Contradictions in culture : 8 case studies of Māori identity

This thesis investigates the phenomenon known as a Māori ethnic identity. The topic is investigated using personal interviews and the findings are reported by way of personal narrative. Eight informants were interviewed. All presently identify as Māori and have arrived at this point following a diverse range of experiences. The thesis documents these experiences and those things that are important to them on a personal level. As such, this thesis investigates the topic of Māori ethnicity as it pertains to a group of individuals, not to Māoridom as a whole. It was found that no single paradigm could be applied to my informant's conception of identity. Each constructed their identity in a unique way. Integral to all identities, however, was the use of both cultural and biological factors. In constructing and maintaining their identities as Māori my informants looked firstly to the presence of ancestry and, following from this cultural practices were employed. The use of ancestry as a basis of identity, and the causal attributes associated with it (such as natural leanings towards the use of Māori language), represent essentialist tendencies on the part of many of my informants. Also of great interest was the perception, by many of my informants, that cultural traits were innate. This is described as a Lamarckian way of viewing ethnicity