Into the Dark, We Are Moths’

Kirsty Dunn (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa), University of Canterbury

My PhD thesis, tentatively titled “‘Into the Dark, We Are Moths’” Centering Whakapapa, Representing Animals in Māori Writing in English” is an exploration of the ways in which human-animal relationships are represented and reimagined in contemporary Māori writing in English.  I aim to both describe a Kaupapa Māori framework for reading Māori literature, and demonstrate its efficacy and potential by analysing a selection of contemporary works. 

My study aims to contribute to the existing scholarship undertaken by Māori literary critics and Kaupapa Māori researchers by drawing upon the concept of whakapapa as a lens for reading contemporary poetry and fiction by Māori authors (Battista, 2004; Te Punga-Somerville, 2012; Salsano, 2016; Makereti, 2018) and utilising pūrākau as a methodological framework (Smith, 2012; Lee-Morgan, 2015).  

I argue that the narratives selected for analysis are part of a wider whakapapa of Māori literature and Māori cultural production; that narratives and knowledges present in waiata, whakataukī, and pūrākau (amongst many other literary and narrative forms) provide layers which aid in our understandings of these narratives; and that these texts which depict animals as whanaunga, tohu, kai, and kaitiaki, as well as representations of human-animal hybrid and shapeshifting characters, are powerful means by which we are able to recognize and understand our relationships to the nonhuman world, as well as our responsibilities to each other, animal species, atua, tūpuna, mokopuna, and te taiao. 

In addition to providing new analyses of texts by well-known Māori writers such as Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Hone Tuwhare, Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, Keri Hulme, and Apirana Taylor, my study also includes discussions regarding writing and authors which are yet to receive (or have received very little) scholarly attention to date; this includes a selection of self-published pieces as well as writing featured in online blogs and journals.  By including these works, I attempt to widen the scope of literature in Aotearoa and to further promote and celebrate the work of Māori authors whilst also drawing attention to the biases and barriers inherent in mainstream publishing. 

It is my hope that my research will be of value to educators of all levels in that it will aid in the creation of further teaching resources including material relating to the history of Aotearoa, given the government’s recent commitment to make this a compulsory component of the curriculum.  In light of the ever-increasing effects of climate change and the damage wrought by the continued exploitation of the natural world, it is also my intention that this mahi will be considered as part of an ongoing movement to prioritise Indigenous perspectives pertaining to relationships and kinships between humans and te taiao, as well as to promote creative Indigenous responses to these issues. 

My project thus aligns with two of the research themes of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.  Firstly, by centering and celebrating Māori perspectives, knowledges, experiences, narratives, and histories, my thesis supports the enactment of tino rangatiratanga: the ability for us as Māori to tell our own stories in our own ways for the benefit of future generations, which is key part of the Mauri Ora – Human Flourishing research theme.   It is also my intention that this project will contribute to cultural and educational wellbeing, particularly for rangatahi, by way of the creation of educational resources pertaining to Māori literature; it is also my hope that promoting Māori stories and storytellers will help inspire and support rangatahi to continue to create and share their own narratives too. 

My research also includes analyses of texts which represent Māori perspectives pertaining to our relationships with the natural world and the ongoing effects of colonisation upon these relationships which relates to Te Tai Ao – The Natural Environment research theme.  Key narratives within my thesis depict the importance of kaitiakitanga (particularly in regards to ocean and freshwater fishing) and the ways in which guardianship, sustainability, and intergenerational knowledge relate to hauora (collective health and wellbeing).  Contemporary representations of the ongoing effects of environmental exploitation also feature in my research; the ways in which whakapapa (which explain our relationships with and responsibilities to the environment and other species) provide guidance as to how we can remedy those relationships is also discussed.

I am very fortunate to have been able to undertake this mahi with the tautoko, advice, expertise, and encouragement of many – including my supervisors Professor Annie Potts, Professor Philip Armstrong, and Garrick Cooper. Through hui such as Te Hā (the biannual hui for Māori writers) I have met inspirational authors and scholars and found ways of connecting my mahi with their writing and rangahau also.  When we complete our respective postgraduate mahi, a small group of us working in education and creative writing plan to collaborate in the creation of educational resource material for primary and secondary kaiako.