Whiria Tū Aka: Conceptualizing Dual Ethnic Identities, Complexities, and Intensities

The Indigenous ethnic grouping Māori did not exist prior to Pākehā arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand. Instead, Māori identified as members of hapū (kinship group, subtribe), and membership was always related to concepts inclusive of whakapapa (genealogy, ancestry, belonging, and self-identification). In addition, Māori often intermarried with members of other hapū and, therefore, have a long history of “mixedness.” In fact, re-tellings of whakapapa have always acknowledged and honored the mixedness that occurred as a result of unions between different hapū members. In these ways, Māori have always celebrated our complex mixed identity positionings. Since colonization, a new “mixedness” has occurred between Māori and Pākehā settlers in Aotearoa. This article interrogates Māori/Pākehā notions of “mixedness,” including being white coded, kiri mā (white skin), white Māori, socially assigned as Pākehā, or half-caste. It discusses the ways these labels affect how Māori/Pākehā engage in social and cultural settings that require different performances and enactments of “Māori-ness.” This article examines the complex identities and experiences of mixed Māori/Pākehā. Using Kaupapa Māori theory, methodology, and methods, this study identifies and re-presents conceptions of belonging and mixedness from a distinctly Māori worldview