Lecture 9: Indigenous cultural and belief systems in NZ Flashcards
What are the four levels of the traditional Maori social structure?
Whānau (family)
Hapū (subtribe)
Iwi (tribe/people)
Waka (boat/vehicle)
Main groups in pre-European day-to-day Māori society = Whanau and Hapu
Larger groups have become increasingly important in
modern Māori society = Iwi and Waka
How can Mātauranga Māori be defined?
Maori knowledge
Reweti, Ware & Moriarty, 2023
‘the knowledge, comprehension or understanding of everything visible or invisible that exists across the universe according to Māori … [that] is constantly evolving as each new generation learns and adds to the body of
knowledge’
Mead, 2016
‘The term ‘mātauranga Māori’ encompasses all branches of Māori knowledge, past, present and still developing.’
‘Mātauranga Māori is not like an archive of information but rather is like a tool for thinking, organising information, considering the ethics of knowledge, the appropriateness of it all and informing us about our world
and our place in it.’
What is Tikanga?
customs and practices
What is Pūrākau?
Pūrākau = (Creation/Historical Narratives)
Means of passing information on to next generation
What are the meanings of the following (creation story): Te Kore – Te Pō – Te Ao Mārama
Te Kore = the nothing or the void
* Where nothing existed except potential
Te Pō = the dark or the night
* The first parents (Ranginui and Papatūānuku)
Te Ao Mārama = the world of light
* With light, came knowledge and understanding
* The world as we know it
What is Hine-ahu-one (creation story)?
- The first woman
- Created from the soil/earth
- using clay of Papatūānuku, Tane Mahuta gave her the breath of life
- Life breathed into her - Importance of breath
What is Tāwhaki - Pou Whenua (creation story)?
There are Different versions
- Ascended to highest heaven
Had to overcome challenges and chant the right karakia on the way - Brought knowledge to Earth
Briefly describe the Maori World health view?
- Holistic
- Collectivist
- Different for each person/whānau/ hapū/iwi
- Informed by whakapapa:
- Genealogy/layers of connection
- Everything has a whakapapa
- E.g. humans come after Papatūānuku therefore (Earth), plants and animals -> should respect natural world
What is kaupapa Māori?
- ‘By Māori, for Māori’ (Nā te Māori, mā te Māori)
- Centres a Māori world-view and assumes Māori ways of
doing things are normal, natural and valid - Requires active questioning of mainstream norms and their appropriateness for Māori
- Includes research, education, and health services
What are some enablers of wellbeing (Maori)?
- Language/te reo
- Connections
- Iwi
- Hapū
- Whānau
- Place
- Traditional knowledge (mātauranga Māori)
- Pūrākau
- Whakataukī
When was the Treaty of Waitangi signed?
6th of February, 1840
