Decolonising Māori narratives: Pūrākau as a method

Abstract

This paper is drawn from the methodological journey chartered in my doctoral thesis and was originally presented at the Mai Doctoral Conference, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Pūrākau, a term usually used to refer to Māori myths and legends, was deliberately designated as a methodological tool to investigate the topic of my study - the „stories‟ of Māori teachers. However, to make methodological space for pūrākau as a narrative inquiry method was not a straightforward shift. This paper sets out the way pūrākau as methodology was developed and describes the engagement with decolonizing methodologies and kaupapa Māori as the work of the Indigenous bricoleur.