World-Class Education.
The examination of practice consisted of four ‘telling’ case studies
illustrating different frameworks for understanding North-South relations
in education.
This study raised awareness as to the fact that uncritical and simplistic
approaches to global citizenship education can reinforce assumptions
that work against the elimination of discrimination and inequality,
which, ironically, are stated aims of global citizenship education itself.
This study points to the conclusion that if development education is to
meet the challenges of addressing international development in an
informed and responsible way, it needs to be conceptualised around
ideas of complexity, interdependence, contingency and dialogue.
Indigenous
questions
knowledge:
traditional
responses to contemporary
MONDAY 4.30-5.30
Mere Berryman & Sonja Bateman
Ministry of Education, Special Education
Tom Cavanagh
University of Waikato
Continually marginalising indigenous knowledge within colonial
education systems has provided a perilous pathway of disadvantage
for many indigenous peoples, including Māori. However, paying
attention to solutions informed by indigenous knowledge can enable
other, perhaps more relevant and effective responses, to emerge,
thereby enhancing the lives and experiences of both indigenous and
non-indigenous groups. This paper contends that power-sharing
relationships of respect and trust between indigenous and non
indigenous peoples is one way that traditional cultural constructs and
pedagogies can begin to provide important principles to inform
effectively contemporary education.
This paper examines some traditional Māori understandings that first
begin from a point of respectfully knowing each other, or as Sidorkin
suggests, a pedagogy of relations. These understandings are then
applied to contemporary whānau and practitioner questions,
emerging from current strategies to support Māori students at risk, such
as parenting programmes and Restorative Practice.
Indigenous leadership models emerging from Te Kotahitanga schools
TUESDAY 2.30-3.30
Russell Bishop & Te Arani Barrett
University of Waikato
Mere Berryman
Ministry of Education, Special Education
In 2001 the voices of Māori students led the way in developing a
Teaching Profile that would engage them more effectively with
learning in mainstream schools. With the support of kuia whakaruruhau,
researchers came to understand how the values and practices of this
profile were embedded in te ao Māori. These understandings led to
Phase 1 of Te Kotahitanga, a kaupapa Māori research project that
seeks to raise the achievement of Māori students at Years 9 and 10. This
teaching profile has now been introduced into a further 36 secondary
schools, over three successive phases, with statistically significant
improvements for Māori students.
In 2006, researchers invited the principals in Phase 3 schools to talk
about their role in supporting the introduction, understandings and
practices of Te Kotahitanga into their schools. This paper presents the
voices of two female principals, one Māori, one Pākehā and an
emerging Leadership Profile that continues to resonate with the same
kaupapa Māori values, understandings and practices in which Te
Kotahitanga is grounded. Thus a contemporary leadership model that
is guided and enhanced by traditional Māori epistemology has begun
to emerge.
Hā'awe i ke kua: hi'i i ke alo: Surviving the institution
TUESDAY 2.00-2.30
Eomailani Bettencourt
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Entitled, "Where are the Hawaiians?", a 1973 report published on the
retention of Native Hawaiian students on nine University of Hawaii
campuses outlined the various factors that limit Native Hawaiian
students from remaining in school (Wey, 1973). Out of this study which
surveyed Native Hawaiian students, two points are particularly relevant
today: disadvantaged students found the University of Hawaii less
friendly and accepting than did advantaged students; and out of nine
university campuses, the Mānoa campus was the least friendly and
accepting. Over thirty years later, it is evident that Mānoa is still not
friendly to Native Hawaiian students. Most alarming is the fact that six
years after being admitted to the University of Hawaii-Mānoa campus,
almost half of those Native Hawaiian students (48.2%) will have left
school without completing their degrees. In addition, Native Hawaiians
only make up 7% of the graduate student population at the university
(Kanaiaupuni, Malone, and Ishibashi, 2005). As Hawaiians on faculty at
the university, a critical component of our work becomes not only
assisting the small percentage of Hawaiians that are fortunate enough
to gain access to higher education, but to actively seek out Hawaiians
in our communities to provide them with support to go to the university
at all levels. Seeking them out and catering to their unique needs is the
foundation of our philosophy of ‘growing teachers’. It is necessary to
use adaptive and innovative methods to support them before and
during their teacher education program, as historically tertiary
education is designed to keep these diverse students out. These
methods will be discussed, along with the stories of current students.
These students' stories are included both because of their challenges,
but also because of their commitment to return to and teach in their
own Hawaiian communities.
Motherloss
TUESDAY 2.00-2.30
Maringi Brown
Education Portfolio, Te Runanga o Turanganui a Kiwa
We often hear the whakatauki: ‘Ko tatou te urupa o ratou’. Lyn
Davidman (2000) in her book, Motherloss, wrote: ‘I visit her grave
regularly to affirm a sense of connection. I ask for her guidance … I go
there and I ask when are you coming to get me?’ Hope Edelman (1995)
wrote: ‘Our lives are shaped as much by those who leave us as they
are by those who stay’.
We are influenced, connected and shaped by those that leave us.
When the person who leaves us is our mother the shaping and
influencing is markedly impacted on. Motherloss is a strong shaper of
personal identity. When this motherloss is experienced by a daughter
and by Maori what can we expect? Does the process of tangihanga
help to settle the effects of motherloss, do our tikanga and kawa
ensure that the brutal effects of motherloss are appeased? How are
the individual, and then the whānau, marae, hapū and iwi affected by
motherloss?
Although my mother had died, my research showed, I pursued her
identity. Because of her death I pursued her characteristics. If she had
not of died it could be assumed I would have been shaped by other
influences; however, she left me and it was her traits I assumed. This is
particular to motherless daughters. Although the memories maybe
accurate or flawed, it is for the daughter to seek. I wrote my research
based on my memories. Be that true or not, they are mine and they
help me to deal with the loss that ripped my heart apart and have
shaped the character and identity I have today.
My thesis was called ‘Haea ana te Ngakau i te Ngarotanga o te Koka:
Gnawed is the Heart at the Loss of the Mother’ (2000).
Utilising the Tiriti/Treaty to constitute an understanding of bicultural
relations in Aotearoa/New Zealand within the kaupapa of manaakitanga
and kotahitanga
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Ko Patangata te maunga
Ko Wharekahika te awa
Ko Tuwhakairiora te tangata
Ko Hinemaurea te marae
Ko Bronwyn Campbell ahau
My paper presentation will utilise the Tiriti/Treaty to constitute an
understanding of bicultural relations in Aotearoa/New Zealand within
the kaupapa of manaakitanga and kotahitanga. Critique of Western
empirical science will function to solidify the centring of mātauranga
māori and the ‘other’-ing of pākehā. The tikanga Tiriti house (Royal,
1998) is identified as a necessary place for authentic partnerships of
respectful and synergistic proportions. Discontent with the present state
of biculturalism will be mediated by positive aspirations for future
relationships that are consultative, collaborative and collegial.
A journey towards transdisciplinary research
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Debra J. Carr
Pūtaiao Pueru, Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo
‘Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.’
Chinese proverb
This paper will recount the journey of a Welsh engineer working in
Aotearoa New Zealand with cultural users of plant material. The work is
based within Clothing and Textile Sciences at The University of Otago.
The journey started with a (traditional) Western textile science study
examining the physical microscopic structure and mechanical
properties (strength, extension) of muka/whītau. This work was a classic
multidisciplinary research project involving respect of expertise, and
professional recognition of knowledge boundaries; the parties all
contributed. The second stage of the journey has involved a period of
interdisciplinary research investigating how plant material used in
artefacts held by cultural Institutions (e.g., museums, art galleries) might
be identified. Different perspectives were considered, and discipline
boundaries were challenged and re-negotiated. The current work has
entered a phase of transdisciplinary research which is exploring the
interface
between
Mātauranga
Māori
and
Western
science/engineering. Our problem is being investigated from a mode 2
knowledge perspective. The research is Māori led, with our kaimahi
harakeke guiding the research, and involves boundary crossing and a
philosophy of open mindedness. The people involved work with each
other, resulting in the development of new knowledge and skills.
Te tatau pounamu: making peace with science
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Melanie Cheung, Ngāti Rangitihi, Te Arawa
Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology,
Department of Anatomy with Radiology, University of Auckland
From past experiences, Indigenous people are often suspicious of
Western science and scientists. Like religion, science has often been
used as a colonisation tool, i.e., science has had another agenda. Yet
science has potential value for Māori and Indigenous people in
technology, health, aquaculture, horticulture and agriculture. So how
do we make peace with science? How can Māori be empowered by
science and use it as a tool to strengthen whānau, hapū and iwi?
Kekukuilamalamhoola – a light that leads the way to health
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Shane Cobb-Adams
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Kekukuilamalamahoola is a federally funded grant program, designed
to recruit native Hawaiians from immersion schools on Kauai and to
support their education in primary health care fields to address the
community's health care shortages. By balancing culturally appropriate,
project-based learning and western academic support systems,
Kekukuilamalamahoola has been successful in helping to develop
Native Hawaiian students who have both the will and the skill to
succeed in higher education and serve their communities. At the core
of Kekukuilamalamahoola is a multi-level strategy of community
empowerment, and innovative and adaptive service delivery, which
focuses on education for Hawaiians by Hawaiians. Creating a
balanced approach to education for native Hawaiians, that is
reflective of the community's needs and adaptive to the institutional
situation of Kauai schools, allows Kekukuilamalamahoola to provide a
long term solution for the medically underserved population of Native
Hawaiians on Kauai.
This presentation will discuss the role of the community across the
program and the various levels of community empowerment as well as
current and projected impacts of the program.
Kaupapa Māori evaluation: valuing the practice and success of Māori
and Iwi provider organisations
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Fiona Cram, Ngāti Kahungunu
Katoa Ltd.
