Weaving The Threads of Whanaungatanga Through Taonga

Abstract

This thesis is about the roles and responsibilities of kaitiaki within Māori whānau who have taonga in their private care. It explores how their kaitiakitanga responsibilities have influenced the health and wellbeing of various whānau with connection to Whangaroa. As an oral history, it presents the life experiences of six kaitiaki, who each care for a different type of taonga: some are passed down from past to present generations, while some have been created in present times for contemporary purposes and communities. The interviews reveal how their kaitiaki roles involve managing access to taonga through the identification of whakapapa connections. They share about how storytelling around the taonga enables whānau to recognise, develop and maintain connections to tūpuna and whenua. The interviewees also talk about how their kaitiaki responsibilities include an educative role, playing a part in strengthening whānau knowledge of cultural beliefs and practices. Overall, this thesis shows how these kaitiaki have been able to provide appropriate care for these taonga, illustrating how they have also been able to improve those standards of care. In general, it will show how whanaungatanga has been generated through the provision of access, the teaching and learning of mātauranga, and how custodial activities have enhanced the health and wellbeing of Māori whānau across generations.