TÍTULO DÉCIMO TRÁNSITO DE VEHÍCULOS

Although spirituality may or may not feature in western thought, it is strongly recognised among many non-western and indigenous peoples as central to life. In a similar way to other indigenous peoples, spirituality is central to life among Māori people: “Taha Wairua, the way of the spirit in matters Māori, permeates our world so profoundly that to isolate and analyze it is almost like threatening the very fabric itself” (Te Awekotuku, 1991, p. 135). However, I predicate the following written outline of some aspects of Māori spirituality with Puketapu- Hetet’s (1989) caution regarding her presentation on weaving: “To write about everything would be demeaning to the knowledge that is protected” (p. vi); since Māori is an oral culture, the implication is that only certain knowledge will be available in written form (also Pewhairange, 1975; and others). Nevertheless,

educator Rangimarie Rose Pere (1982) presents, with some detail, a picture of traditional Māori spirituality, te wairua42:

Literally translated, ‘wairua’ denotes wai (water), rua (two), a word that can depict spirituality. The Maori saw the physical realm as being immersed and integrated with the spiritual realm. Every act, natural phenomena, and other influences were considered to have both physical and spiritual implications. A powerful belief in supernatural forces governed and influenced the way one interacted with other people and related to the environment. Spirituality was seen as a dimension internalized within a person from conception – the seed of human life emanated from Io, the supreme supernatural influence. (p. 12)

Although emanating from a central spiritual presence, spirituality in Māoritanga embraces many concepts; these concepts include wairua, mana, tapu and mauri. Spiritual elements permeate all other areas of life including tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) and the right to belong to particular iwi (Māori people, tribal group/s, whenua (land of ancestors in Aotearoa New Zealand), tupuna or tipuna (ancestors), ritual, marae (meeting place/s), reo (the Māori language) and whānau (extended family) (Bishop, 2008; Drummond & Va’ai- Wells, 2004; Durie, 1996; Kana & Tamatea, 2006; King, 1975; Patterson, 1992; Pere, 1982; Puketapu-Hetet, 1989; Smith, 1999; Te Awekotuku, 1991; and others). In the physical world, this understanding of spirituality means that

wairua relates to humans, animals and birds, plants and trees, and any elements of

the land such as rivers, lakes, sea, rocks, mountains and the land itself, since the spiritual flows through all of nature. The importance of wairua is emphasised in the denoting of personal names and gender to such natural elements (Pere, 1982).

Mana is also spiritual and complex and includes “psychic influence, control,

prestige, power, vested and acquired authority and influence, being influential or binding over others, and that quality of the person that others know he or she is” (Pere, 1982, p. 32). Tapu can include “spiritual restriction, ceremonial restriction, putting something beyond one’s power, placing a quality or condition on a person or on an object or place”; whatever the context, tapu establishes social control and

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As with translation of any language, there are understandings and nuances in Māori words that cannot be translated by a single English word. In addition, a western understanding of spirituality may not embrace a Māori understanding of wairua and associated areas without assistance of several English concepts. However, a Celtic understanding of spirituality, as mentioned above, may be closer to a Māori understanding.

discipline and acts as protection for people and property (Pere, 1982, p. 36). Values associated with tapu concern sacredness in both human and non-human realms. The tapu nature of human beings is reflected particularly in the four corners model, described below (Drummond & Va’ai-Wells, 2004). Tapu needs to be maintained in the way a woman or man treats her or his body and those of others. Works of art are also viewed as tapu; this area will be discussed later in the context of art-making and spirituality. Mauri can “pertain to life principle and the ethos of animate and inanimate things”, including the talisman, “the physical symbol of the hidden principle that protects vitality, fruitfulness, the psyche etcetera of people, lands, forests, buildings and so on” (Pere, 1982, p. 28). In addition to their metaphysical understandings, wairua, mana, tapu and mauri are also embodied in values such as respect for the natural world and the land, the importance of following ancestors, ritual, the tapu nature of the human body, whānaungatanga (family connectedness with present and past generations) and language. The intrinsic interwovenness of wairua with all other areas of Māori life has wide implications43. As seen in Māori models concerning human development and health, Māori people, along with many other indigenous peoples, view