Māori (indigenous) and Iwi (tribal) provider organisations have grown in
number and strength over the past 20 years. Over this time they have
filled mainstream gaps in service provision with the aim of providing
services and programmes based on traditional values that are more
appropriate, accessible and effective for their communities. These
organisations, therefore, contribute much to their communities’
wellbeing and development. At the same time, they have also been
subjected to intense scrutiny by their funding agencies, courtesy of
monitoring, auditing and evaluation requirements. Kaupapa Māori
evaluation has been one response to this scrutiny. Kaupapa Māori
(‘with, by and for Māori’) evaluation seeks to assess the activities and
outcomes of Māori organisations in ways that are culturally responsive
and collaborative, and which build the reflective and evaluation
capacity of organisations. In the current ‘Managing for Outcomes’
(MfO) environment that government agencies are operating within, it is
becoming more important for Māori and Iwi provider organisations to
articulate their practice models and their pathways to success.
Kaupapa Māori evaluation can be a bridge between provider
organisations and government funders – assisting with the
accountabilities of both parties. This paper examines this new MfO
environment, along with the opportunities and challenges it poses for
Māori and Iwi provider organisations and the role that Kaupapa Māori
evaluation can play.
Māori enjoying education success as Māori
TUESDAY 2.30-3.00
Stacey Crutch and Lynette Bradnam
Ministry of Education, New Zealand
In the 21st century there are new challenges for education systems. The
educational experience needs to provide opportunites for all students
to realise their potential, to develop a wide range of competencies
and capabilities, and the ability to succeed and contribute to wider
communities.
Māori student’s success is critical to Aotearoa New Zealand’s success.
The strategic intent of Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success: The Māori
Education Strategy 2008-2012 is ‘Māori enjoying education success as
Māori’. Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success sets out the Ministry of
Education’s strategic approach to achieving educational success for
and with Māori over the next five years. The strategy is integral to
realising the New Zealand government's commitment to transforming
the country into a knowledge based economy and society through
higher educational standards, increased parent and wider community
engagement in education, high levels of student achievement, and
the provision of life long learning opportunities for all New Zealanders.
This presentation will discuss the approach used in the development of
Ka Hikitia – Managing for Success. The focus is on government
prioritising improved indigenous educational outcomes; the use of an
evidence based approach including the voices and experiences of
Māori; and a Māori potential policy approach which seeks to strike a
better balance in policy decision making between remedying deficit
and realising potential.
The presentation will explore how a Māori potential approach can
provide a context for the shifts in attitudes, thinking and practice
required to achieve significant improvements in Māori educational
outcomes. The potential approach also provides an opportunity to
involve the use of Māori traditional knowledge and concepts. The
concept of ako (a reciprocal teaching and learning relationship, which
recognises that learner and whānau cannot be separated) is used to
describe a process for putting into practical effect the shift required.
Ako incorporates two aspects:
 Culture counts – knowing, respecting and valuing who students
are, where they come from and building on what they bring with
them; and
 Productive partnerships – Māori students, whānau, hapū, iwi and
educators sharing knowledge and expertise with each other to
produce better mutual outcomes.
Mauri Tau strategy for National Collective of Independent Women’s
Refuges
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Faith Denny
National Collective of Independent Women’s Refuges
A Māori Development Unit – Hau Purea – has been set up with in the
National Office of the National Collective of Independent Women’s
Refuges with assistance from Te Puni Kōkiri. Its purpose is to develop
and implement a strategy that will change the incidence of violence
within whānau. That strategy has been developed – it is called Mauri
Tau.
The Mauri Tau Strategy originally began as the National Collective of
Independent Women’s Refuges’ (NCIWR) Māori Growth Strategy (MGS).
Initially the focus by NCIWR was on developing culturally appropriate
refuge services to meet the needs of Māori women and children
seeking Refuge support. The MGS, once developed and implemented
was expected to serve two key purposes. The first is that it would reflect
NCIWR’s commitment to parallel development and the Māori version
of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
The second more pragmatic purpose was this was seen by NCIWR in
general, and Māori caucus in particular, as being essential to meet the
needs of ever increasing numbers of Māori clients peaking at more
than 50 percent in 2006 and remaing at that level to the present day.
During the strategy development phase, it became increasingly clear
that trying to implement a Māori strategy within Refuge would serve
mainly Refuge and have little impact on changing the situations of
whānau who are in crisis. Thus the strategy was re-focused and
renamed Mauri Tau, which means ‘the existence of harmony’. The
central purpose of Mauri Tau is keeping whānau intact. Put simply it is a
strategy designed to:
 Keep whānau intact
 Return whānau to and sustain them in Te Āo Marama
 Focus on solutions
 Expect leaders to model Mauri Tau in their words and their deeds
 Encourage self-sufficiency.
This presentation will:
 Background the impetus for the development of the Mauri
Tau Strategy;
 Outline the implementation process employed to engage
and get traction with hapū; and
 Outlines the tools developed to support and reinforce
Mauri Tau best practice.
Indigenous strategies for negotiating European institutions: case
studies of Pacific families managing personal, community and
international relationships to bring about educational, social and
financial transformation (3 papers)
MONDAY 4.30-5.30
Paper 1: Indigenous strategies for self-representation: the view from
preschools in Fiji
Susan Dewey, Anthropologist & Consultant on Culture and
Gender
DePauw University
Colonial-era schools in Fiji were segregated as part of a divide-and-rule
strategy that sought to separate indigenous Fijians from South Asian
(Indo-Fijian) contract labourers; this pattern largely continued after
independence as part of a stress on mother-tongue education that
functioned to divide many members of the two major ethnic groups
into different schools. Fiji has experienced four coups since 1987, most
recently in December 2006, all of which were justified at least in part by
the political manipulation of public perceptions on cultural and
economic differences between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians. The
2006 coup was staged on the premise that its interim military
government would, as its propaganda often announces, ‘move the
nation forward to build a better Fiji for all’, although rather than
increased ethnic harmony the results were rising inflation, suspension of
foreign aid and increased economic difficulties for most families. In the
midst of this turmoil, indigenous families struggle with a myriad of
tensions between the need to survive in an institutional system that
does not value traditional knowledge and the desire to preserve
indigenous childrearing styles that are perceived as necessary to claim
authentic membership in the indigenous Fijian community. This paper
makes use of ethnographic research at several preschools in Suva, Fiji,
to document how indigenous Fijian parents prepare their youngest
children to negotiate an educational system in which they are
consistently the lowest performers, and yet, simultaneously, resist
institutional systems that refuse to recognize many of the values
(including community responsibility for children) that are most central
to indigenous Fijian notions of proper childrearing.
Paper 2: MPSN Model (Multicultural Parenting Support Network): an
early intervention community based approach to engaging marginalized
communities in culturally appropriate ways; to create a framework for
social, cultural, educational, financial transformation
Natasha Lemoto Hanisi
Cross-Cultural Community Development
This paper documents the struggles faced by indigenous Pacific
families in the European-dominated institutional structures of Sydney,
Australia, and evaluates their strategies for self-improvement and family
outcomes via the MPSN model.
Given the impossible nature of governments and organizations to meet
the needs of many diverse communities, the MPSN model shows how
through innovative collaborative “common cents” approaches, the
strengths and values of diverse communities, namely the Pacific,
Arabic & Aboriginal, can be embraced and sustained to bring about
improved relationships across collectives, organizations, diverse
communities, families and generations. It can be done through
playgroups, preschools, primary and high schools, workplaces and
sports organizations; and requires collaborative approaches in a local
community. The MPSN model is a true ‘whole-of-community-whole-ofgovernment’ cost effective model that will bring marginalized families
above vulnerability and able to self-negotiate and self-determine their
futures, as well as strengthen their voices and be heard.
This paper makes use of a multi-disciplinary holistic research approach
by a team with backgrounds in early childhood, health, education,
welfare, psychology, legal, and finances. In essence, MPSN shows how
all marginalized communities can navigate their way through western
mainstream society and simultaneously resist institutional system failures
as well as sustain healthy balanced relationships.
Paper 3: Embracing rugby and negotiating inequalities in the Pacific
Islands
Robert Dewey
DePauw University
The following paper, based largely upon interviews conducted with
officials at the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Rugby Unions, analyzes the ways
in which Pacific Islanders responded to two eras, the first imperial and
the second neo-liberal, to navigate globalizing forces. The first part of
the paper briefly surveys the transformation of rugby in the Pacific from
a sport pursued by colonial administrators and expatriates to the status
of a ‘national’ game among Tongans, Samoans and indigenous Fijians.
The paper notes the complex attachment of indigenous values and
symbols to rugby football as well the development of interconnections
between the rugby-playing countries. Greater emphasis is placed
upon the second theme, which analyzes the consequences of
international rugby’s embrace of professionalism in 1995 for Island
unions which were already marginalized by the sport’s international
hierarchy. Particular attention is paid to player migration and the
controversies surrounding the alleged ‘poaching’ of Islander athletes.
Most importantly, the paper analyzes the ways in which the Island
rugby unions, both individually and collectively, responded to the new
global-professional era as they sought to compete on an ‘un-level’
playing field.
Waiata tangi: Takiri ko te ata…
TUESDAY 2.30-3.00
Matiu Dickson
Law School, University of Waikato
The singing of waiata tawhito at Māori hui and on marae during
welcoming ceremonies is becoming a rarity rather that a given, as it
was when I was younger. The singers of waiata tawhito are few and far
between. Waiata tawhito were the textbooks of Māori history and
knowledge. Each waiata was composed for a host of reasons, the
objective being to record stories and important events considered
valuable as tribal knowledge.
This presentation will discuss a waiata tangi composed by a woman
Turupa for her husband Kereti who was killed at Te Ranga during the
land wars in Tauranga. A consequence of the land wars was the
confiscation of Māori land and a life of poverty for Māori themselves.
Turupa and Kereti were of the Ngāti Hangarau iwi and though
composed in 1863, the waiata tangi is still sung as a memorial to that
sad part of the tribe’s history.
