The second issue of MAI Journal for 2014 - Volume 3 Issue 2 - is now available online. This is a special themed issue which focuses on the concept of resilience written from Māori perspectives. It is composed of six articles on topics such as indigenous resistance to the state, whānau and resilience, palliative care, community-based responses to HIV and other chronic conditions, and Māori responses to the earthquakes which struck Christchurch between 2010 and 2011.
The lead article by Mera Penehira, Alison Green, Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Clive Aspin, titled “Māori and Indigenous Views on R & R: Resistance and Resilience” explores the resilience discourse by tracing the development of Māori and Indigenous frameworks of resilience. The authors critically consider whether the concept of resilience is simply the most current means by which the State encourages Māori to reframe the experience of colonisation as one of successful “adaption” to adversity.
Three of the six articles theorise the link between whānau and resilience. The article “Conceptualising the Link Between Resilience and Whānau Ora: Results From a Case Study” by Amohia Boulton and Heather Gifford presents results of a qualitative case study undertaken with a Māori health provider and discusses the link between resilience and the concept of whānau ora.
Jordan Waiti and Te Kani Kingi’s contribution titled “Whakaoranga Whānau: Whānau Resilience” explores “resilience strategies” and the multiple ways in which whānau contribute to the development of their members and the various mechanisms employed to foster growth and security. It is argued that understanding how whānau operate has implications for service delivery and policy design.
In their article entitled “End-of-Life Care and Māori Whānau Resilience”, Tess Moeke-Maxwell, Linda Nikora and Ngahuia Te Aweokotuku discuss the cultural resources which assist Māori whānau in being resilient when caring for a family member at the end of life. The study illustrates that the economic and material ramifications of colonialism significantly impact on Māori at the end of life, influencing the ability of whānau to identify and access much needed resources and palliative care support.
In their second contribution to this issue, titled “Community-Based Responses to High Rates of HIV among Indigenous Peoples”, Clive Aspin, Mera Penehira, Alison Green and Linda Tuhiwai Smith compare findings from Australia, Canada and New Zealand and explore how community-based initiatives play a vital role in overcoming the challenges Indigenous people face in dealing with HIV and other chronic conditions.
In the final paper, “Māori and the Christchurch Earthquakes: The Interplay Between Indigenous Endurance and Resilience Through Urban Disaster”, Simon Lambert explores Māori responses to the disastrous earthquakes that struck Christchurch in 2010 and 2011 to review the notion of resilience. It is proposed that Māori resilience to urban disaster can only come from better strategies of reduction and readiness, actions which must take place before any disaster.
MAI Journal publishes multidisciplinary peer-reviewed articles that critically analyse and address indigenous and Pacific issues in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. The journal is published online and all content is free to access at www.journal.mai.ac.nz
For more information, contact:
Bartek Goldmann, MAI Journal Coordinator
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence
Tel: +64 9 923 4220 ext. 86109
Email: editors@journal.mai.ac.nz