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The Connected Space of Māori Governance: Towards an Indigenous Conceptual Understanding. __________________________________ A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University, Te Whare Wānanga ō Aoraki by Steven L Kent _______________________________ Lincoln University 2011 Page 1 of 212 Karakia Whakatimatanga: Beginning Prayer Whakatau mai rā te hihiri tapu ō Io ō Te Raki Tui tui tutuia Tuia te hihiri tapu ō Io ō Te Raki ō te kahu ō te Raki Kōkiritia rā te tapu ō Io ō Te Raki Ki ruka ki te whenua ō Papatūānuku Ki te mauri a Haumietikitiki me Rokomaraeroa e Kakawea te tapu ō Takaroa Ki te whakahoroi atu te mauri tūturu ō te Tiriti ō Waitaki e Mō te ata ka haea Mō te kaupapa ō te kotahitaka me te whanaukataka Ko te kaupapa tino rakatirataka Aua kia mau te ōhākī ō kā mātua tīpuna Tūturu mai kia whakamaua kia tina Haumi e hui e taiki e Page 2 of 212 He Mihi – Acknowledgements A PhD is impossible to complete without significant and considerable support from others. With their enduring tautoko and aroha, this thesis has come to fruition. I firstly wish to mihi to those who have passed on, they have helped make this thesis what it is. Without the knowledge, legacy and gift of life that they have passed on, I simply could not be. I wish to thank the whenua where I have completed this research and of its nearby maunga, Kakepuku te aroaro ō Kahu where I sought inspiration. During the long, colourful and winding course of this thesis, the energy and taonga that I have received from living in this beautiful part of Aotearoa compelled me to believe that I could not do my thesis from anywhere else. My mind travels to the whenua of Te Wai Pounamu and the times spent gazing out at Te Tai ō Arai Te Uru from Huriawa as a child, dreaming of the future I did not know but tried to see. I feel at complete peace whenever I am in Te Wai Pounamu and I mihi to your mana. To Dr Terry Ryan MBE, kāwai kaitiaki of Ngāi Tahu whakapapa and perhaps the greatest whakapapa expert of our time, you are a living treasure. Your humbleness and utter dedication to the realm of whakapapa, serving and uplifting people, Māori and non-Māori alike, has enriched thousands if not tens of thousands of people’s lives. You are a true example of what I believe is how leaders within Māori society should be. Two special Kaumātua that I deeply acknowledge are Kuao Langsbury and Ginny Paerata in Ōtepoti, both of whom have been instrumental in helping to shape my direction in life. I would not be here at this point today without you. Even though you are of a generation not bought up with Te Reo, the language you speak comes from your heart and directly from our tīpuna. It contains more substance and meaning than the reo spoken by many fluent speakers today, because you have surrounded your words throughout your lives with actual actions of awhi, aroha and support to so many of us. To my supervisors, Professor Hirini Mātunga and Ramzi Addison, thank you so much for your support and effort throughout this long thesis. Also to Professor Yugo Ono of Hokkaido University, I thank you for your words of encouragement and support from afar. I thank also the markers of this thesis for their guidance in pointing out the weak points of my writing and ideas to improve my thesis. To Te Whare Whakakotahi and all involved with the whare at Lincoln University, thank you for the place to stay that I have always received when needed. To Dr Simon Lambert, your support and catch-ups have always been at vital times during my study and have helped overcome all the dramas. To all the library staff, thank you for your tireless work and also to Catherine in the Printery! To Hirini’s secretary Tui, thank you so much for clearing the way through the administrative jungle. I also wish to sincerely acknowledge the great support provided by the Māori and Indigenous Programme (MAI) run by Ngā Pae ō Te Māramatanga, which helps Māori PhD Page 3 of 212 students during their studies. I also wish to thank Te Tapuae ō Rēhua, Te Rūnanga ō Ngāi Tahu, Otākou Marae and also the Rangiriri and Whiwhi Martin Winiata Scholarship administered through the Māori Education Trust, for financial assistance gratefully received during the long course of this thesis that supported me. To Bentham Ohia and Kate Cherrington, who are also great examples of Māori leadership through humbleness, aroha and dedication to inspiring all peoples through education, regardless of who they are, your koha to us during our time of great loss will not be forgotten. To Father Manfred Friedrich of the Catholic Church in Hokkaido Japan and Setchan of House Friendship. Both of you have similarly touched, changed and enriched so many lives across the world. Through your humour, food, support, selfless giving and service to humanity by the helping of anyone in need, from the Philippines and Bangladesh to many other parts of the globe, you have made this world a much better place and are an inspiration to all. To my many indigenous Ainu friends of Japan, iyairaikere, kia kaha tātou. To all my friends in Japan, here and in other parts of the world, including Kanji san, kansha itashimasu, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou kātoa. To Yorizumi Sensei of Asahikawa also, for telling me of your experience of hearing the cacophony of peoples cries carried by the winds up into the mountains as Tokyo was firebombed in WWII; something that no-one should ever have to experience. I thank you for your support and for the many things you have taught me. To my mate Eddie, your talks and humour over kai have kept me laughing and sane. Ben, Mahana & whānau, you guys are just amazing and I thank you endlessly for being there and keeping tūturu to the old ways. Cousin Tui, what can I say, your steady awhi and aroha has guided me throughout and kept me grounded and reminded of the aroha passed on from our tīpuna and other whānau such as my mum, who are no longer with us. To my big bro Stu & whānau, I finally finished it! To all my other whānau, the descendants of George James Kent and Makareti Hinenuiatekawa Coupar, my aunties & uncles and whānaunga in New Zealand and all over the world, absorb the knowledge contained within our whakapapa and our whānau past, of who we are and the gifts handed down to us, we stand with a quiet and humble pride. I also mihi to the whare where I and many others were brought up, stopped by, passed through and sought shelter at “number 10”. My mum, and number 10 were always there for the whānau and those memories remain ingrained in me. To my late mother in law Kyoko san, your quiet dignity and manāki lives on within us, we miss you so much. Last but not least, the final words go to my wife Machiko, who believed and supported me all through this long journey, I humbly thank you for your enduring patience and support over such a long time. Page 4 of 212 Tuhinga Whakarāpopototanga: Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University, Te Whare Wānanga ō Aoraki __________________________________ The Connected Space of Māori Governance: Towards an Indigenous Conceptual Understanding. by Steven L Kent _______________________________ Lincoln University 2011 This thesis examines governance from a culturally Māori perspective with an aim to answer the following research question. What is a conceptualised ideal Māori governance? Theoretical understanding of governance is almost entirely based on non-indigenous epistemology. Despite Māori (along with other indigenous peoples) having robust intellectual and cultural frameworks to understand governance; substantive research into understanding governance from within indigenous culturally generated frameworks is almost non-existent. Instead, non-indigenous understanding of governance within governance theory is promulgated as the starting and end points of governance; subsequently then unilaterally globally applied to indigenous people, such as Māori. Consequently, Māori culturally generated values, principles and concepts are relegated to mere ancillary importance, being restricted within non-indigenous governance frameworks. Page 5 of 212 Alternatively, governance is portrayed as a procedural outcome of equivalence translation, of non-Māori governance concepts into Māori conceptual space. In rejecting these existing formulations and framing of Māori governance, this research instead undertook a two-stage process, to purposely seek a distinctly Māori cultural perspective of governance. Firstly, use of Kaupapa Māori theory allowed an intellectual space to engage Mātauranga Māori [Māori knowledge]. The second stage invoked Whakapapa (the key basis of Mātauranga Māori) to conceptualise governance from within the creation realms of Te Pō, Te Ao Mārama and Te Kore.