Building the capacity to enhance the Wellbeing of Indigenous people
living within a settler colonial regime: a critique of the ‘Social and
Emotional Wellbeing’ policy for Indigenous Australians
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Vicki Grieves
University of Sydney
‘Social and Emotional Wellbeing’ policies have been introduced since
the early 1990s as a response to the perceived ‘dysfunction’ in the
individual, family and community lives of Aboriginal Australians. These
programs are concerned with mental health issues amongst Indigenous
people ranging from social adjustment, depressive illnesses, the selfmedication that occurs with alcohol, petrol, marijuana and other drugs,
through to acute psychiatric care. A critique of these policies and their
application by the ‘helping professions’ reveals that they incorporate
an ongoing disregard for the viability of Aboriginal Australian culture
and the impacts of colonisation on the psyche of Aboriginal Australians.
Such approaches can perpetuate and even worsen the impacts of
colonisation on Aboriginal people. The cultural differences of
Aboriginal people have long been devalued, demeaned and
subjected to all forms of interventionist social engineering designed to
‘develop’ Aboriginal people. Similarly, psychiatric and psychological
approaches do not demonstrate cognisance of cultural difference in
the diagnosis and treatment of mental health and of the potential
impacts of overlaying western theoretical approaches on Aboriginal
personhood. The wholistic framework of Aboriginal philosophy holds the
key to Aboriginal personhood and wellbeing, whereby health is
inextricably tied to wellbeing, and wellbeing for Indigenous people, is
by its very nature, spiritual. Thus the concept of Aboriginal Spirituality
needs to be the basis of clinical mental health care, informing the
diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions. Indigenous
knowledges, from the baseline of spirituality, hold the key to healthy
and productive relationships and thus wellbeing for Aboriginal people.
Aboriginal spirituality: new/old thinking in pathways to balanced gender
relationships
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Vicki Grieves
University of Sydney
Aboriginal cultural leaders of high degree are known for wanting to
share the value of their cultural philosophy as a blueprint for the
appropriate ways of life in this country, now known as Australia. This
philosophy is about the ‘connectedness’ of all living things and the
landscape and has encompassed in it the directions, or Law, that
inform human beings of heir roles in relationship to each other, the
species and the whole of creation - what the late David Mowaljarlai
has called ‘pattern thinking’.
This paper explores the basis of this philosophy and its impact on
relationships, through the timeless message of various Aboriginal
philosophers, in their own words. By way of illustration, the impact of this
philosophy on gender relationships, including marriage, is explored and
contrasted to the gender relationships of ‘western’ societies, especially
in the early colonial period, known as the foundational period for
Australian society.
The philosophical base to Aboriginal society has been disregarded
since the colonisation of Aboriginal Australia. It is imperfectly
characterised as the ‘Dreaming’, disregarded as child-like and
undeveloped, suitable only as stories for children. However, this
philosophy holds the key to balanced relationships and future social
and natural resource sustainability in Australia.
Indigenous strategies for negotiating cultural knowledge, values and
traditions, based on case studies of indigenous families in Sydney,
Australia and Suva, Fiji
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Natasha Lemoto Hanisi
Cross-Cultural Community Development
Susan Dewey
DePauw University
The pre-colonial fabric of Fijian and Tongan societies was composed of
many threads that together comprised a holistic basis for families to
resolve conflicts together. In this period, it was expected that all
individuals would know their family history, respect those in positions of
authority, and recognize the responsibility to obey elders and those of
chiefly status. This system disempowered young people, but
simultaneously bonded the community by centralizing authority in the
hands of the elders.
This paper examines life for contemporary Tongans and Fijians in
Sydney, Australia and Suva, Fiji as they navigate the enormous cultural
changes that the past century has wrought on their communities,
including the lack of community language schools, constant financial
demands from church and family members and cultural isolation for
migrants. Families find themselves increasingly isolated in both Suva
and Sydney due to rapid cultural changes for both communities, and
the support systems of the past have largely vanished for urbanites.
This paper specifically addresses how Fijian and Tongan families,
especially young people, have reconnected with their history in order
to empower themselves in systems that do not always value indigenous
knowledge or practices. Fijian case studies discussed draw from an
anthropologist’s research among a diverse body of urban indigenous
Fijians, including schoolchildren, parents and orphans in statesponsored institutions to illustrate how individuals draw upon ideas of
“tradition” to make a brighter future for themselves and their families.
Tongan case studies presented analyze how families, schoolchildren,
parents and young adults in an urban Sydney community reconnected
with family lines and challenged ‘eiki and ‘poto of self-proclaimed
leaders of the family who withhold and keep family history knowledge
and customs. The result has been educational, cultural, social and
financial transformation; as well as restorative knowledge and greater
well being across generations within the local community.
The negotiated space: mediating knowledge exchange in a contested
environment
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Murray Bargh Hemi
Independent Researcher
Linda Smith
University of Waikato
Maui Hudson
Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR Ltd)
Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
The resilience of a cultural knowledge system is dependent on its ability
to respond to transformation and change, to adapt and explain new
phenomena in a way that retains a sense of resonance and
coherence with the existing philosophies and psychologies of their own
knowledge system. The process of colonisation impacted on the ability
of indigenous communities to engage in the production of knowledge
and this resulted in the exclusion of their knowledge from the structures
of society. The historic marginalisation of alternative value and
knowledge systems has prevented quality engagement and dialogue
between these two knowledge systems in New Zealand. Te Hau Mihi
Ata is a research project whose goal is to enhance the potential for
knowledge exchange between mātauranga Māori and science. All
knowledge is first of all local knowledge and a unique genius and
distinctive creativity underlie the production of knowledge in any
cultural context.
The research examines the processes and steps required to establish
equity between differing knowledge systems, each differing in
respective power, authority, origin, and history. Equity in dialogue is a
fundamental step towards the empowerment of cultural knowledge,
and the reclamation of cultural dignity and the self-confidence to
engage in knowledge exchange and new knowledge development.
We advocate the idea of a ‘negotiated space’ to mediate knowledge
exchange in a contested environment. The negotiated space is a
space of encounter where worldviews exchange. It is a neutral zone for
dialogue and reached through the identification of first the imbalances
and then the differences existent between two knowledge systems. This
space provides a platform for recognising the important yet different
values, roles, and functions of each system and establishes the
parameters of engagement between knowledge and value systems. It
is hypothesised that only through respect, equity, and mutual
recognition of differing values, roles, and functions can valuable and
creative dialogue be achieved between systems.
It is through empowering cultures to work on and appropriate the
riches within their own local knowledge tracts that communities will reacquire the cultural dignity and self-confidence to engage in
knowledge exchange and the qualitative transformation of knowledge
culture. We advocate the idea of a ‘negotiated space’ to mediate
knowledge exchange in a contested environment. The negotiated
space is an open space of encounter where worldviews exchange. It is
a neutral zone for dialogue and understanding of what constitutes the
cultural divide between knowledge systems. This understanding then
provides a platform for negotiating the ethical and epistemological
parameters of engagement at the interface of knowledge and value
systems.
Kaupapa Māori entrepreneurship: traditional concepts applied to
sustainable business development
TUESDAY 2.30-3.00
Ella Henry, Te Ara Poutama
This paper provides an overview of a research project that focuses on
further developing our
understanding of
Kaupapa
Māori
entrepreneurship. The first stage of the project involves the secondary
analysis of data collected as part of the New Zealand Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor, which has included 44 interviews with Māori
experts in entrepreneurship since the project began in New Zealand in
2000. The content-analysis will explore the common themes and
perceptions held by these experts with a view to better understanding
Māori entrepreneurship and placing it within a Kaupapa Māori
framework.
This study will contribute to the further development of Kaupapa Māori
research methods because the content-analysis will be done using NVivo 7, a powerful qualitative analytical tool. There has been some
criticism of Kaupapa Māori research, in particular because of a
perceived lack of rigor in the analytical methods and consequent
theoretical frameworks that are generated from the qualitative data
that is collected. It is hoped that this research will provide Kaupapa
Māori researchers with a robust and rigorous tool that meets both
scientific and cultural requirements.
The findings from this study will be used to generate a set of framework
conditions for better understanding Kaupapa Māori Entrepreneurship, a
Māori approach to entrepreneurship that most closely parallels ‘social
entrepreneurship’ and which draws on distinctly Māori cultural concepts,
as a basis for sustainable Maori business development.
Youth’07 Wharekura survey
TUESDAY 3.00-3.30
Ruth Herd
The University of Auckland
The Youth’07 National health and wellbeing survey of New Zealand
secondary school students was carried out last year by the Adolescent
Health Research Group at the University of Auckland. Wharekura (Māori
medium secondary schools) were recruited to participate in the study
by a Māori Research Fellow who was specifically employed to oversee
the translation of the survey into Te Reo Māori and to invite the
participation of Māori medium schools into the study. Nine Iwi health
and social service providers were contracted to support the project and
facilitate a pathway to engaging with their specific communities and
they also employed local young people to work alongside the university
field research teams in the Wharekura.
Te Aho Matua is the philosophical framework of Kura Kaupapa Māori
and has been utilised as a reporting framework for the results of the
study. Aspects of this framework will be explored in depth during the
presentation.
Right Relationships with the Earth: the Role of Indigenous Cultures in
Establishing Global Ethics, Economics and Governance
TUESDAY 2.30-3.30
Robert Howell
Business Ethics, AUT University; Council for Socially Responsible
Investment
The scientific community’s assessment of the warming of the climate
system is undeniable: the objective of avoiding dangerous increases is
no longer possible to achieve. Adaptation is unavoidable. The reasons
for this prognosis are because humans do not have a right relationship
with the earth. This is reflected in the predominant economic system
which is in conflict with the fundamentals of science, is unable to
provide any purpose for economics other than unconstrained growth, is
unable to handle questions about scale or waste, and has no means of
fairly distributing the benefits to humankind. Why this state of affairs is
allowed to continue is because the international governance systems
are based on national interests rather than global interests, and the
predominant value systems are wrong. The latest Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that new
development models are needed: this is not about choosing a
mapped-out path, but rather about navigating through an uncharted
and evolving landscape.
