He Kaitiakitanga, He Māiatanga: Colonial Exclusion of Mātauranga Māori in the Care and Protection of Tamaiti Atawhai

Abstract

Within Aotearoa, Māori children are uplifted by the state at disproportionate rates compared to their tauiwi (non–Māori) counterparts. State removal of Indigenous children from culturally embedded networks exacerbates intergenerational trauma created by colonisation. Placements into unsafe contexts mean additional instances of harm and cumulative trauma are common, and Indigenous children are rarely understood in the full context of their cultural being. State services utilise imported epistemologies, assessment and management processes occluding mātauranga Māori (culturally embedded knowledges). This thesis seeks to amplify lived experiences of kaiāwhina Māori (Māori working in the state care context to support the flourishing, care, and protection of Māori children) to identify barriers preventing mātauranga Māori from their lived cultural experience informing their work. Drawing from kaupapa Māori methodologies (an approach that privileges the perspectives and protocols of Māori), I conducted 14 semi–structured interviews with kaiāwhina across the North Island, centred in Te Tai Tokerau, Tāmaki Makaurau, and the Ruapehu district. Kaiāwhina contributions were transcribed, and thematic analysis conducted to identify commonalities and mātauranga shared. Experiences shared within this thesis foregrounded two themes: Invisibilised Colonial Norms and Wayfinding through Mātauranga Māori. Invisibilised Colonial Norms discussed collisions between settler–colonialism and Māori culture. Often such collisions were positioned as well–intended inexperience on behalf of the state. In these contexts, state disengagement with Māori culture posed cultural harm to Māori staff, while using those same staff to enact harm upon whānau (families). Narratives within Wayfinding through Mātauranga Māori foreground the value of mātauranga to inform the best care for Māori children and create contexts where whānau wellbeing and flourishing can be inspired and empowered. Mātauranga Māori was positioned central in providing services responsive to diverse contexts acknowledging harm encountered by Māori children in the state care system and their whānau. This work positions radical structural overhaul of the existing state care system as imperative in creating positive outcomes for children, advocating for Māori rangatiratanga in determining the scope, shape, and possibilities of care and protection to meet aspirations within Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Pūao Te Ata Tū, and The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People.