The New Māori and Māori Health Professor Chris Cunningham Research Centre for Māori Health & Development Massey Wellington

Overview Defining Māori is a non-trivial exercise Hauora, health, cultural identity – “M-factor” The “New Māori” framework

Defining Māori Race/ethnicity – I define you – You define you Treaty relationship – Descent from a signatory Cultural – Look, think and operate as Māori

Standards for Ethnicity

He Kainga Oranga Māori respondents – Same questionnaire schedule – Same interviewers – Same environment 18% ethnic migration

Treaty of Waitangi “the only thing that matters is that the Treaty exists” Relationship NOT partnership Parties NOT partners Descent

Ethnicity Phenomenon of ethnicity Categorisation for measurement purposes

Inequalities ACCEPTABLE Male/female life expectancy Older/younger people outcomes UNACCEPTABLE Income Education Geography Identity – Sexual – Cultural – Ethnic

Te Hoe Nuku Roa – Best Outcomes Established 1993 Some 500 households, 1500 individual Māori Survey at 3 yearly intervals 80-90% retention rate

Māori identity indicators/qualities Te reo Māori Marae Whakapapa Political identity Māori ethnicity Cultural identity Iwi Whānau Value Participation Knowledge Expression Preference Knowledge/practice Contribution

Māori indicators and items Te reo Māori “Te Reo Māori is an important language for me”

Māori indicators and items Marae “I have a high level of comfort participating in activities at marae”

Māori indicators and items Whakapapa “I can recite more than three generations of my Māori whakapapa”

Māori indicators and items Political identity “The Māori electoral roll should continue as one way of recognising Māori rights” “Māori development should be parallel to the development of NZ generally”

Māori indicators and items Māori ethnic identity “I prefer to identify only as Maori” “I prefer to include Māori as one of my ethnic groups”

Māori indicators and items Culture “It is important for Māori children to feel confident about Māori culture” “Māori and Pakeha are very alike”

Māori indicators and items Iwi “I responded positively to the Tuhono initiative” “I know my iwi but they don’t know me very well”

Māori indicators and items Whānau “I interact with my whānau as frequently as possible” “I prefer to associate mostly with Māori people”

Item Response Theory Can reduce these items from 8 to 2-4 Can predict responses to other questions

Indigenous “being born in a place” older indigenous group versus younger indigenous group Flora and fauna and people treated differently Worldview

Indigenous Worldview “All creation is spirit” Western versus Eastern versus Indigenous “Integral association with nature/land”

Hauora and health MODELS – Whare Tapa Wha (M Durie) – Wheke (RR Pere) – Nga Pou Mana (RCSP) – Waiora (S Palmer) HealthHauora

Diverse Māori Realities Isolated IntegratedConservative

Tibble Continuum

The New Maori Pluralistic Integrated Isolated Conservative

Summary Defining Māori is a non-trivial exercise The Treaty exists / relationship / parties Hauora is not the Māori word for health Ethnicity is part of your identity – it is NOT your identity Perfecting ethnicity question is a holy grail Māori identity : continuous measurable trait New Māori includes an increasingly pluralistic group