He pou herenga ki ti nui: Maori knowledge and the university

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship of Maori knowledge to the University of Auckland. To frame a way of conceptualising Maori knowledge, and the claiming of space for that knowledge, the metaphor of ‘pou’ is used. How have/are Maori claiming space or placing pou in relation to and inside the University? is the central research question. It is argued that Maori conceptions of ‘claiming space’ are intricately bound up with understandings of knowledge, people and responsibilities. In this thesis the metaphor of pou is used to frame ways of claiming space in the past and the present, both ideologically and by presence. By using the metaphor of pou, the caretaker role of Maori knowledge is more clearly understood as being with tangata whenua. There are multiple ways that Maori relate/d to and interact/ed with the University in the past and in the present. The establishment of Maori Studies is only one response to claiming space in regard to Maori knowledge within the University. Also important are tangata whenua connections to the University site, the many connections made between iwi and the University, the challenges made by Maori communities to the shaping of tertiary education and the challenges of staff and students to Treaty of Waitangi issues. The question then arises as to how well are Maori knowledge and Maori staff and students being taken care of within the University and are Maori able to fulfill their 'responsibilities' in regard to that knowledge within the dominant discourses that exist about Maori and Maori knowledge? 'History' is seen as problematic and centralises a number of contestations for Maori over knowledge and relationships of power. 'History' and 'writing' are examined as terrains of contestation for Maori and Indigenous Peoples in order to make space within which to write a doctoral thesis. Ways of telling our stories also constitute important pou that are discussed and privileged in this thesis. Because this thesis is also one of the 'claimed spaces' for Maori knowledge, this thesis also constitutes a pou, hence the title He Pou Herenga Ki Te Nui: A Post Placed To Link The Many.