Email this article Māori men renewing cultural embeddedness through engagements in tangihanga
Abstract
Research on Māori (Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) men have been predominantly deficit-focused and reliant upon negative stereotypes relating to crime, anti-social behaviour, and poor parenting practices. There has been little research on the positive contributions Māori men make to their whānau (immediate and extended family), communities, and broader society. This research draws on Kaupapa Māori research (KMR) and elements of ethnographic and case-based methods to study men's contributions during a series of tangihanga (traditional Māori funeral process of grieving) held on a marae (ceremonial arena specific to the socio-cultural history of a Māori sub-tribe and/or tribe). Our approach was guided by Kaupapa Māori research principles and included Pūrākau (narrative) interviews with five men who were working to support the tangihanga, and direct go-along observations by the first author who worked with participants at the marae where tangihanga were being held. By participating in collective practices of work, grief and mourning during tangihanga, these men embraced opportunities to reflect on their lives and ways of being Māori men, and to share their emotions in positive ways rarely considered in literature on contemporary Māori masculinities. By contributing positively to tangihanga, participants were able to renew themselves within culturally patterned ways of being Māori men both within the Māori world and broader settler society of Aotearoa New Zealand. The cultural institution of tangihanga contributed positively to participants’ sense of cultural continuity and self as Māori.
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