Kōtuitui (Oct 2023)
Korikori Kōrero: a mobile method of inquiry for moving Māori women and their knowledges
Abstract
ABSTRACTThis article outlines the use of a novel research method, Korikori Kōrero, with a group of physically active Māori women. The research aimed to identify common traits or ways of knowing and being, by engaging with Māori women in their chosen physical activities and preferred environments. Korikori Kōrero draws from both Indigenous and Euro-Western research methodologies to ultimately bring the research relationship and associated power dynamic into balance. Māori women have experienced an exaggerated imbalance of power resulting from the patriarchal dominance of colonisation, and their contemporary realities often reflect this. However, it was the intention of this research and method, to privilege the stories of Māori women, successful in navigating contemporary realities – through physical activity, a known protective health behaviour. This article will share the rationale behind this novel mobile method; how it was implemented; and its relevance in generating an understanding of physically active Māori women.Glossary of Māori words: mātauranga: Māori knowledges, processes of learning; kanohi kitea: the seen face; whakapapa: genealogy and background; whakawhanaungatanga: connectedness and building relationships; wānanga: gathering or a meeting where there is an exchange of knowledge; Hinetuākiri, Hineuku, and Papatūānuku: Māori feminine deities connected to the earth (gravel, clay, earth); hongi: Māori greeting/gesture demonstrated by pressing noses and sharing breath; whanaungatanga: established connections/relationships; wahine/wāhine: woman/women; mana: authority; tikanga: cultural practices; mihi: introductions, acknowledgements; whanau: immediate and extended family; toa: relates to strength, skillfullness; teina: younger sibling or less experienced; tuakana: older sibling or more experienced; Whakataka te hau ki te uru, whakataka te hau ki te tonga: the opening lines of a popular karakia, translates to: Cease oh winds of the west and of the south; karakia: incantation, prayer, ritual chant; te taiao: the natural environment; maunga: mountain; korikori tinana ā tinana: physical activity in person.
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