‘You made us feel at home’: towards Indigenous feminist methodologies with young wāhine in sport and exercise

ABSTRACT

Decades of research on Indigenous and culturally diverse young women in sport and exercise has been underpinned by deficit models where these groups are portrayed as ‘lacking’, ‘at risk’, and/or ‘vulnerable’. Such approaches have been heavily critiqued for ignoring broader structural and systemic inequities that have produced such health disparities. These approaches also reproduce racialised ideologies of Indigenous and culturally diverse women where they are seen as a ‘problem group’ in sport, exercise and health research. Over recent years, a growing body of research is advancing culturally appropriate methodologies and methods that aim to prioritise the voices and lived experiences of Indigenous and culturally diverse women. This paper contributes to this literature by providing an example of research that used Indigenous methodologies (Mana Wahine and Masi Methodology) to engage young Māori and Pasifika wāhine in Aotearoa New Zealand. We start by positioning this paper in relevant literature, then detail the cultural underpinnings of the methodological approach we used. We then outline the research and offer some practical considerations in, i) recruiting young women within one’s community, ii) using methods such as wānanga (meetings), digital diaries and kai (food), and iii) weaving care and reciprocity. In so doing, we highlight the importance of using locally specific feminist methodologies throughout research with, by and for young Indigenous and culturally diverse young women.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminist methodologies
• young women
• Indigenous
• Mana wahine
• Masi methodology
• Aotearoa New Zealand

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Māori are the Indigenous people of Aotearoa.

2. Pasifika is a word often used by Pacific People who live in Aotearoa to describe themselves and their communities.

3. Wahine is woman; Wāhine is women.

4. A meeting to discuss, share, and deliberate.

5. Food.

6. We use the term culture to refer to the behaviours, attitudes, beliefs and practises of a group.

7. For clarity and consistency we will use Indigenous to represent Māori and Pasifika peoples.

8. The Māori word for young people or the younger generation. This usually refers to teenagers and young adults.

9. In this example the term bicultural means having mixed Māori and Pasifika ancestry.

10. Māori word for New Zealand European.

11. Relates to conversation that has Indigenous cultural meaning for Indigenous Australians.

12. Kaupapa Māori is research conducted with, for and by Māori.

13. Talanoa is a Pacific research methodology and method used by many Pacific scholars as it is flexibly used across Pacific ethnic groups and embraces cultural values, attitudes, and practices. As a method it is used to generate and share conversations and knowledge while creating relationships (Vaioleti 2013).

14. The Māori word for talk or discuss.

15. Pseudonyms are used in this article.

16. Full ethics approval was obtained and all participants provided consent.

17. A suburb in Wellington, Aotearoa.

18. Relationships and connection.

19. Students we refer to attend the educational institution where the first author works. We did not recruit current students.

20. The concept of lifting each other up.

21. Immediate and extended family and/or groups of people who view and treat each other as though they were family.

22. Face-to-face meeting.

23. A term used by the young wāhine to describe their actions of going to train at a gym or fitness centre.

24. A phrase used to describe the action of packing food away after a meal for guests to take home and consume later.

25. Gift or donation.

26. Māori word for Love.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mihi Nemani

Mihi Nemani is a current PhD Candidate at the University of Waikato, Aotearoa, New Zealand. Her research focuses on the experiences of young Māori and Pasifika wāhine in physical activity, sport and fitness. As a Māori-Samoan woman her lived experiences in Māori and Pacific communities in Aotearoa provide insider nuanced perspectives for qualitative research with these communities.

Holly Thorpe

Holly Thorpe (she/her) is a Professor in the Sociology of Sport and Physical Culture at the University of Waikato, Aotearoa, New Zealand. Her research focuses on sport, physical culture and gender, and she continues to seek new innovations in social theory, qualitative methods, and representational styles to better understand the complexities of moving bodies and sporting cultures.

Keaka Hemi

Keakaokawai Varner Hemi is the first Assistant Vice Chancellor Pacific appointed by the University of Waikato. Her research interest areas include Pacific peoples and the law, Pacific and indigenous education rights, and equality and non-discrimination in relation to indigenous peoples.

Anna Rolleston

Anna Rolleston is a kaupapa Māori health researcher and practitioner specialising in the integration of Māori ways of knowing and being with western science and medicine. Her research spans the breadth of health, but with a strong focus on heart health, long term conditions and co-design methodologies.