Neither science nor economics can resolve the fundamental issues
posed by climate change: these are ethical issues. The more
fundamental change required is a values change, where humans see
nature differently. The current global value system, and that used by the
IPCC, will not solve the issues posed by climate change. Many
indigenous peoples have cultural and values and belief systems where
this right relationship exists. (Is it not ironic that so-called ‘developed
countries’ need to learn from those ‘undeveloped’ peoples to whom
the benefits of western civilisation and enlightenment meant land
confiscation, marginalisation, disease and destruction?) This value
change needs to occur at all levels from the personal through to the
global level, and be the basis for driving changes to the global
economy and governance systems – if we have time.
Indigenous women, research and the law: Taranaki Māori women speak
TUESDAY 1.30-2.00
Kerensa Johnston, Ngāruahinerangi, Te Atiawa
Faculty of Law, University of Auckland
This presentation and written paper discuss a research project which
began in Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2005 and involved interviewing
over 20 Taranaki Māori women on issues relating to all aspects of their
lives, focusing in particular on issues relating to customary and state
imposed discrimination. The presentation outlines the main objective of
the project, which was to make visible the roles and values of Māori
women, so that these roles and values can be better reflected within
dominant economic and political structures. In particular, the project
aimed to ‘give voice’ to Māori women, giving time and space to the
women who contributed to the research project, so that they could
articulate their own concerns, ideas and conclusions about issues
including the law, politics, culture, leadership, the environment and
women’s roles.
Drawing on lessons learnt during the research project, this presentation
also explores the broader role of indigenous scholars working within our
own communities and the unique responsibilities we take on when we
undertake research on indigenous issues within our own whānau, hapū
and iwi groups.
‘Whakamana’ (Empowerment)
TUESDAY 1.30-2
Cherie Kana, Tainui, Ngāti Mahuta, Te Arawa, Tūwharetoa
Kai Kakaano Whakauru, Capital & Coast District Health Board
Mental Health Services, Whakapai He Whakarito Maori Mental
Health
Indigenous Cultural Education & Training Model has been designed
and developed specifically with the aim and focus to empower health
professionals, specialist and clinicians within mental health and general
health to enable positive health outcomes for indigenous people. The
model provides an education delivery on all aspects of indigenous
wellbeing to assist health professionals to identify cultural factors that
impact or affect wellbeing. It provides a holistic worldview of culture
and a clinical approach to understanding the psychological links to
cultural elements.
The model has been delivered within Capital & Coast District Health
Board (CCDHB) to twenty eight mental health services with very
successful outcomes and evidence of both personal change and
health practice to assist recovery and wellbeing. The evidence has
been captured through an evaluation report, over a two year period
since the programme was initiated and implemented into mainstream
services. It is complemented by a profile on the model, how it was
developed, what it involves and evidence testimonies from clinicians
about its positive impact on clinical practice and attitude.
A vital key and link has been the interest in delivering the education
and training to sectors of general health (such as gynecology, health
care associates and nurse preceptor training). It has also included
delivery to universities, non-government organisations and interest from
primary health organisations. The model ‘walks the talk’; it emphasises
the importance of cultural values, and the application in clinical
practice of methods that assist therapeutic rehabilitation and that look
at recovery and the prevention of relapse.
The author of the model has researched cases that were diagnosed
under a western medical/psychological term. These assisted the
delivery of education in awareness of cultural related illnesses not
detected by western medical models, to assist clinicians to enhance
their own clinical practice when working with indigenous people.
Creating a greenstone door in the ivory tower: stories of indigenous
doctoral pedagogy
TUESDAY 3.00-3.30
Margie Maaka
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Cheryl Stephens
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
Adreanne Ormond
University of Auckland
Pohai Kukea-Shultz
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Recent literature indicates an increasing number of indigenous
students entering postgraduate study. Although this is to be
encouraged it also illuminates the growing need for tertiary institutions
to pay heed to indigenous students’ social, academic and cultural
integration. If universities are to retain these students from entry to
degree completion there is a growing need for programs to integrate
traditional cultural knowledge with institutional program requirements.
This symposium will discuss this topical issue by drawing upon the
experiences of four indigenous scholars that have participated in
postgraduate support networks created especially to nurture
indigenous student in their academic achievement. The symposium will
discuss the highly successful New Zealand ‘Māori and Indigenous
postgraduate network’ (MAI). It will also involve a conversation
between current students and their supervisors and mentors insights
and experiences concerning how traditional lore is used to balance
student - supervisor power dynamics and aid sustainable academic
progress.
Ho‘okulāiwi: building Native Hawaiian leadership capability through
higher education
MONDAY 4.30-5.30
Margie Maaka
Laiana Kerry Wong
Kauaanuhea Lenchanko
Larson Ng
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Indigenous peoples whose lands are colonized or occupied share one
thing in common: being stripped of the fundamental markers of
identity and connectedness—sovereignty, ancestral lands, language,
and cultural knowledge. Indicators of wellbeing and success show that
many indigenous peoples experience high and disproportionate levels
of social, educational, and economic disadvantage compared with
dominant groups.
Over the past two decades, the push for self-determination, that is, the
inherent right of indigenous peoples to decide our own forms of
government, how our lands will be utilized, how our languages and
cultures will evolve, and how our peoples will be educated, has given
rise to a body of research that focuses primarily on transforming the
‘indigenous condition’. The preparation of indigenous leaders as
agents of change is central to this transformative imperative.
This paper draws on our work as educators, teacher educators,
researchers, and faculty of Ho‘okulāiwi: ‘Aha Ho‘ona‘auao ‘Ōiwi
(Center for Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Education) at the
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. It examines three key elements in
building Native Hawaiian leadership capabilities through higher
education. Firstly, it examines systemic challenges and complexities,
namely those presented by the University of Hawai‘i, other government
agencies, and the broader Hawai‘i community. Secondly, it examines
the role of the Native Hawaiian community, particularly the roles of
kūpuna and other experts in the support and development of Native
Hawaiian leadership as a means to ensuring the long-term social,
educational, economic, and spiritual wellbeing of the Hawaiian
people. Thirdly, it examines the people in the process—the mentors and
the mentored—particularly the passions, beliefs, challenges, and
commitments that drive their mutual quest. By examining these key
elements in preparing Native Hawaiian leaders in education, this paper
holds implications for other indigenous groups interested in developing
leadership capability in the field of education.
Naivety, boldness and conflict: causes and impact of conflict in Western
Nepal
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Shyamu Thapa Magar, Lecturer
Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology,Tribhuvan
University,Nepal
The Magars, the largest indigenous/ethnic groups of Nepal, are directly
influenced by the twelve years of violent conflict in Nepal. The main
causes of conflict in the Rukum and Rolpa District in Western Nepal
play an important role in the Magars’ involvement in conflict, and have
had a severe impact since the very beginning of the Maoist Movement
in Nepal. Due to poverty, social, cultural, religious, economic,
geographical and political factors, the majority of Magars (both males
and females of all ages), either from their own consent or by force,
have been actively involved as Maoist commandos, militia, volunteers,
either for reason of being naïve or bold in the response to sociopolitical issues; this has resulted in the maximum number of deaths
during cross fire, counter attacks, or killing and torture on being under
suspicion by the security forces. There have been no written records
clearly showing the inaccuracy on death numbers, reverse to the
higher caste who are in political lines. Although conflict has an adverse
effect, the positive effect of conflict has also been seen among the
Magars in Western Nepal, besides the other negative impacts. Within
these districts, the awareness level among men and women has risen;
and, as well, the familiarity of this district has been spread to all other
Nepali people – about the Magars and their status after getting
involved in the Maoist Movement.
Indigenous knowledge systems and practices on natural resource
management: a gender based study among Magars of Tanahu District
TUESDAY 1.30-2.00
Shyamu Thapa Magar, Lecturer
Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology,Tribhuvan
University,Nepal
Indigenous knowledge systems among Magars have been in practices
through trial and error in their day to day life. Magars have close
relationships with their environment through agricultural practices,
forest utilisation and utilisation of local herbs in their daily lives. Forest
products, as well as local herbs, are the main products in which Magars
are directly utilising their indigenous knowledge systems and practices.
The Village Development Committee (VDCs) in Tanahu District mainly
uses these systems and practices in the community forest while
managing, protecting and utilising the forest product, and local herb
utilisation is common for local illness treatments. Knowledge differs
between males and females, depending on the levels of
understanding about the knowledge systems in natural resource
management and utilisation practices in the study area. Women
played an important role in managing forest inside the community
forest, but we do not have knowledge to recognise the work they have
contributed, whereas most of the credit for having knowledge goes to
the males of the community. Both males and females have different
domains of understanding about the local herbs and their utilisation;
these are mostly collected by the males, although they are used by
both sexes. In the use of local indigenous knowledge systems and
practices, protection is needed for the future generations as well as for
the present utilisation.
He reo tuku iho: giving our children what we missed out on
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Rachel Martin
School of Māori, Social and Cultural Studies
University of Canterbury
Sustaining balanced and healthy relationships in Maori families who
have suffered the process of language loss involves having
opportunities to establish connections to support each other
(manaakitanga) in one’s whānau, runanga, iwi and the wider society.
This presentation uses a situated case study approach to explore
conflicts and tensions from the perspective of parents in negotiating
between traditional and non-traditional strategies in raising a child in
the
interface
between
two
worlds.
The case study examined in this presentation looks at the struggle of
identity reconstruction of a mother who is an adult learner of te reo
Māori herself and who is invested in supporting her 2 year old child to
acquire the language and develop his identity (Ngāitahutanga) as a
member of his iwi. This case study uses a personal narrative to raise
issues about parental decisions and power relations between fluent
and non-fluent speakers of te reo.
This case study is the basis of a PhD study investigating the role of
mothers who are second language learners themselves in supporting
their children in acquiring te reo Māori and developing a Māori identity.
