12 January 2018
Resources for engaging Māori contemporary culture and politics
Following on from my last post were I outlined some resources I have found useful for learning about contemporary Indigenous Australian issues; I have turned my attention to Māori resources in this post. As with the previous post, I have tried to provide resources that are written by Māori people, in some cases this is easier said than done as it is certainly not up to me to decide who is Māori and who is not. I am an outsider to Māori culture and this collection of resources is only intended to skim the surface in order to provide a few avenues for further research. If you think there is anything I have overlooked in this post or have other suggestions for me, I encourage you to tweet me: @JoannePilcher1
Websites
Te Ara – The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand has been an invaluable resource for me, the website splits into themes that contexualise contemporary Māori life such as The Bush, The Settled Landscape and Economy and the City. It is possible to browse around topics based on these themes or it is an excellent place to go to read up on a specific issue but simply searching key words. They also feature stories and articles, for example this week’s featured story is Deep-sea Creatures. https://teara.govt.nz/en
Maori.org.nz – This website provides useful summaries of elements of contemporary Māori culture and their historical context. I particularly enjoyed looking at the section on Korero O Nehera (Stories of Old), which is a collection of traditional Māori stories written by Māori authors. It also includes a selection of further links to learn more about each of the themes it addresses. http://www.maori.org.nz/
Māori Television has a news section on their website that covers current affairs from a Māori perspective. The Headlines section gave an interesting overview all news and I found the Politics section really useful for understanding how Māori issues are represented within the political structures in New Zealand. http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/headlines
While New Zealand History is not a specifically Māori focused website, it has been recommended by other Māori sites as a useful resource for providing historical context on Māori culture. It provides a Brief pre-history of how Māori peoples came to settle in New Zealand as well as going into a lot of detail on key dates in Māori history. It also has a really useful section on the various wars that took place between different Māori tribes and the Pākehā (non-Māori New Zealanders) and how this shaped the treatment of Māori peoples in New Zealand today. http://history-nz.org/maori.html
Online Journals
He Pukenga Korero – A Journal of Māori Studies website http://www.hepukengakorero.com/
Facebook Pages
The New Zealand Human Rights Commission’s page discusses equality and human agency more broadly and often shares information relating to Māori issues. https://www.facebook.com/NZHumanRightsCommission/
New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute shares a wide array of Māori art and design for anyone interested in learning more about traditional Māori visual culture. https://www.facebook.com/nzmaci/?ref=br_rs
Māori Rights in NZ shares a range of posts, from more political think pieces to more community-based information. https://www.facebook.com/MaoriRightsInNz/?ref=br_rs
Podcasts
Te Ahi Kaa – this podcast provides a bilingual discussion of various Māori experiences from the past, present and future. https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/teahikaa
Books
There is a very wide selection of books on Māori New Zealand in the British Library collections. In this list I have outlined ones that provide a more general context of Māori beliefs and culture, I will be revisiting some of these titles in future blog posts.
Rawinia Higgins, Poia Rewi and Vincent Olsen-Reeder eds, The value of the Māori language /Te hua o te reo Māori, Wellington : Huia Publishers, 2014, [shelfmark: Asia, Pacific & Africa YP.2014.a.6419] A bilingual collection of essays in Te Reo and English that discuss the importance of preventing the Māori language from dying out.
Tracey McIntosh and Malcolm Mulholland ed, Māori and social issues, Wellington, N.Z. : Huia Pub., 2011 [shelfmark: Asia, Pacific & Africa YD.2012.a.4357] This book is part of the same series as The value of the Māori language, it aims to highlight social issues faced by Māori people from their perspective and suggests solutions that are Māori-centred.
Cleve Barlow, Tikanga Whakaaro : key concepts in Maori culture, Auckland : Oxford University Press, 1991 [General Reference Collection YC.1991.a.5030] Written by a Māori man who comments that his combination of Māori upbringing and western style education has inspired the book's structure. He focuses in on key Māori themes, selecting ones that are most relevant to contemporary Māori life. Each entry is bilingual.
Tania Ka'ai, Ki te whaiao : an introduction to Māori culture and society, Auckland, N.Z. : Pearson Longman, 2004 [shelfmark: Document Supply m04/30485] This book is structured so that the first part focuses on the Māori world, Te Ao Māori, and the second, Ngā Ao e Rua (The Two Worlds), looks at how the worlds of the Māori and Pākehā have interacted and existed alongside each other throughout time.
Auckland Art Gallery, Pūrangiaho: seeing clearly: casting light on the legacy of tradition in contemporary Māori art, Auckland, N.Z. : Auckland Art Gallery, c2001 [shelfmark: General Reference Collection YA.2002.a.20895]. There is often a risk of associating the traditional art of First Peoples of any country as historical or anthropological objects. While they can be both historical and anthropological (like all artworks) they can also be considered as great pieces of contemporary art. This exhibition catalogue looks at how contemporary Māori artists have utilised traditional techniques in their work.
By Joanne Pilcher
PhD Placement Student
British Library and Brighton University