Indigenous Peoples Of Aotearoa Research Articles

Looking like a smoker, a smokescreen to racism? Māori perceived appearance linked to smoking status

ABSTRACTObjectives: Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa (New Zealand), continue to exhibit the highest rate of smoking of any ethnic group in the nation. Clarifying the present day factors which perpetuate Māori smoking has become matter of some urgency.Design: We investigate links between subjective elements of Māori identity, demographic factors and perceived discrimination with smoking status in a national probability sample of self-identified Māori (N = 667).Results: Our results suggest that core aspects of Māori identity and cultural engagement were not significantly linked with smoking. However, the extent to which participants felt they were perceived as prototypically Māori (measured as Perceived Appearance) was reliably associated with smoking. The effect of Perceived Appearance held when adjusting for perceived experiences of discrimination and other standard demographic indicators.Conclusion: Our analysis indicates that simply feeling that one is more visibly Māori is associated with an increased likelihood of smoking. This may reflect how Māori negotiate the larger systemic forces of racism present in New Zealand society.

Foundations of equitable speech-language therapy for all: The Treaty of Waitangi and Māori health

The delivery of health services, including speech-language therapy (SLT), is influenced by the culture of the healthcare discipline and the unique cultural, social and political history of the country. Among the multitude of terms referring to cultural competence and related concepts, it is timely for the SLT profession in Aotearoa (New Zealand) to determine a unified and strategic approach to cross-cultural service delivery. This article examines foundational issues to consider before establishing that approach. The Aotearoa context is strongly influenced by colonization, te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), immigration and questions of biculturalism and multiculturalism. Within this, issues arise because the Aotearoa SLT workforce is not representative of the population it serves. Because of te Tiriti, it is necessary to begin by addressing issues facing Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa. These include health inequities, racism, color-blindness and white privilege. The Hauora Māori (Māori health) approach taken by medical schools in Aotearoa might be a suitable medium for SLT to address these issues. Ultimately the SLT profession, and individuals within it, need to develop a ‘critical consciousness’ through which they recognize the cultural, social and political context and search for innovative solutions.

Eighty years of growing up kāpo (blind) Māori: what can we learn about inclusive education in New Zealand?

This paper presents some of the results from a 2-year, qualitative study entitled Growing up kāpo Māori: Identity, whānau, and cultural well being. It explores the educational experiences of 10 Māori (indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand), who are kāpo (blind/vision impaired) of various ages up to the age of 80, and their whānau (family). In this research, four common themes emerged, including (1) visibility and invisibility, (2) cultural location and dislocation, (3) cultural consonance and dissonance, and (4) transformation and change. These themes are discussed in this paper in relation to the participants' educational experiences. Overall, schools had difficulty providing both culturally appropriate education and educational support for the participants' vision impairment. Inclusive education options for kāpo Māori tamariki/rangatahi and their whānau were limited. However, the participants articulated aspirations for education in their own communities, with their whānau that would value them as Māori who happen to also be kāpo. In order to realise these aspirations, the participants and their whānau moved not only between educational settings but also towns.

Hua Oranga: Service Utility Pilot of a Mental Health Outcome Measurement for an Indigenous Population

The key areas of development in this study were the criteria for the use of the Hua Oranga, an Indigenous mental health outcome measurement tool for use with Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The application of the Hua Oranga was expected to improve the care and treatment of tangata whaiora (consumers) in partnership with whānau (family) and clinicians. The Outcomes Recording Analysis (ORA) database (www.ORAdatabase.co.nz), which receives the Hua Oranga data and generates the Hua Oranga reports was essential to this improvement. This development contributes to the skill and expertise of clinicians in interpreting Māori health information that benefit Māori.

Injury to Maori—does language hold the key to bringing about change

BackgroundMaori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa, once prided themselves as injury prevention practitioners. Following their ambitious journey from the mythological homeland Hawaiiki in 925AD, safe practices were imperative for the...

