Transformative Maternities: Indigenous Stories as Resistance and Reclamation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This chapter seeks to illustrate the transformative potential of local Indigenous knowledges pertaining to birth and mothering. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori (Indigenous peoples of New Zealand) stories, knowledges and traditions can serve to reconceptualise dominant maternities and ultimately transform the lived realities of women, their babies and their families. There are powerful and potent ways to reconceptualise maternities within Māori knowledge, particularly through understandings of land, language and spirituality. It is argued that the expression of our experiences as Māori women from a perspective that upholds the mana (power and prestige) and sanctity of birth and of mothering is a powerful act of resistance and decolonisation. Further, reclaiming Māori maternal knowledges has the power to transform the lived experiences of birth by (re)asserting the self-determination of women, of their babies and of their whānau (family) and, thus, the self-determination of Māori communities.

Glossary

The translations used in this glossary were sourced from a combination of The Dictionary of the Māori Language (Williams 1971) and The Reed Dictionary of Modern Māori (Ryan 1994). It is important to note that there are multiple meanings and translations available for many of these words. In most cases, I have presented the most common translation(s) of the word.

Ariki:

first born, chief or priest

Aotearoa:

New Zealand

Atua:

supernatural being, god/goddess

Hapū:

be pregnant, subtribe

Hine-ahu-one:

first woman created from the earth

Hine-titama:

daughter of Hine-ahu-one, woman of the dawn

Hine-nui-te-pō:

woman of the night/darkness

Ia:

he/she, him/her

Iwi:

tribe

Karakia:

incantation, chant

Koro:

grandfather

Kuia:

elderly woman, grandmother

Ngā Maia:

collective of Māori midwives

Mana:

prestige, authority, control, power, influence

Papa kāinga:

village, original home

Papatūānuku:

earth mother

Pēpi:

baby

Rangatira:

chief

Tana/Tōna:

his or hers

Taonga:

treasure, goods, possession

Te Ao Māori:

Māori world

Te reo Māori:

the Māori language

Te Tiriti o Waitangi:

the Treaty of Waitangi

Tino Rangatiratanga:

self-determination

Tohunga:

skilled person, chosen expert, spiritual expert

Whaea:

aunt, mother, woman of older generation

Whānau:

family, to be born, give birth

Whare tangata:

womb, house of humanity

Whenua:

land, placenta