“To His Majesty, King Edward the Seventh”

At the turn of the twentieth century, Māori had given up the gun and turned to politics and petitions to Parliament to get resolution for the unjust, often illegal actions of the Crown. This essay discusses the evolution of a petition from Māori in the early twentieth century, which was originally addressed to King Edward VII, outlining a number of grievances with the settler government regarding their treatment of Māori in violation of guarantees made under the Treaty of Waitangi

Dual Relationships and Crossing Boundaries in Māori Social Work Practice

Whakawhanaungatanga is an important part of the Māori culture and is used in the engagement phase of the social work process. It is a type of relationship forming where client and worker can become whānau, extended family. It is criticised in some quarters as creating a dual relationship that crosses social work boundaries. Interviews were conducted with seven Māori social work practitioners with over 25 years practice experience, investigating how they dealt with potential boundary issues and the principles and processes they operate by to keep both themselves and their clients safe. The research highlights the need for workers to make plain their role in the social work relationship, the need for contracting and negotiation regarding expectations, the importance of supervision, the role of Māori customary behaviour and the need for cultural ending rituals to signify the transformation of the relationship. To implement this form of practice a Māori social worker needs; experience, an understanding of their social work process, a highly accountable practice ethic, a lived understanding of Maori cultural processes and a commitment  to Māori cultural ethics

The principles of Māori directed practice and development

This research used a Qualitative Kaupapa Māori research methodology using semi-structured interviews to identify the principles of Māori Social and Community Work practice and development and how they are implemented. The research was conducted in three phases: Phase One involved interviews with Māori people working in Māori roles in Government organisations delivering social policy outcomes. It was found that Government workers implement Māori principles in four identified ways: creating supportive environments, responding to community needs, keeping themselves linked into the Māori community and following Māori processes. Phase Two involved interviews with Māori workers employed by Māori health and social service providers. These projects looked at the distinctiveness of their sites, along with the strengths, tools, principles, values and processes that underpinned their approaches. The main difference between Government and NGO workers is that, because they are already part of the community, they don’t need to make that extra effort to engage. Phase Three involved interviews with experienced Māori Social Workers about how a particular principle, whakawhanaungatanga, was implemented and the ethical dilemmas that could arise. Experienced Māori social workers were found to use a number of guiding principles and processes to protect themselves and their clients when choosing to cross traditional social work boundaries. The boundaries crossed were usually perceived as organisational rather than ethical. The processes for using whakawhanaungatanga included the worker having a clearly identified role and recognised the importance of negotiation, supervision and accountability. The role of tikanga was stressed as was the need for a process similar to poroporoaki. Other findings of the research include a model for analysing Māori development and Māori organisations. Also a framework is suggested to avoid Kaupapa Māori deteriorating into either a culturally appropriate Critical Theory response or as Graham Smith warned, a domesticated Culturalist expression

Theoretical Underpinnings of Kaupapa Maori Directed Practice

This article attempts to unbundle and identify the theoretical underpinnings of Kaupapa Māori practice. It suggests that Kaupapa Māori as a concept, has been underpinned by two differing, sometimes competing theoretical perspectives. One is Critical Theory, which comes from the Marxist/socialist grand theoretical tradition seeking to challenge and transform oppressive structures. The second is constructivism, where knowledge is validated through a social construction of the world, thus is located and specific. This article contends that a Critical Theory informed approach is not the understanding held by many in the Māori community of what Kaupapa Māori practice is, instead, this article advocates for a constructivist ‘Native Theory’ approach as being one that fits better both with the community view as well as a theoretical explanation that is more conducive to Māori development. While these two theoretical explanations may seem to be in conflict with one another, a preliminary model is presented that integrates these approachesPeer Reviewe

Commentary: The potential for the use of karakia at the beginning of the restoration process

