Te Hinatore: Embodied Knowledges and Languages
Strand: Critical sociolinguistics. Sub-strand: Language and Superdiversity
Māori knowledge melded Māori ancestors to the lands in Aotearoa and the surrounding oceans for over a thousand years. Elders embodied knowledge and a strong desire to perpetuate certain forms of knowledge. It has been argued that Māori knowledge is also inscribed on the landscape and language-scape in a variety of forms; through naming people, places, phenomena and things, waiata (songs), karakia (highly ritualised ceremonies, prayers and incantations), whakapapa (geneology), pūrakau (narratives and storytelling), through tikanga (cultural ways of being and doing), spirituality and beliefs, passed on by the elders. According to Jackson (2011) Māori knowledge systems allow us to know who we are, our environment and all aspects of the ecosystem, and thus enable us to face challenges through broadening thinking, providing pathways into the future. Māori patterns of thinking and relating which shape Māori world views and identity, are bound up with one’s mountains, rivers, lakes, streams, marae and other landmarks. When Māori meet and introduce themselves, formally, the format of the pepeha (statement of identity) is generally used. But what happens with hybridised ‘contemporary’ identities when they are organised as a kaleidoscope of diverse objects, multi-directions of action and untold micro-hegemonies (Blommaert & Varis, 2011). Based in Kaupapa Māori qualitative research, this paper unpacks and discusses notions of the relationship of language to knowledge and identity, providing further ideological clarification as to the uniqueness of te reo Māori.
Blommaert, J., & Varis, P. (2011). Enough is enough: The heuristics of authenticity in superdiversity. Working Papers in urban Language and Literacies, Tilburg University, 76.
Jackson, M. (2011). Hui reflections: Research and the consolations of bravery. Kei Tua o Te Pae hui proceedings: the challenges of kaupapa Māori research in the 21st century, Pipitea Marae, Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Council for Educational Research, p. 71-78.