spirituality as expressed not only through belonging to family and community and the natural world but also to a particular area of land. Even if their traditional land has been reduced by colonisation, the land is still perceived as part of identity: “Indigenous communities have made even their most isolated and marginal spaces a home place imbued with spiritual significance and indigenous identity” (Smith, 1999, p. 126). Smith (1999) includes the North American Navaho Nation, Australian Aborigine and Māori as examples of peoples who have found ways to maintain this sense of spiritual significance in spite of loss of traditional lands. Further, some indigenous peoples view themselves or particular people among them as guardians of the land; others, including many Māori peoples, maintain that the guardians of the land are spiritual beings (Bishop, 2008; Dillard, 2008; Kana & Tamatea, 2006; Kincheloe & Steinberg, 2008; Smith, 1999). Whatever understanding is held, the land is respected as sacred and integral to a life of well- being. Next, following the ancestors (tipuna or tupuna) is viewed as very important. The ancestral line is recited in whakapapa (genealogy); it gives a physical base in ethnic identity and also a spiritual and emotional base derived

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Interwovenness of the spiritual with all other areas of life can also be vital to other indigenous peoples.

from the ancestral culture of Māori (King, 1975). Thus, Māoritanga concerns acknowledging and being proud of the ancestral heritage of individuals, whānau, hapū (sub-tribe/s) and iwi because these ancestors have contributed values and customs of tribal culture and etiquette, all of which are interwoven with the spiritual44. Part of the spiritual bequest of ancestors is that they are identified with the land and the environment and are often seen as protecting both the land and the people. Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) 45 is also seen as site of valuing ancestors in Māoritanga. Whereas western peoples may not see

themselves as obligated to the intentions of their ancestors in Te Tiriti, Māori see such obligations as normal and of spiritual significance. This difference has been a major source of conflict in Aotearoa New Zealand in terms of government

responsibility to honour the Treaty. Next, ritual is important in Māoritanga in almost every area of daily life and brings together the physical, psychic and spiritual: “...there are three orders of reality – the physical or natural, the psychic and the spiritual. Whilst the natural realm is normally subject to physical laws, these can be effected, modified and even changed by the application of the higher laws of the psychic and spiritual” (Marsden, 1977, p. 146)46. In Māoritanga, there are karakia and rituals associated with many aspects of daily life. Pere (1982) notes: “Some tribute was always given to the supernatural attribute or attributes believed to be the most influential over any task or undertaking. Whether a tribute was made in a physical or spiritual form the correct format and procedure was of utmost importance” (p. 15). Next, whānaungatanga is related to ancestors and genealogy and to the living and includes the spiritual aspects of life.

Whānaungatanga can be expressed in kanohi ki te kanohi, where people meet and are seen to be associated with particular iwi events; these aspects were described in Chapter 2.

A Māori understanding of wairua is interwoven with the concepts of human health and wellbeing as they relate to the law in Aotearoa New Zealand:

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Customarily ancestors are named at marae gatherings, reinforcing the valuing and connectedness.

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It is beyond the scope of this thesis to discuss issues of the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of colonial Aotearoa New Zealand. The Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) was signed in 1840 by representatives of the British sovereign and most Māori tribal chiefs. This Treaty has been the focus of Māori demands for justice and self-determination and much debate has centred on the fact that the original English and Māori language versions differed signficantly.

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Both feminist and Māori writers have identified ritual as a way of acknowledging the divine as important in its own right and as part of everyday life (e.g., Estés, 1992; Fischer, 1988; Patterson, 1992; Roth, 1997; Pere, 1982; Te Awekotuku, 1991; Yates-Smith, 1998).

