Grounding Māori creativity in tangata whenuatanga

The goal of Māori/indigenous development is not merely to achieve participation in a range of existing activities in our nation. It is also innovate them somehow, to innovate the nation, and in positive ways, to bring about new possibilities and opportunities arising from the circumstances, knowledge and intelligence of our communities. Valuable and distinctive innovations of NZ society, economy and culture by Māori communities are already here! Māori medium education (kōhanga reo to whare wānanga) is an extensive example; Māori broadcasting (radio, tv, internet) is another. Māori health providers and iwi/hapū approaches to sustainability are further examples. Innovations in legal vehicles, approaches to justice and much, much more. I haven't even mentioned the arts yet (tā moko, taonga pūoro, whare tapere etc etc)! Māori creativity and innovation is extensive, dynamic, valuable and distinctive. Many of the innovations (not all) initiated by Māori communities in recent decades were done so in pursuit of social justice and cultural/language revitalisation. That is to say, these developments have taken place in response to colonisation. The task now is to ground and deepen these developments further in the ongoing tangata whenua continuum. Deepening and grounding contemporary Māori creativity and innovation in the ongoing tangata whenua continuum moves us from a preoccupation with the events of the last two centuries (colonisation) to seeing ourselves and our efforts in an ongoing continuum (tangata whenua) with historical origins in Polynesia, arrival in Aotearoa in approx 1200AD, all the way to the present day. It moves us through and beyond grievance to the deep possibilities of indigeneity (tangata whenuatanga) whilst retaining an understandable concern for social justice (the equitable distribution of the prosperity of the nation) and cultural revitalisation. Here is a brief example of the significance of grounding our efforts in tangata whenuatanga, in addition to goals of social justice and cultural revitalisation. Social justice says "I lost the Māori language and it is my right for it to be returned to me." Cultural revitalisation says "The Māori language is essential to my identity as a Māori person." Tangata whenuatanga says "The reo is the way in which the universe comes to voice in me. It does not belong to me but to the universe. The ocean has a reo, the forest does too. Birds and animals have reo, and so I do too. The universe wishes to find voice (reo) in me, in you, in all life."

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