Tuamaka: The Challenge of Difference in Aotearoa New Zealand

152 Pages·2010·1.364 MB·English

by  Joan Metge, Hon Sir Edward Taihakurei Durie

TUAMAKA is the flax rope used by the mythical hero Māui and his
brothers to snare the sun. Just as a tuamaka gains strength from the
combination of its different strands, anthropologist Dame Joan Metge
plaits together the Treaty, the words and the stories that give New
Zealanders a rope for building a future in Aotearoa.
In Tuamaka Metge tells a story of cultures meeting, arguing
and then dealing with diversity. Through the Treaty as a founding
narrative, the increasing use of Māori in our national lexicon and
the art of storytelling – from Māui and Cook to our own whakapapa
– she unlocks the key to understanding our land and people, and
ends with a personal reflection on her life as a New Zealander and
an anthropologist living deeply within two cultures over nearly six
decades of field work.
This moving book delivers an engaging manifesto for living
together in Aotearoa, turning the challenge of difference into one
of our great national assets.
JOAN METGE was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1930.
An anthropologist by training, she is particularly well known as a
researcher in Māori communities. She is a leading scholar on Māori
topics, famous for her outstanding promotion of cross-cultural
awareness, and has published a number of important books on
Māori history and society and on cross-cultural communication.
They include The Maoris of New Zealand (1967/1976), Talking Past
Each Other (1978/1984), In and Out of Touch (1986), New Growth
From Old (1995) and Kōrero Tahi: Talking Together (AUP, 2001). She
was created DBE in 1987. In 1997, she was awarded the Royal Society
of New Zealand’s inaugural Te Rangi Hiroa Medal for outstanding
scientific research in the social sciences – historical approaches to
societal transformation and change. Her work Rautahi: The Maoris of
New Zealand was recently republished by Routledge.
The Treaty is the navigator who calls directions and rhythms
to the paddlers of a waka and keeps them on course (p. 13).
TUAMAKA the challenge of difference
in aotearoa new zealand

JOAN METGE
auckland university press
First published 2010
Auckland University Press
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland 1142
New Zealand
www.auckland.ac.nz/aup
© Joan Metge, 2010
ISBN 978 1 86940 468 0
National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Metge, Joan, 1930-
Tuamaka : the challenge of difference in Aotearoa New Zealand
 / Joan Metge.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-86940-468-0
1. Treaty of Waitangi (1840) 2. Intercultural communication—
New Zealand. 3. New Zealand—Race relations.
[1. Tiriti o Waitangi. reo 2. Hapori whānau. reo
3. Whakawhitiwhitinga kōrero. reo]
I. Title.
303.4820993—dc 22
This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research,
criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced
by any process without prior permission of the publisher.
Cover and internal photographs: John Miller
Cover design: Keely O’Shannessy
Printed by Printlink Ltd, Wellington
Dedicated to the memory of
Arapera Hineira Kaa Blank and Harry Dansey
whose writings in English opened windows into the
Māori world for other New Zealanders

contents
Foreword Eddie Durie ix
Acknowledgements x
Preface xi
1. Tūrangawaewae: The Trick of Standing Upright Here 1
2. He Taura Whiri: The Treaty Our Guide 9
3. Kōrero Pūrākau: Time and the Art of Māori Storytelling 29
4. Whakataukī: Wisdom in Proverbs 41
5. Huarangatia: Maori Words in New Zealand English 55
6. Anga ā Mua: Living History 107
Glossary 124
Bibliography 134
Index 140

foreword
This is another gem from Dame Joan, six essays plumbing the depths of
cross-cultural comprehension.
The last considers her foray into history. I mention her impact on law.
Her evidence to the Waitangi Tribunal in the Muriwhenua claim, in 1991,
in concert with her adoptive people of Te Rarawa, with whom she had
worked since 1955, was to lead the tribunal on an unexpected voyage of
discovery around the Māori laws on contract formation and resource use,
and their impact on the interpretation of land deeds. Law, like history it
seems, is not composed of universal truths so much as cultural constructs.
She has also advised the New Zealand Law Commission, the Māori
Affairs Select Committee, and the Mātāhauariki Institute on bicultural
jurisprudence.
This then, is not another study of Māori culture. It’s about the
transposition of cultural concepts to strengthen, if anything, the
development of the several cultures in the country and the way they
relate. And if it seems we have developed an understanding of the Māori
perspective and it’s time to move forward, then think again of last year’s
headlines; think ‘foreshore’, ‘W(h)anganui’ and ‘Māori flag’, and you
may agree with me that it is time to read on.
The Honourable Sir Edward Taihākurei Durie KNZM
Former Chair of Waitangi Tribunal and High Court Judge
Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kauwhata, Rangitāne
IX