E-ssence to change
TUESDAY 1.30-2.00
Awhitia Mihaere, Rangitane, Rakaipaaka, Te Aitanga aa
Mahaki, Ngāti Maniapoto
Te Mai oo Rewa Waananga LORE
Māori Service Development, Auckland Regional Womens
Correctional Facilities, Mt Eden and ACRP Correctional Prisons
Take the C A T A L Y S T and C H A N G E the E S S E N C E
through traditional methodologies and ideologies of retaining and
maintaining our knowledge base practices. So what is happening with
the unborn generation, who is entering the prison system without a
choice? How can we as practitioners help those who cannot be
helped to restore their justice and their rights of entering into the world
of crime?
Te Ohurei Pure Ao has been one of many traditional waananga that
has protected the unborn child in the Northern Regional Prisons for
women. This waananga delivers restoration of identity/whakapapa
and in particular the unborn child and its significance to their
whenuakura/placenta, pito/umbilical cord and ahurumoowai/
ambiotic sac, where there no judgement is permitted. It is the place of
sanctuary for our babies until their entry into Te Whai Ao.
Once the mother has recognised, reconciled, and made reparation
with the self then the job is half way there for the unborn child. The
women already have solutions which help to understand the past. Te
Ohurei Pure Ao keeps the kaupapa safe to allow our women to be
Honest, in order for their Integrity to remain in tact, by Honouring the
self and those whom they make contact with, and Accepting the
wrongs in their past. Therefore, the ultimate outcome for Te Ohurei Pure
Ao to have a butterfly effect, is to guide and assist the creators of
tomorrow, to let go of their FEARS within an entrenched belief systems
that inhibit them from accessing what is rightfully theirs in the
Indigenous world view and that is total well being within the paradigm
of TINORANGATIRATANGA.
Tribute is paid to Hohepa Delamere who made a significant
contribution to this kaupapa.
Kuanaike
Hawaii:
epistemologies
performative
cartographies
as
Hawaiian
TUESDAY 1.30-2.00
Katrina-Ann Kapaanaokalaokeola Oliveira
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Traditional Hawaiian worldviews of the environment and its resources
were not limited to landscapes, but extended as far as the eye could
see to include all heavenscapes and oceanscapes. Such worldviews
were products of the ‘world (Native Hawaiians) view(ed)’. By
identifying and, more importantly, naming the various strata of the
heavens, regions on the landscape, and depths of the ocean, space
was transformed into personalized places.
Native Hawaiians traditionally utilized ‘performance cartographies’ to
reference their constructed places, legitimize their existence, and
reinforce their legacies. Such cartographic representations were
expressed in many ways including: inoa ÿäina (place names), mele
(songs), hula (dance), ÿölelo noÿeau (proverbs), mahele ÿäina (land
divisions), moÿolelo (historical accounts), and moÿoküÿauhau
(genealogies). The modes of expression and communication utilized in
Hawaiian performance cartographies “mapped” places and framed
Hawaiian spatiality.
This paper will explore traditional Hawaiian ‘cartographic’ practices as
Hawaiian epistemologies. It will assert that performance cartographies
reveal a great deal about the way in which Hawaiians living in
traditional times may have related to their world and created bodies of
knowledge.
Recognising Ako moments
TUESDAY 1.30-2.30
Amiria O’Malley, Jodie Owen, Luana Te Hira, Don Parkinson,
Maria Tamaki, Tamiaho Serancke
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Ako moments are snapshots of lived experiences that are spontaneous,
are often intangible but are of significant relevance due to its
transformative nature. The layer of engagement is self-selected in this
multi-dimensional realm, and affirms the teachings and knowledge of
our tūpuna, thereby strengthening our personal and collective identity
as Māori.
As educators in an indigenous organisation, Aronui Mātauranga, Te
Wānanga O Aotearoa, we acknowledge that ako moments are
echoes of our epistemological and ontological truths. In sharing these
moments with each other we are inspired and encouraged to
challenge external influences and to confirm that the centralization of
indigenous knowing is the foundation that informs and guides our work
as educators, curriculum designers and education programme
managers. The metaphoric notion of hinatore, a significant glow of light
that grows bigger and radiates more light until one is encompassed in it,
best describes the journeys that each individual has engaged with to
reach a point where our sharing of ako moments and the links to
tūpuna teachings are normalised.
This presentation is borne from our lived experiences as indigenous
people working within an indigenous tertiary organisation. We share the
values that permeate our organisation and relate how these values
have impacted on ourselves as educators as well as the students that
we support. Video, photographs and narratives are constructs for the
presentation. We also call on other indigenous voices to contribute
towards the perpetuation of epistemological truths, cultural practices,
the dissemination of knowledge and to share understandings.
Indigenous partnership strategies in sport – Māori Touch as a vehicle for
traditional knowledge and wellbeing, and whānau/hapū/iwi development
MONDAY 4.30-5.30
Maria Paenga, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou
Māori Health and Development, AUT University
Renei Ngawati, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou
Taupua Waiora Māori Health Research Centre, The University of
Auckland
Carol Ngawati, Ngāti Porou
Māori Touch NZ
The resurgence in Māori cultural identity has lead to a re-assessment in
all sectors about how a relationship based on Partnership is practical
and viable for all involved. Māori sport is no exception. Sport has long
proven to be an effective medium for the inclusion of Māori values,
ethics, and practices. Palmer (2005) states that ‘as an institutionalised,
highly visible and privileged cultural practice in New Zealand society,
sport provides an ideal context within which to examine race and
ethnic relations’. The global vivification of Indigenous rights challenges
the notion of Partnership, where Māori National Sports organisations are
obligated to find ways to work effectively with the National Sporting
bodies, without compromising their right to work autonomously towards
Indigenous development in their sector, as well as the right to utilise
traditional knowledge in their models of practice.
Māori Touch NZ is the only autonomous National Māori Sporting
Organisation that delivers successful outcomes for iwi, hapū, waka,
takiwā and most recently through the first World Indigenous Touch
World Cup, for Indigenous nations. Touch has the highest participation
rates for Māori of any sport in Aotearoa, New Zealand (Sport and
Recreation NZ, 2002). Traditional Māori values, ideals and ethics are
implemented by Māori Touch NZ to truly reflect an Indigenous Māori
approach using the guiding principles of Mana, Rangatiratanga,
Oritenga, Kaitiakitanga and Whakapapa. Māori Touch NZ uses an
innovative approach to partnership, without compromising autonomy,
which is seen in their mission statement: ‘Māori will be empowered and
strengthen in tikanga, te reo, whanaungatanga, and hauora through
the game of touch and establish and develop initiatives which
promote the retention and learning of tikanga Māori. Māori Touch will
encourage whanaungatanga linkages and support at tribal, regional,
national and international levels’.
This presentation debates the notion of partnership, using the medium
of sport. It will outline Māori Touch NZ’s bid to represent Māori through
Touch, whilst maintaining a partnership agreement with the National
body that does not compromise the Indigenous Rights and
development of Māori through sport. This presentation will explore the
successes and pitfalls of Māori development through a critical
reflection of Māori community engagement, Indigenous community
development, and cultural responsibility in sport. This presentation also
offers a solutions-based approach that has implications for policy in
sport, and indigenous development though a innovative partnership
model that is not unlike the ‘Treaty of Waitangi House’ or the RaukawaMihingare model (Winiata, 2005) in which the two ‘lower’ houses of the
3-house model remain distinctive in their approaches while coming
together under the Treaty of Waitangi house on shared issues which, in
this case, is the vehicle of the game of Touch.
Frameworks for traditional Māori knowledge – can we truly talk about
traditional Māori knowledge, or concepts in research, without
understanding the paradigm from which it originates?
TUESDAY 2.30-3.00
Maria Paenga, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou
Māori Health and Development, AUT University
Te Hira Paenga, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Porou
Waikato University
T. A. C. Royal (‘Te Whare Tapere: towards a new model for Māori
performing arts’, 1998) states that Māori research often focuses on
examples of mātauranga Māori or Māori knowledge and very little
work has been done on the paradigm out of which this knowledge is
created. For this reason, much research into mātauranga Māori is
conducted through the employment of non-Māori knowledge
paradigms.
Present research paradigms place traditional Māori knowledge and
concepts, and other phenomena specific to Māori, in isolation from
their origin - making the concepts themselves disconnected from the
elucidation that is ‘Māori’. This presentation will outline the potential of
the Te Ao Mārama paradigm (Royal, 1998) to remove Traditional Māori
knowledge from contemporary contexts in order to discuss traditional
links between humanity and the environment, making traditional
indigenous concepts, values, ideals, and strategies for sustaining
balanced and healthy relationships applicable to any given context.
The traditional knowledge (Wānanga Taketake) framework proposed
in this presentation sits under the Te Ao Mārama paradigm, and utilises
Whakapapa/ Whakaheke (Genealogy/Theogony=genealogy of gods)
as methodology. This enables Māori to utilise our own method of
explaining the world around us. This knowledge is carried and safeguarded by Hapū and Whānau Māori. Wānanga as knowledge, and
the process by which knowledge is dissected, resected, linked together
and understood, is currently absent in published debate. As a
consequence, there is a dearth of literature that refers to wānanga as
a legitimate process for gaining, and reaching higher understanding.
Literature has largely focused on mātauranga as an endpoint of
knowledge, rather than how wānanga as a process can be used
creatively to form new matauranga Māori.
Wānanga is used in this framework to extrapolate the “Attributes, acts
and gifts of Ira Atua and how they manifest in humanity and in the
environment”.
In this presentation, Ira Atua (Deities) and their
relationship to wānanga or bodies of knowledge will be explained. The
definitive relationship between humanity and the environment will be
drawn, and traditional Māori concepts, values, ideals and strategies will
be given a context within Indigenous research.
Ka Ora te Whenua, Ka Ora Te Tangata: Kaupapa Maori and participatory
action research: is synergy possible between research methodologies
stemming from differing world-views?
