The International Journal of the Arts in Society: Annual Review

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Researching Kapa Haka and its Educational Meanings in Today's Aotearoa/New Zealand: Weaving Methodologies, Perspectives and Decency


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1 The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
     

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Kapa Haka is a form of Maori performing arts in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Kapa Haka has made significant contributions in sustaining and revitalizing Tikanga Maori (Maori cultural protocols), Te Reo Maori (Maori language), and Maori people's confidence and cultural identity (Kaiwai&Zemke-White, 2004; Whitinui, 2008). In the last thirty years, Kapa Haka festivals and competitions have become major artistic and social events among Maori people. Today Kapa Haka is popular and is taught throughout the country. It exists in diverse social and educational contexts in New Zealand. While Te Reo Maori (Maori language) struggles to proliferate, Kapa Haka seems to be gaining more popularity, crossing cultural boundaries of Maoridom. After working as a producer/director/teacher in the performing arts industries in Tokyo and New York for more than two decades, I came to New Zealand and started studying Kapa Haka intensively under a respected Kapa Haka teacher. After a couple of years, I decided to pursue my research on "Kapa Haka teachers' meanings of teaching Kapa Haka". In this article, I discuss relevant perspectives based on my professional background and my desire to be an ethically decent researcher, and their links to the valued methodologies that have framed my research process.

Keywords

Kapa Haka, Maori Performing Art, Indigenous Cultural Practice, Performing Arts, Arts Education, Democratic Education, Qualitative Research, Decolonizing Methodologies.
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  • Researching Kapa Haka and its Educational Meanings in Today's Aotearoa/New Zealand: Weaving Methodologies, Perspectives and Decency

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Authors

Hiromi Sakamoto
The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract


Kapa Haka is a form of Maori performing arts in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Kapa Haka has made significant contributions in sustaining and revitalizing Tikanga Maori (Maori cultural protocols), Te Reo Maori (Maori language), and Maori people's confidence and cultural identity (Kaiwai&Zemke-White, 2004; Whitinui, 2008). In the last thirty years, Kapa Haka festivals and competitions have become major artistic and social events among Maori people. Today Kapa Haka is popular and is taught throughout the country. It exists in diverse social and educational contexts in New Zealand. While Te Reo Maori (Maori language) struggles to proliferate, Kapa Haka seems to be gaining more popularity, crossing cultural boundaries of Maoridom. After working as a producer/director/teacher in the performing arts industries in Tokyo and New York for more than two decades, I came to New Zealand and started studying Kapa Haka intensively under a respected Kapa Haka teacher. After a couple of years, I decided to pursue my research on "Kapa Haka teachers' meanings of teaching Kapa Haka". In this article, I discuss relevant perspectives based on my professional background and my desire to be an ethically decent researcher, and their links to the valued methodologies that have framed my research process.

Keywords


Kapa Haka, Maori Performing Art, Indigenous Cultural Practice, Performing Arts, Arts Education, Democratic Education, Qualitative Research, Decolonizing Methodologies.

References