“the Māori view… holds that all parts of a being and all causes of an action are interrelated – the body, mind and soul of a person are shaped by and react with many overlapping pressures. Physical health is tied to one’s emotional contentment; mental or psychological health is interlinked with both physical and spiritual well-being; personal attitudes and behaviour flow from them both. All are related to a person’s place in his culture, in the land from which the culture springs, and in society which imposes upon that culture. (Jackson, 1988, p. 58)

Views concerning spirituality and wellbeing, such as that described by Jackson (1988), are echoed in Māori models for health and well-being. Examples of such models include Te Wheke Māori Model of Human Development (Pere, 1988, 1994), Four Cornerstones of Māori Health (Drummond, 2004) and Te Whare Tapa Whā model for hauora, or well-being (Durie, 1994). Te Wheke Māori Model of Human Development is a model of an octopus (te wheke) which has a head, eyes and eight tentacles. The head represents the family unit and the eyes, waiora, or total well-being47. The eight tentacles represent the dimensions of wairuatanga (spirituality), mana āke (uniqueness), mauri (life principle), ha a kore mā a kui mā (forebears’ breath of life), taha tinana (physical side), whānaungatanga (extended family, social interaction), whatumanawa (emotional aspect) and hinengaro (mind). The tentacles are overlapping and intertwined; this overlapping and intertwining “represents a merging of each dimension” (Pere, 1988, p. 15). Each tentacle has numerous suckers which “represent the many facets that exist within each dimension” (Pere, 1988, p. 15)48. Te Whare Tapa Whā and Four

Cornerstones of Māori Health have identical elements. The Four Cornerstones has four elements surrounding a central circle (Drummond, 2004). Te Whare Tapa Whā is constructed as a whare, or house, with four walls (Durie, 1994). The four cornerstones and the four walls are named te taha tinana (literally, the physical side; physical well-being), te taha hinengaro (literally, the mental or emotional side; mental and emotional well-being), te taha whānau (literally, the social side; social well-being, extended family and social support) (Drummond, 2004) and te

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Drummond (2004) presents Te Wheke as an octopus-like model with nine tentacles: the head represents the family unit and the ninth tentacle represents waiora.

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taha wairua (literally, the spiritual side; spiritual well-being)49. These models demonstrate that, in order for a person to be healthy, spirituality cannot be isolated from everyday life and everyday life cannot be separated from spirituality. In a similar way to feminist spirituality, spirit, body, mind and collectivity are viewed as equally vital to a life of well-being. In addition, the importance of undivided body, mind and spirit extends to approaches to research.

Finally, spirituality is viewed in light of colonisation, as are all other aspects of indigenous life. Spirituality is seen as an area of strength for colonised peoples but also a site of colonisation, as mentioned above. Smith (1999): “The values, attitudes, concepts and language embedded in beliefs about spirituality represent, in many cases, the clearest contrast and mark of difference between indigenous peoples and the West” (p. 74). Thus, spirituality is seen as a site of struggle against oppression and may be observed in political action.

In summary, Māori and many other indigenous peoples view

spirituality as central to individual and collective life, connected with nature and the land and as demonstrated through action. The spiritual as integral to an indigenous peoples’ worldview is echoed in indigenous ways of knowing50 and methodologies51. In light of such a worldview, reclamation of indigenous forms of art-making and establishment of indigenous peoples’ own styles and approaches to art-making are viewed as spiritual undertakings. Hence, indigenous spirituality will be discussed further in the context of art-making later in this chapter.

I include the area of spirituality because it is of vital importance to this thesis. Spirituality is a key element in the lives of many feminists and many art-makers, myself included. The breadth of understanding of spirituality evident particularly in feminist and indigenous writings emphasises the intrinsic, all-encompassing, yet individualised nature of spirituality in the everyday lived experience of many people. Since all ten participants are women of various ethnicities and beliefs and five identify themselves as Māori, I consider that the knowledge to be gained from a study of reflective practice in art-making would be curtailed and inadequate without consideration of spirituality.

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While these models all originated in the area of health in Aotearoa New Zealand, I have seen Te Whare Tapa Whā used extensively and meaningfully in the areas of early childhood and adult education during my years as an adult educator.

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Indigenous ways of knowing were discussed in Chapter 2.

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