TUESDAY 2.00-2.30
Pip Pehi, Ngāpuhi, Te Māhurehure
Otago University
Ka Ora te Whenua, Ka Ora te Tangata originated from the wider
nationwide project Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai (TMK). The vision for TMK is to
trigger improved cultural, social, economic and environmental
outcomes from kaitiakitanga through research around the effective
establishment and management of mātaitai and taiāpure (customary
fishing reserves) where there is an emphasis on ‘the interface between
mātauranga Māori and Western science”. Ka Ora te Whenua, Ka Ora
te Tangata is concerned primarily with the social and cultural wellbeing of participants and their communities.
A blend of Participatory Action Research and Kaupapa Māori
Research methodology will drive the project. This will serve to place
the knowledge and experience of kaitiaki at the center of the inquiry,
and involve them in designing and interpreting the research. The two
methodologies will be outlined, paying particular attention to highlight
the practical and philosophical challenges encountered in their use.
The challenges identified include the use of methodologies/kaupapa
to engage with participants by researchers unfamiliar with the worldview on which they are based and the often perceived split between
the ‘social’ and ‘pure’ sciences. There is a need to examine such
issues to allow research to adequately address the environmental,
social and cultural needs of individuals and communities.
The paper will illustrate these challenges using concrete experiences
gained in the research process so far through which prospective case
studies have been approached and asked to participate.
Tūhonohonotanga:
relationships.
re-appreciating
the
significance in valued
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Hariata Rawinia Pohatu
The University of Auckland
Each new time must discover its own appreciation of the significance
of relationships in its daily interactions. In this way, kaupapa undertaken
will have a real chance of being understood, valued and successfully
undertaken. Tūhonohonotanga is a key cultural position, thought
through, created and applied by Māori since the beginning of our time
to ensure mauri-ora of kaupapa, the collective and the individual. It is
offered as a part of a mosaic of cultural givens that have always been
used, tested and reapplied down through the generations.
The importance of the valued place of te pae o maumahara
(memory), is selected in this paper as a crucial element in
tūhonohonotanga. This will be examined and exampled highlighting
what each individual and collective memory brings, to enriching
relationships, deepening and affirming ongoing commitment.
Pitopito kōrero (excerpts) shared will be drawn from my kāhui
whakapapa contexts. The intent is to highlight ways in which Māori
treat the simple processes of giving and receiving, articulating some
interpretations of how and why Māori do things and commit to things in
the way we do. As these are culturally positioned and processed, then
old insights are invited in, contextualised, languaged and revalued for
this time.
In this way, so will my mokopuna have an opportunity to recognise and
make sense of a process fashioned by their tipuna. It enables me to be
a valued kai-arataki to them. Theirs is a journey of endeavour to make
sense of tikanga and the inherent obligations they will undertake in
their kaupapa in their time.
TAKEPŪ: principled approaches to healthy relationships
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Taina Pohatu
Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa
Te Ao Māori has fashioned ways for Māori to live life by, in balanced
and sustaining ways. This paper introduces takepū, as cultural markers,
deliberately using Māori knowledge, rationales and applications to
inform and guide generations, since the beginning of our time, in how
to live our lives.
Takepū are considered here as applied principles, bodies of cultural
knowledge and multi-featured, already used by Māori in all facets of
any kaupapa and relationship. They are key strategic positionings but
the question is, ‘are we consciously aware today, of the transformative
potential that they hold to direct us in our kaupapa and relationships?’
Takepū, this paper will contend is simple and everyday, yet holds
pathways to the richness of knowing, within Te Ao Māori. Such
pathways enable the deliberate advancement of Māori thinking and
application into activities and relationships. Takepū are recognised as
been produced and reworked by Māori from sources of valued cultural
knowledge and wisdoms. They are considered kaitiaki (responsible
stewards) of valued principles, deep thinking, significant attitudes and
ways of life with the central essence of humanness, crucial to assessing
and sustaining relationships.
The simple statement, ‘he kaitiaki katoa tātau’ (we all have
stewardship responsibilities), is everyday, belongs to everyone and
highly charged with timeless messages of purpose and obligation. It
models a way in which takepū can be interpreted and contextualised
into any relationship and kaupapa, with the many options that it sets
out, to be chosen from.
This paper will share ways in which takepū have been developed and
some insights for reflection.
The implications of traditional knowledge and values on decisionmaking processes: a case study analysis of Māori involvement in
biotechnology and aquaculture
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
NgāPae Kahurangi team
Te Ari Prendergast
Fiona Cram,
Katoa Limited
Hazel Phillips
University of Victoria, Wellington
Murray Parsons
Private Consultant, Christchurch
Aquaculture is a booming industry in New Zealand, and one in which
Maori are increasingly represented. Much of the current research in
aquaculture concentrates on the science and technology discourse as
well as the economic benefits of the industry. What remains underresearched are the socio-political, environmental and cultural aspects
of aquaculture and, in particular, how these are represented within
hapü and iwi decision-making processes about their involvement.
Biotechnological advances will add another layer to this decisionmaking mix as hapü and iwi are increasingly asked to consider the
value of biopharming of New Zealand marine specifies, particularly
those that have significant cultural value to Mäori. How do
communities, however, make judgments about issues which are based
on the weighing up of perceived costs and benefits to the community?
This paper examines the decision-making processes that Mäori employ
when analysing the perceived costs and benefits of new technologies.
This process can be categorised as; an assessment of the current state
of tribal welfare and the welfare of the tribal takiwa (tribal boundaries),
where areas are deemed deficient the potential of new technologies is
considered as to whether it presents possible remedies, these new
technologies are then assessed as to whether they will impact upon
other areas of importance, and finally the perceived benefits are
compared with the perceived costs to tribal welfare.
To discuss this dilemma we have used a case study analysis of Maori
involvement in aquaculture and its evolution into new biotechnologies
for the benefit of Human health. Our case study groups differed in their
response to the issues presented to them regarding biotechnology use
in aquaculture, but came to their position through a similar process of
weighing options against tribal values and, environmental and
economic needs. This categorises Maori decision-making processes as
being pragmatic and process oriented.
A love match or a marriage of convenience? forging Maori/Crown
relationships in the 21st century – the Ngāwha Prison example
TUESDAY 2.00-2.30
Khylee Quince, Te Roroa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou
Faculty of Law, University of Auckland
The greenstone door is a metaphor for peacemaking and political
alliance forged by social allegiance, often by way of marriage. In this
paper, I will talk about the relationship forged between the Māori tribal
group Ngāti Rangi and the Department of Corrections in relation to the
establishment of the Northland Regional Corrections Facility, which
opened in Ngāwha, Northland, New Zealand in 2005.
The establishment of a prison is often a cause of contention within a
community, and that was certainly the case with the Ngāwha facility.
In this instance the tension was mainly between two factions from
within the same local tribal group, Ngāti Rangi. One group was
vehemently opposed to the prison, and took their opposition all the
way to the Court of Appeal. The other group decided to support the
venture and entered into a memorandum of understanding with
Corrections, thereby forging a relationship that is legally significant in
the history of Crown/Māori relations.
In this paper, I will outline the background to the establishment of the
Ngawha prison, the objections of the Friends and Community of
Ngāwha Incorporated, and the reasons the iwi supporters backed the
project. I will also analyse the nature of the agreements between Ngāti
Rangi and the Crown. The Ngāwha project is a contemporary example
of a new model of sovereignty, involving a Māori hapū, or subtribe,
entering into partnership with the Crown.
Despite some shared objectives, overall the political, economic and
ideological goals of the Crown and Māori, such as Ngāti Rangi, are
incompatible, as are their means of attaining them. In my view, the
best that can be achieved from projects such as the Ngāwha prison is
a partnership based on resolution of those conflicting goals, through
compromise. The focus of my written paper will be an assessment of
the attempted compromise.
Tikanga & technology: a new net goes fishing
TUESDAY 2.30-3.00
Kristina M Ramstad
Biodiversity Research & Links to Māori, Allan Wilson Centre for
Molecular Ecology & Evolution, Victoria University of Wellington
Linda Faulkner, Ngāti Rangi, Whanganui
Kaupapa Kura Taiao, Environmental Risk Management
Authority – N Z
As we move into an increasingly technological world, are Māori well
placed to get the most out of the advances made whilst maintaining
strong cultural identity and practices?
Here we report on the
outcomes of a unique hui held jointly between the Environmental Risk
Management Authority – New Zealand, the Allan Wilson Centre for
Molecular Ecology and Evolution, and Geological and Nuclear
Sciences. The kaupapa of the hui was to explore the potential impacts,
risks, benefits, and appropriate applications of new and emerging
genetic and nanotechnologies. Technological advances were
considered in light of traditional Māori tikanga, particularly with regard
to the role of kaitiakitanga of native species and the environment, as
well as risk management for the environmental and personal health. A
number of common points of conflict between technology and
tikanga and researchers and iwi were identified. Strategies for
establishing and maintaining reciprocal and respectful relationships
between researchers and iwi were discussed and deemed critical to
reaching common goals of conserving and protecting the mauri and
mana of native species of Aotearoa.
Te Timatanga: the beginning: developing relationships between a
traditional tertiary institution and Māori
TUESDAY 1.30-2.00
Dr Stephen G. Scott, Ngāti Whātua, Te Uri o Hau
Ms Rose Harrison
Te Rohe ā Ahikāroa (the Division of Sciences), Te Whare
Wānanga o Otāgo
Kakea ka tiritiri o te Moana, ki tua he pakihi raurarahi,
he whenua haumako muia e te takata
Ascend the alps, and beyond you will find expansive plains of fertile
land, covered with people
Over the past three years the Division of Sciences at University of Otago
has begun the process of developing relationships with Māori students,
Māori staff and the wider Māori community in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This process began with the recognition that Māori student support
within the Division was excellent in places but on the whole was limited
and uncoordinated. A network of Kaiāwhina in each Department
within Sciences was developed, with Kanohi ki te Kanohi (face to face
contact) being the guiding principle.
