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A Term’s Irruption and a Possibility for Response: A Māori Glance at “Epistemology”

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Handbook of Indigenous Education

Abstract

Language for Māori (Indigenous people/s of Aotearoa New Zealand) is complicated because it seems to emerge from, and indeed merge with, both the human and nonhuman worlds, from an idea and yet from the materiality of things, and from colonized and traditional realms. Analyzing a term has to take place within the full nature of language and also its objects and, in turn, those objects’ worlds. In this chapter, I consider the term “epistemology,” which tends to grab my attention as an emissary of certainty, calling me to address it. The term is equally as far-reaching as language as a whole, and rather than referring to it as if it is a human-derived phenomenon, I look to its autonomy for guidance. This approach, I argue, sits better with a Māori philosophy of language than that which underpins more dominant discourse analysis. The evaluation of a term must also be carried out as if it is a personal matter, and asks for the Māori writer to look to his or her own experiences and background and to have special regard for both tribal and individual idiosyncrasies. These aspects are necessarily unique to individuals within their colonized and tribal contexts, and they draw the Māori writer or student to the term and signal how one should analyze it. The approach I have adopted is my own and is educational to the extent that it shows one way of engaging with the world of a term. I am therefore more interested in the power of language to educate the indigenous self while we use it (or it uses us), than I am in teaching and learning in more orthodox Western senses. I conclude by likening this inability to get to the static properties of language to my tribal origins and events.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Carl Mika

  2. University of Waikato, Tuhourangi/Ngāti Whanaunga, New Zealand

    Carl Mika

Authors
  1. Carl Mika
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Correspondence to Carl Mika .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Melbourne, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Elizabeth Ann McKinley

  2. Office of the Pro-Vice Chancellor Māori, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand

    Linda Tuhiwai Smith

Section Editor information

  1. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Margie Hohepa

  2. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Carl Mika

Glossary

Iwi

Tribe

Kaupapa Māori

Formalized Māori approach

Kore

Voidness

Māoritanga

The essence of being Māori

Mātauranga

Knowledge

Ousia

Essence

Pākehā

European New Zealander

Papatūānuku

Earth Mother; infinite substance; originating text of life; that which languages

Te reo Māori

The Māori language

Tohu

Sign

Wairua

Spirit

Whakapapa

Genealogical relationship

Whānau

Family

Whanaunga

Relations

Whenua

Land/Placenta

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© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Mika, C. (2017). A Term’s Irruption and a Possibility for Response: A Māori Glance at “Epistemology”. In: McKinley, E., Smith, L. (eds) Handbook of Indigenous Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1839-8_20-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1839-8_20-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-1839-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-1839-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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