Decolonizing conviviality and ‘becoming ordinary’: cross-cultural face-to-face encounters in Aotearoa New Zealand

ABSTRACT

This paper explores convivial culture in a settler society. The paper draws on interview data from ethnographic research exploring how Māori and Pākehā worked together on a building project in a rural community. Both Māori and Pākehā participants reported their pleasure in engagements with each other that centred on Māori tikanga (protocols). In these encounters, Māori ‘difference’ was the catalyst for the development of new, convivial relationships. The paper argues that such everyday conviviality contributes to the process of decolonizing Māori–Pākehā relations at the level of everyday life. Through decolonizing conviviality Pakehā ‘become ordinary’ in Māori cultural contexts, and are offered the opportunity to come to understand themselves as embedded in colonial relationalities. Crucial to the development of such conviviality is the opportunity for face-to-face, embodied encounters with Māori in contexts where Māori cultural difference matters.

KEYWORDS:

• Settler society
• indigeneity
• embodied encounters
• everyday
• relationality
• conviviality

Acknowledgements

My thanks to the anonymous reviewers, whose feedback gave me the opportunity to strengthen and clarify aspects of the argument.

Notes

1. I use postcolonialism to refer to the time from colonialism onwards and the work done to explore the ongoing legacy of colonialism. I use decolonization to refer to work that seeks to ‘undo’ or overcome that legacy.

2. The impetus for this project came from an interest in exploring what is happening to Māori–Pākehā relationships following Treaty settlements reached between iwi and the New Zealand government in recognition of colonial injustices. Settlement packages typically include an apology, returned lands, money and rights to co-governance of specific lands and resources. Hence they empower tribes to become more prominent and important economic and political actors within their regional communities and result in the formation of partnerships between tribes, local government bodies and other community groups (see, e.g. Wheen and Wayward 2012). My thanks to Eva Mackey for her involvement in the early stages of this project.

3. For incisive critiques of the recognition politics of settler states see Povinelli (2002) and Coulthardt (2014).

4. But also see Tate (2014) for an argument that ordinariness can work in both racist and antiracist directions in the experience of Black people in British society. Tate distinguishes between the ordinariness of (forced, institutional) tolerance that supports a refusal to face racism and the ordinariness of cross-racial friendships that can facilitate the development of antiracist understandings.

5. In modern terms marae refers to a complex of buildings, typically based within a kinship community and used for meetings and various ceremonial purposes, such as funerals, welcomes to visitors and so on (see Mead 2003, 95–97). Mead defines tikanga as

the set of beliefs associated with practices and procedures to be followed in conducting the affairs of a group or an individual. These procedures are established by precedents through time, are held to be ritually correct, are validated by usually more than one generation and are always subject to what a group or an individual is able to do. (2003, 12)

6. For example, see Brandt's (2013) ethnographic investigation of Māori and Pākehā ‘friendship worlds’. Brandt found many examples of friendships between Māori and Pākehā but few involved Pākehā being granted entry into the Māori world. Only where Pākehā demonstrated their willingness and ability to take on a Māori worldview were they incorporated into the life of the Māori family and community. Brandt discusses the complex reasons for this that operate on both sides – such as Pākehā anxieties and shame, Māori suspicions of Pākehā and fear of disappointment. These reasons dovetail with the ‘countervailing forces’ discussed in the following section of this paper and evidence the continuing legacy of colonial dynamics in Māori–Pākehā relations. Also see Gagné (2013) for an ethnographic account of how Māori houses in the city operate as marae-like spaces of the Māori world.

7. See Fabish (2014, 28–34) for a nuanced discussion of this issue.

8. Some examples of the extensive literature on this include Bell (2014), Bergland (2000), Deloria (1998), Francis (1992), Mackey (2002) and Trachtenberg (2004).

9. See, for example, Hodge and Mishra (1991), Jones (1999), Henderson and Wakeham (2013), Lawson (1995), Povinelli (2002), Trachtenberg (2004) and Veracini (2011). But also see Lawn (2008) and Moses (2011) for opposing views of the redemptive strands within moves towards national apologies and reconciliation with indigenous peoples. The literature on white guilt and the desire for redemption from racism addresses an overlapping phenomenon (e.g. Ahmed 2008), as does the literature on how multiculturalism works to ‘enrich’ white subjects (e.g. Hage 2000). Each of these literatures deal in different ways with the ways cross-cultural relationships can work to serve the interests of dominant white subjects.

10. To give some indicative statistics, the latest census data shows the gap widening between Māori median incomes and the levels for the population generally – the gap was $3500 in the 2006 census and $6000 in 2013 (Statistics New Zealand 2014). Twenty percent of Māori live in crowded households, compared to 4.3% of the Pākehā population. In terms of health, Māori have the highest smoking rates of any ethnic group (36%) and poorer health across a range of psychological conditions, asthma, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Māori are also more likely to report difficulty in accessing health care for financial and other reasons (Ministry of Health 2013, vi–vii). And Māori make up 51% of the prison population, while only constituting 15% of the total population (Statistics New Zealand 2012).

11. There is a separate Māori electoral roll Māori can choose to be registered on if they wish. This roll elects seven Māori members to the New Zealand parliament. However there is no constitutional protection for the Māori seats and it is the policy of the current government to abolish them. The situation is even worse at local government level. Legislative changes in 2001 and 2002 made it possible for local bodies to ensure Māori representation by either instituting a proportional representation system or dedicated Māori representatives, but so far only one, the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, has done so (Sullivan 2011).

12. In contrast, policies directed at correcting Māori disadvantage are often seen as unwarranted ‘race-based privilege’, unfairly departing from the liberal ethos of equality.

13. According to 2013 census data, Māori constitute 44.5% of the population of the wider district (compared to 14.9% of the national population), with the Māori population of the town in which the centre is located being even higher, at 60%. Median income levels are lower than the national average, $21,500 in the wider district compared to $28,500 nationally, and the Māori unemployment rate is 20%, compared to 15.6% for the Māori population nationally.

14. In addition to the trust membership, this partnership is reflected in the siting of the building across two blocks of land, one owned by the local council and one by a local tribe, and in the prominent use of Māori symbolism, design and language throughout the building.

15. All names of participants are pseudonyms.

16. The state of tapu imposes restrictions on behaviour in relation to the places or things marked out by it and tapu on a building under construction indicates its importance to the community (Mead 2003, 65, 70–73). Mana is an extremely complex concept, but can be simply glossed as the ‘authority’ or ‘power’ of persons and is something all people have to varying degrees (see Durie 2000; Mead 2003, 29–31).

17. The hongi is a form of greeting by the touching of noses and sharing of breath.

Additional information

Funding

My thanks for the funders who supported this work – the Massey University Research Fund under [Grant RM15947] and the Faculty Research Development Fund of the University of Auckland under [Grant 3702644].