This development highlighted the need for a more comprehensive plan,
furthering the aspirations of Maori students and staff, as well as those
researchers within Sciences working in areas of particular relevance to
Maori. Relationships were developed through informal discussions,
formal meetings, presentations and workshops.
Meaningful
consultation with interest groups lead to the development Te
Timatanga (The Beginning), an action plan to guide the Division of
Sciences forward on ‘things’ Māori.
The title of the plan clearly states that this is the beginning: there are
many mountains to climb before of the richness of Māoritanga is able
to be embraced.
Synergistic conservation values? Māori tikanga, science, resource
management and law – theoretical doctoral findings
TUESDAY 2.00-2.30
Katie Simon, Ngāti Hikairo (Waikato), Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti
Porou
University of Waikato
Balanced (termed ‘synergistic’) potentialities between indigenous
knowledge and western science in Aotearoa environmental
governance were investigated in my doctorate as a collaborative
endeavor to advance Māori. In this paper, I briefly outline theoretical
doctoral findings concerning the balance of values in ecological
environmental governance from five environmental authorities and
three Māori community case studies. It was through theory and social
practice on synergy that both a strong correlation with existing
knowledge and expanded understandings were found. As theory
exemplified social practice and visa versa, each one needed to be
understood in terms of the other in order to encapsulate
Māori/indigenous advancement. In the paper, such potential synergy
was the focal point of my theoretical argument from the doctorate.
The complementarity of Hui Māori & Deliberative Dialogue in engaging
the public on national Issues
TUESDAY 3.00-3.30
Moana Durie Sinclair, Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti
Rangatahi, Ngāti Maniapoto
Bioethics Council, Ministry for the Environment, Aotearoa/New
Zealand
The value of combining hui Māori and public deliberations for
developing policy on local and national issues in Aotearoa / New
Zealand: the experiences of the Bioethics Council on the topic of prebirth testing.
This presentation will be in three parts. The first section will deal with the
value of hui in contemporary Aotearoa / New Zealand. The second
section looks at consultation versus deliberation, and will compare the
two forms of engaging public on national issues. The third section
considers how the Bioethics Council have used hui alongside the
deliberative model in engaging the public in its work examining the
cultural ethical and spiritual issues of bioethics as it relates to their
recent programme of work on pre-birth testing.
Te Whakahiamoe: Whānau Wellbeing
TUESDAY 2.30-3.30
Cherryl Waerea-i-te-rangi Smith, Ngāti Apa, Kahungunu, Te
Aitanga a Hauiti
Leanne Hiroti, Ngāti Apa, Ngāi Tahu, Kahungunu
Justin Gush, Ngāti Apa, Te Iwi Morehu, Whanganui
Te Atawhai o te Ao, Independent Māori Research Institute for
Environment and Health, Whanganui
Many early Māori stories such as those of Maui recount how struggle
was involved in the creation of the world and in the search for
knowledge. Struggle, we are told from these stories, is part of our world.
From struggle great things can be born, both intentionally and
unintentionally. This panel examines ways that whānau wellbeing and
peace is often born out of struggle. Three areas of research are
discussed to illustrate the multiple ways that whānau mediate struggle:
Infertility, Grandparents Raising Mokopuna, Māori Vietnam Veterans.
Tohu and Māori Knowing
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Takirirangi Smith, Aitanga a Hauiti, Ngāti Kahungunu, Kāi Tahu,
Ngāti Apa
Māori Carving and Art, Whitireia Community Polytechnic
An integral part of precolonial Māori knowledge systems was the ability
to read, interpret and understand tohu. In this paper I make an
argument that the reading and interpretation of tohu ‘speak’ to the
ngakau and is therefore an important component of Māori knowledge
and the understanding of Māori knowledge transformation.
I also consider its relevance for social transformations that are occurring
in contemporary Māori society today.
Generating sustainable relationships through the establishment of a
whānau eco-village and learning centre
TUESDAY 2.00-2.30
Waereti Tait, Tess Kora
Nga Whare Oranga Trust
This presentation will consider the Nga Whare Oranga project, which is
based on the building of sustainable, whānau-based relationships
through the establishment of an eco-village and learning centre.
Nga Whare Oranga Trust is nearing the completion of a five year
project to harness the initiatives of whānau Māori and the community
at large. To investigate and implement solutions that engage and
sustain relationships across a broad front of central and local
government, private and business sectors, tribal authorities and
structures, to address the following:
 Sustainable use of whenua: Ranginui and Papatuanuku: taking
care of the planet: culturally and environmentally sound
practice;
 Working with the complexities surrounding multiple-ownership of
land: whakapapa, whenua, whanaungatanga;
 Taking care of our lakes, rivers, waterways: zero waste
management.
The presentation will outline the operation of the Nga Whare Oranga
project in terms of its commitment to and practices of:
 sustainable living;
 creating and revitalising a way of life through appropriate
technologies;
 new rural/urban design; and
 the re-building of communities.
An Indigenous Commentary on the Standardisation of Restorative
Justice in New Zealand and Canada
MONDAY 4.30-5.30
Juan Marcellus Tauri, Ngāti Porou
Auckland University of Technology
The development and implementation of restorative justice policies
and initiatives has increased dramatically in western jurisdictions,
including New Zealand and Canada, since the early 1990s. With this
rise in activity has come a desire on the part of the state and some
practitioners, for the design, funding and delivery of restorative justice
initiatives to be standardised.
This paper argues that for the most part, the process of standardisation
is state-focused and dominated and exhibits the well documented
neo-colonial tendencies inherent in the state’s historical response to
the issue of indigenous ‘over-representation’ in the criminal justice
system. Through a critical examination of various rationales advanced
to support the state-driven standardisation process occurring in both
Canada and New Zealand, the paper will demonstrate how the
process inhibits First Nation-centred development and delivery of
responses to social harm.
In response to the state’s ‘indigenised’ standardisation process, the
author will argue for Māori practitioners to develop their own standards,
or tika, in order to ensure Māori empowerment in the development and
delivery of restorative justice initiatives to their own.
He ara whanaungatanga: a pathway towards sustainable intergenerational and research relationships – the experience of Ngāti
Ruaka/Ngāti Hine
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Rāwiri Tinirau, Te Āti Haunui-ā-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Ruaka/Ngāti
Hine
Rānana Māori Committee and Te Au Rangahau (Māori Business
Research Centre), Massey University
A hapū (sub-tribe) research project capturing the memories and
thoughts of kuia and koroheke (elderly females and males respectively)
is nearing completion for the Ngāti Ruaka/Ngāti Hine hapū of
Whanganui. The aim of the research was to stimulate discussion
amongst these respected elders of the hapū, and to elicit those factors
that affect social, cultural, health and environmental well-being. This
paper intends to draw on the experiences of hapū researchers, as well
as the kuia and koroheke, in their pursuit of this research aim, and
acknowledges the inter-generational relationships that have been
strengthened as a result of this project.
Through whakapapa (kinship ties) and whakawhanaungatanga (the
building of personal relationships), the hapū researchers have had
direct and unfettered access to their kuia and koroheke for the
purposes of this research; however, an enduring obligation and
elements of reciprocity are clearly understood by the hapū researchers
and the participants. The importance of ongoing consultation with the
hapū community; the adherence to tikanga Whanganui; the cultural
methods employed in the recruitment, selection and participation of
kuia and koroheke; and the role of the ahikā (those that maintain the
burning home fires) throughout the research process will also be
illustrated.
The paper not only looks at the role of the hapū researchers as hapū
members, but also as researchers based within a New Zealand
university context. This dual role has had benefits for both the hapū
and the university, and has been the conduit through which a
sustainable research relationship has been fostered. It proposes that if
the appropriate research processes are negotiated, understood and
enacted from conception, and if the research participants (in this case,
kuia and koroheke) guide those processes, then the likelihood of
conflict is minimised.
Pupurihia ki tō manawaroa: holding steadfast to our enduring covenants
of peace – designing Rangitāne waiata as educative tools in the
transmission of knowledge and understanding across generations
TUESDAY 3.00-3.30
Rāwiri Tinirau, Te Āti Haunui-ā-Pāpārangi, Rangitāne
Te Whānau o Te Kura
Te Au Rangahau (Māori Business Research Centre), Massey
University Debi Marshall-Lobb, Rangitāne, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti
Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Te Whānau o Te Kura
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manawatū
The purpose of this paper is to explore the peaceable themes
expressed within three waiata (songs) that were written for Te Whānau
o Te Kura, a senior kapahaka (Māori performing arts group) from
Palmerston North, New Zealand. Te Whānau o Te Kura was established
to allow past students, teachers, parents and whānau whānui (the
extended family) of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manawatū (the region’s
first Māori medium school) to realise the benefits that kapahaka offers,
and to provide for a Rangitāne-based kapahaka to compete at
regional and national festivals. As such, Te Whānau o Te Kura is a
collective which provides membership for all generations represented
within Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Manawatū, and exemplifies the
importance of traditional relationships within the social unit of the
whānau and the responsibilities assigned to it.
The waiata discussed in this paper typify indigenous strategies for
collaboration and cooperation between individuals, whānau, hapū,
and iwi. These waiata were composed to share narratives, and to give
voice to those whom Te Whānau o Te Kura seek to acknowledge and
celebrate. The waiata form a curriculum framework and resource, not
only for the tauira (students) but also for the entire whānau. Through
participation, education is achieved through a multi-disciplinary
approach, and the objectives of promoting and operating from a
Māori worldview are upheld and pursued. Whānau development is
strengthened by the combined effort of the whānau, through rolemodelling, shared experiences, and with a transparent and clear vision.