In pre- colonial Māori society, when a released prisoner or slave was returned to their home people, special karakia were used to remove the negative noa they were under, thus restoring their intrinsic tapu. The author discusses whether karakia can be used in contemporary times to restore the mana and tapu of modern- day released prisoners to aid them in their journey of rehabilitation. He also questions whether this practice of restoring tapu and the sense of tapu has any use for survivors of sexual crimes as part of their healing.Peer Reviewe

Refugees, Immigration, Multiculturalism, and their Implications for Biculturalism

At the same time as the Māori people were slowly getting a degree of traction over recognition of their status as indigenous people in New Zealand, it was complicated by the mass immigration of Pacific, Asian and African peoples. It is projected by Statistics New Zealand that by 2026 16% of the New Zealand population will be par t of the Māori ethnic group but 26% will be of Pacific Island or Asian heritage. This population change, and the prospective increased refugee settlement in New Zealand, has significant implications for health, education and social service providers, many of which have benefited from the Government providing resources to lift Māori achievement and lessen Māori deprivation. In recent years a shift has developed from a focus on bi-cultural approaches to one of multi-cultural approaches. This paper argues that these terms are not mutually exclusive, and discusses some of the contentious issues that have crept into the discussion on multi-culturalism, immigration and the worldwide problem of refugees. This article is based on a presentation to the Third International Indigenous Social Work Conference in Darwin 2015.Peer Reviewe

Special Issue Foreword

JISD Foreword for Special Issue on Love

Te Waka Tangata: Using Waka as a Model for the Structures of Maori Organisation

Peer Reviewe

Maori concepts for social and community work

For those working in Māori communities or organisations, it is important to understand some of the inherent Māori cultural concepts that are important to those contexts. Many groups and projects have struggled to involve Māori people and communities, often because of a lack of understanding of important Māori values and processes. As a Māori person born and raised in Otago but belonging to the Ngāti Maniapoto and Waikato Iwi of the North Island, I know what it is like to learn the hard way about Māori processes. When I was growing up, issues around tapu and noa were translated as cleanliness, or showing respect; mana was not necessarily talked about, but was interpreted as politeness, respect and good manners. I seemed to know a lot of the right things to do, but not why, even though there were times where I felt paralysed in my ignorance. At the age of 21 I moved back to my tribal area for 12 years to work as a youth worker and learnt a lot from the families and the communities I was associated with, as well as from my hapū and relatives. That gave me confidence, so that when I moved back to Otago, I was in a position to learn even more from the communities and people in that region. I came to realise that Māori social and community work is multi-layered and complex. Māori communities are not homogenous and sometimes have competing factions, histories and approaches. There may be differing perspectives between mana whenua and mātaawaka, rural communities and urban ones, traditional and modern, those who speak te reo and those who do not, those who have succeeded in education and those that have not and those whose primary identification is tribal (Iwi), ethnic (Māori), half-caste, or national (Kiwi). One extended family can reflect all these differences and variations, despite this, there are values that are arguably integral to most social and community work involving Māori. Therefore, I will highlight some important Māori concepts and constructs that affect how Māori may view or be involved in community development or community organisations. The following concepts are not necessarily used in social and community work per se, but are concepts that need to be understood for good community work to take place. I will use some of my personal experiences to explain some of the underpinnings of why, in Māori social and community work, we do what we do. The definitions and explanations are, by necessity, brief and may not necessarily give justice to what can be very deep concepts. Some concepts may differ between Iwi as they are multi-layered, so that the more you investigate them, the deeper they go. Therefore, the end of this article will provide further reading for those seeking a greater understanding. It should be noted that while very basic at times, (and I apologise for this), the purpose of this article is to be explicit about the meanings of different values and concepts that I wish had been spelt out more clearly for me as a young youth worker and community worker.Peer Reviewe

Maori parenting, from deficit to strength

We have all grieved, been enraged and depressed about the death of Maori children at the hands of whanau. We can all name Maori children who have become terrible bywords for the failure of some Maori families to protect and nurture their children.Peer Reviewe