Pōwhiri process in mental health research

Within the health research context, indigenous people globally have a commitment to provide their own solutions. Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) value the traditional Pōwhiri process of engagement and participation in mental health research. The practices and protocols within the Pōwhiri process (use in the Doctorate of Philosophy (2010) and Auckland University) are premised on the notion of respect and positive relationships between the tangata whenua (hosts or research participants) and manuwhiri (guests or researchers). This paper briefly describes the Pōwhiri process, which may be a model applicable to research with other indigenous cultures.

Indigenous-based inclusive pedagogy: The art of Kapa Haka to improve educational outcomes for Māori students in mainstream secondary schools in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Kapa (in rows) haka (dance) is a contemporary performing art that mainstream secondary schools (i.e., High Schools Yr. 9-13) in Aotearoa, New Zealand are obligated to provide as a means of supporting the social and cultural wellbeing of Maori (i.e., Indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand) students who attend. Considered a culturally responsive activity, kapa haka provides many opportunities for Maori students to engage in learning more about their own language, culture and customs. With over 54 thousand Maori students (18%) attending mainstream secondary schools in Aotearoa, New Zealand finding ways to improve educational outcomes for these students is of importance to many educators nationwide (Ministry of Education, 2006). This paper is based on doctoral research completed in 2007 which explored the 'voices' of 20 Maori students and 27 secondary schools teachers about the educational benefits associated with participating in kapa haka and implications for improving schooling and teacher practice. The study was informed by a Kaupapa Maori theoretical framework that seeks to reject notions of 'deficit' theorising by reinforcing the right for Maori to meaningfully participate in determining their own destiny in all areas of society (Smith, 1997). The findings concluded that the most effective way to improve levels of Maori student participation (i.e., interest, attendance, engagement, association and success) is for schools, teachers and Maori communities to work together to seek a deeper understanding of ways to include Maori language, culture and customs as a valid part of the curriculum. The need to include culturally responsive learning environments that enable Maori students to move, perform and share what they have learnt either as a whole group or class (i.e., collectively) was a consistent finding to emerge. This paper will highlight kapa haka as a culturally-preferred pedagogy and include a number of key social and cultural practices that secondary schools (i.e., public Statefunded high schools) and teachers may find useful working with culturally-connected learners who are Indigenous.

Alternative Market Values?: Interventions into Auctions in Aotearoa/New Zealand

This article discusses the auction market for certain kinds of taonga Māori (Māori treasures or cultural property). The social, political, and economic tensions that emerge from the national regulation of the auction market for Māori artifacts are framed by the complex political dynamic in Aotearoa / New Zealand of biculturalism: a Treaty-based political contract between Māori (indigenous people of Aotearoa) and Pākehā (settlers in colonial New Zealand, primarily of European descent), subject to continual negotiation. The antiquities market, which includes Māori artifacts, is carefully regulated by the government in keeping with (ever-shifting) understandings of Crown sovereignty over national cultural heritage. Interventions by Māori activists and curators complicate this notion of sovereignty and assert a primacy of indigenous title. I argue that these idiosyncratic interventions, within the political context of biculturalism, alter the very form of the market, undermining perceived dichotomies between taonga and commodity, indigenous and market values. Eventual auction results reflect a synthesis of complex intercultural negotiation and opposition between activists, dealers, auctioneers, and collectors. The case studies here raise important issues around the relationship among value, social and political relations, and the form and substance of the marketplace.

Discussion of Ormond: Who Determines What Story is Told? Silenced Voices and Narratives of Marginalisation

Development or transformation can be understood as an active process. The process has confronted and mobilised Maori people since our ancestors departed Hawai'iki to settle Aotearoa-New Zealand. In coming to understand the land the ancestors called ‘Aotearoa’, we changed. And as we changed, our internal and external symbionts and parasites also changed with us. Maori people have endured disease, climatic change, natural disasters, human made disasters, political disasters, economic disasters, educational disasters, and linguistic disasters for nearly two centuries. And as the indigenous people of Aotearoa we continue to be changed by and to change the prevailing assumptions on development (and sustainability) to become healthier and more imaginative people.