The waiata become artefacts of significance within our whānau
because they are explored and contextualised. They serve a greater
purpose other than meeting the immediate goals; they are for future
generations and sign post strategies for resolving conflict, appreciating
peace-making, and valuing collective strength and purpose. The
peace agreement of Te Manawaroa between Rangitāne and Ngāti
Raukawa; the gifting of three patu pounamu to past Māori leaders and
whānau; and the conceptualisation and establishment of Te Marae o
Hine (the Square) in Palmerston North are three kaupapa (themes)
illustrated in these waiata, and consultation with local Rangitāne
whānau and community leaders occurred during their composition. Te
Whānau o Te Kura have determined that a pre-requisite for future
Māori leadership and development will be the need to know such
narratives and understand the significance of traditional relationships
and alliances between Rangitāne and other iwi.
Indigenous knowledge and education: sites of struggle, strength, and
survivance
MONDAY 4.00-4.30
Malia Villegas, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
This session will present the process behind developing Indigenous
Knowledge and Education: Sites of Struggle, Strength, and Survivance
(Harvard Education Press, 2008). This volume includes 14 articles
reprinted from the Harvard Educational Review (HER) archives and
three new essays by leading scholars, Drs. Marie Battiste, Gregory
Cajete, and Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy.
The purpose in bringing these perspectives together was to leverage a
powerful resource like HER to draw attention to Indigenous knowledge.
This book offers a means of reframing existing educational paradigms
by examining the contribution of Indigenous knowledge to improve
educational pedagogy.
We identified powerful examples of Indigenous communities struggling,
expressing strength, and pursuing survivance – a concept that relates
to the renewing human drive for education (Vizenor, 1994). ‘Sites’ here
refers to physical location, cultural context, and human experience
and include:
 sites of struggle: history, identity, publishing, and science
education;
 sites of strength: endogenous research, Indigenous and
decolonizing methodology, community-based education,
literacy learning, and research;
 sites of survivance: identity, healing, and community education.
Several questions from the volume will serve as a jumping off point for
an interactive discussion, and include:
 Where are the current and future sites of struggle and how can
communities meet them?
 How is strength perceived and how does it come to be in
Indigenous contexts?
 What are the sites of survivance in your own experience?
While this will be an opportunity to publicize our book, our overarching
purpose is to foster discussion of Indigenous knowledge and education.
Learning to belong: how community leaders understand Alaska Native
student success
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Malia Villegas, Alutiiq/Sugpiaq
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge,
Massachusetts
Much of the research in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN)
education lumps these groups together, ignoring the particularities of
Alaska Natives. This does a disservice because it leads to a dearth of
usable research and limits the extent to which educators and
communities can look to Alaska Natives for support in developing
educational initiatives. In this paper, I attempt to identify some of the
particularities within Alaska Native education by exploring how Alaska
Native community leaders define student success.
This research emerged after the First Alaskans Institute convened a
number of discussions on Alaska Native community priorities and needs.
During these discussions staff from the Alaska Native Policy Center
presented existing state data on the achievement of Alaska Native
students in public, K-12 schools. As a result, many questions emerged
about what initiatives were successful – or what seemed to work in
Alaska Native education – and about the relevance of existing
measures of achievement or ‘success’.
I present findings of a qualitative research inquiry into how leaders
define Alaska Native student success. Thirty Alaska Native community
leaders were interviewed using an open-ended, semi-structured
interview protocol. Participants’ conceptions of success centered on a
three-dimensional notion of belonging – a concept that has been
under-developed in AI/AN education research. Gender also emerged
as an important construct in belonging. It is my hope that these findings
will inform research on how communities can support Indigenous
students in feeling that they belong as human beings, as community
members, and as individuals. This work emphasizes the
interdependence of relationships and the role of Indigenous and
community knowledge in supporting student success.
Tikanga-based motivation for physical activity
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Jordan Waiti, Ngāti Pikiao, Te Rarawa
Eru Pomare Māori Health Research Centre, Wellington School of
Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago
The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of various Māori
concepts to promote physical activity and health, and therefore
function as motivational strategies for Māori to increase physical
activity participation. Durie’s (1985) Whare Tapa Whā model of Māori
health was employed to help frame the Māori concepts of marae,
tūrangawaewae, mau rākau, and te reo, within a health and wellbeing context. Drawing on traditional indigenous forms of physical
activity, a discourse analysis was conducted with the psychology of
physical activity literature to help determine the applicability of the
Māori concepts to promote physical activity and serve as functions for
motivation. Findings showed that the four Māori concepts are able to
promote physical activity, as well as reflect certain components of the
Self-efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1977), the Flow Theory (Csikszentmihalyi,
1975) and the psychological needs of relatedness, competence, and
autonomy as proposed by the Self-Detemination Theory (Deci Ryan,
1985). These findings can benefit Māori by providing culturally relevant
information in terms of the psychology for physical activity, and
therefore facilitate physical activity participation. Such an approach
has scope for the enhancement of the Ministry of Health’s (2002) He
Korowai Oranga Maori Health Strategy at all levels.
The exploration of opportunities through the kaupapa and tikanga
framework
TUESDAY 3.00-3.30
Whatarangi Winiata
Daphne Luke
Elizabeth Cook
Te Wānaga-o-Raukawa
This paper seeks to offer a contribution to the literature on traditional
indigenous values and associated practises as a model of innovation
and entrepreneurship arising from the experience of the Māori of
Aotearoa, New Zealand.
It is said of Te kākano i ruia mai i Rangiatea, a group of people now
known widely as Māori that they travelled light as they sailed Te
Moananui a Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). Their intelligence and energy,
their most valuable cargo, took no space at all in their ocean sailing
waka (double hulled sailing vessel). They observed in detail their
surroundings and accumulated their knowledge continuum gathered
during their explorations and settlement in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Their findings were reflected in all they did to produce a distinctive
worldview, including values and associated practices.
Those inherited values by which their behaviour can be explained are
labelled ‘kaupapa’ and the processes that are followed for the
implementation of kaupapa we know as ‘tikanga’- policies, practices
and organisational arrangements.
This paper is about kaupapa and tikanga inherited from the millennium
of isolation and maintained and refined in the 200 years since the
effective end of isolation. Māori emerged in the middle decades of the
19th century as the dominant entrepreneurial group in Aotearoa, New
Zealand as they employed the expression of kaupapa through the
design and implementation of tikanga that drew on new technology,
however this was short lived for many reasons.
Physical survival of Te kākano was in doubt in the 1890’s when their
population was in the neighbourhood of 42,000 having fallen 60
percent in the previous 50 years. Since then, however, their number has
multiplied 15 times to 600,000 and their physical survival is assured; but
this is not enough. The survival of Māori will be happening when a
growing number are living according to values and practices that are
distinctively Māori.
The authors present their perspective of entrepreneurship as a
derivative of innovation using kaupapa tuku iho of Te kākano i ruia mai
i Rangiatea, and associated tikanga combine to produce an
automatic source of values-based innovation. It is a tool that is valuesbased, and provides opportunity for peacemaking and reconciliation.
‘Ōlelo Ho‘oulu: talking smack in Hawaiian
MONDAY 12.30-1.00
Kerry Laiana Wong
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Inherent to any language revitalization initiative is the struggle to
maintain traditional ways of speaking in contemporary contexts that
are dominated by introduced worldviews. The revitalization of
Hawaiian, for example, is hampered by the persistence of such
introduced worldviews. At issue, here, are the ways of speaking
employed in communicative interactions. If such ways of speaking are
consistent with those found in traditional Hawaiian, it is possible to
maintain a link between the revitalized language and its traditional
counterpart regardless of topic. For example, it is possible to speak
about either nuclear powered submarines or lua fighting techniques
while employing Hawaiian ways of speaking. This would be preferable
to speaking on these same topics but utilizing English ways of speaking.
For a participant-speaker in the Hawaiian language revitalization
movement, it is important to endeavor to expand the range of
domains in which Hawaiian is used while also maintaining Hawaiian
ways of speaking. Again, the focus of this goal is not centered solely
around topic, but must necessarily include genre. The ability to function
appropriately in a wide range of communicative interactions is critical
to the success of language revitalization efforts. This range should not
be constrained by value judgments that tend to legislate morality –
especially if that morality is introduced. As such, it is necessary to be
able to command language that facilitates expressions of ‘negative’
emotions or attitudes as well as those that are considered ‘positive’. It is
this range of abilities that defines the communicatively competent
speaker.
‘Ōlelo Ho‘oulu is language that occurs in situations that involves
conflict between adversaries. It is designed to taunt and intimidate the
opponent while emboldening the speaker as the impending conflict is
escalated. This paper explores Hawaiian ways of engaging in such
speech.
The intersection of traditional knowledge and popular culture in the
revitalization of the Hawaiian language
TUESDAY 12.00-12.30
Lincoln Laiana Wong
Kealohamakua Wengler
University of Hawaii at Manoa
The revitalization of the Hawaiian language through formal education
can trace its origin to the early 1980s when a group of educators
established the Hawaiian language immersion pre-schools known as
Punana Leo. The primary goal of the Punana Leo is to produce a new
generation of Hawaiian language speakers by using Hawaiian
language as an educational medium. The Kula Kaiapuni program
began in 1987. The inspiration for this endeavor was derived from the
analogous efforts already underway in Aotearoa to revitalize the Maori
language.
The fact that the Hawaiian language has not been transmitted from
generation to generation has precluded several generations of
Hawaiians from acquiring our mother tongue naturally. As we strive to
account for an evolved present while struggling to reconnect to an
ever fading past, we find ourselves guessing at the trajectory of our
language as it might have adapted, under more natural
circumstances.
This paper draws on our work to expand the domains of Hawaiian
language to include those that are seductive to our youth such as
sports and other aspects of popular culture. Although limited access to
models of traditional ways of speaking limit our ability to resurrect and
engage in traditional Hawaiian activities, what we do know can be
used to implement introduced activities such as American football with
traditional knowledge. By using traditional navigational terms to
indicate movements on the gridiron, we can motivate our youth to
engage more fully in the use of Hawaiian while resurrecting and
restoring traditional ways of speaking and reconciling them with
popular culture. This presentation will include samples of the
terminology that has been developed to play football in Hawaiian and
how this process is allowing a Hawaiian immersion school to participate
in mainstream activities without compromising the school’s vision.