Indigenous Research Symposium creates dialogue of empowerment
Indigenous research should validate and empower indigenous culture and peoples, says AUT University Professor of Māori Media, Dr Ella Henry.
Dr Ella Henry was the guest speaker at an Indigenous Research Symposium, hosted by the Faculty of Maori and Indigenous Development, Te Ara Poutama.
The one day event brought together Indigenous Researchers and PhD candidates from both AUT and the Forum of Indigenous Research Excellence (FIRE) of the University of Wollongong to share doctoral research, build indigenous research networks and collaborate across disciplines.
The group mix of academic staff and PhD candidates from AUT and University of Wollongong shared presentations of their research on matters that affected indigenous cultures, ranging from LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning) identities, new teaching methods and indigenous stereotyping in advertisements.
The common theme of all presentations was the empowering of indigenous culture in a modern world.
Dr Henry says: “Given a colonial history of poverty and loss, indigenous researchers are obliged to create research that protects Indigenous principles.”
“Your indigenous beliefs and philosophy affect how you treat indigenous research.”
In the opening address, AUT Pro Vice-Chancellor of Maori Advancement and Dean of Te Ara Poutama, Pare Keiha, highlighted that indigenous research was not only for people of indigenous origins.
“The future of the New Zealand’s history - Maori language and culture rests on everybody – Pakehas, Asians, and everybody else in New Zealand.”
Professor Keiha also commended the researchers: “It takes an extraordinarily gifted and committed person to research the social sciences.”
Among the AUT researchers presenting their work were PhD candidates Steve Elers and Valance Smith, who is also a senior lecturer at Te Ara Poutama.
Elers focused on examining Māori perspectives of the constructed identities of Māoris portrayed in public information advertisements such as Ghost Chips and It’s Not OK.
Smith’s research looked at the creative potential of contemporary Maori music in promoting te reo Māori. Smith believes that contemporary Māori music promotes the revitalisation of te reo Maori because it creates a supportive environment for actual and potential te reo Maori speakers to learn and use the language.
“The Māori identity resonates in music.”
“Contemporary Māori music strikes a chord in the hearts of many because it helps answer the questions ‘who am I’ and ‘where do I come from’,” says Smith.
Presenters and their research
- David Kampers (UOW) – Folk Devils and Moral Crusaders: The Northern Territory Intervention and the Pathologising of Aboriginal men in contemporary Australia.
- Andrew Farrell (UOW) – Indigeneity and the Representation of Transgender Formations
- Juan Tauri (UOW) – The State, the Academy and Indigenous Justice: A Counter-Colonial Critique
- Anthony McKnight (UOW) – With the Mother: The impact of an Aboriginal cultural experience program with non-Aboriginal academics.
- Jodi Edwards (UOW) – Weaving the Past into the Future
- Steve Elers (AUT) – Public Information Advertisements: Perspectives from a Maori Paradigm
- Valance Smith (AUT) – The creative potential of contemporary Maori music in promoting te reo Maori