Hinenuitepō, Nui Te Ao Mana Tinana, Mana Mōmona A Fat Wāhine Māori Pūrākau of Body Sovereignty

Abstract

Fat Indigenous Wāhine and our bodies are subject to multiple forms of discrimination and intersecting oppressions. The ways in which fat wāhine Māori are re-presented as (un)deserving, (un)well, (dis)eased, unDesir(e)able, and (un)(re)liable perpetuate how (in)access is enabled for some groups and not others through biopower, biopolitics, healthism, racism, sexism, and fatism. Pūrākau of Hinenuitepō, Papatūānuku, and Hinemoana have been utilised to inform and guide this kaupapa. In their kōrero, as well as in our te reo Māori, are complexities of experiences, relationships, and illustrations of agency, sovereignty, and mana. These pūrākau offer insight into how we can and have previously conceptualised mana (tinana) and rangatiratanga. Despite the various ways in which our mana (tinana, motuhake, mōmona) have been oppressed and (re)classified, our Indigenous knowledge, our Mātauranga Māori offers alternatives. While the english discourse we have available to us is limited (and concepts are not ours), notions of sovereignty are not new phenomena for Indigenous Peoples, however, this thesis highlights the importance of accessibility, rights, body sovereignty, and further, mana tinana. Pātaitai? The question that initially informed this research project was: • How do Indigenous wāhine experience and enact body sovereignty (as resistance) within multiple systems of oppression? The question that was actually being asked was: • What does body sovereignty mean to you? This question is utilised throughout this thesis as it informs the research and extends into in depth critical (self)reflection and theorising about these lived experiences and realities. Methods: This research embodied Kaupapa Māori, Mana Wa/āhine, Pūrākau, Hinenuitepō, and Tohu as theory, methodology, method, and analysis. This thesis embodied a Te Ao Māori, Mātauranga Māori epistemology to inform every step of the research, theorising, relating, and re-connecting. These guided the building of relationship with thirteen research whanaunga who self-identify as fat wāhine Māori. Concluding Comments: Presented are research whanaunga kōrero as components of Hinenuitepō’s reality. Here, research whanaunga Become Hineahuone, Become Pīwaiwaka, Become Hinenuitepō, and (Un)Become Te Pō. The kōrero shared here offer insights, perspectives, pain, strength, triumphs, losses, frustrations, excitements, and ultimately, ways of enacting, embodying, and reclaiming body sovereignty, reclaiming mana tinana for fat wāhine Māori.