Abstract
This thesis reclaims and redefines the Māori cosmological concepts of mana and tapu through a kaupapa Māori lens, presenting them not as multiple static translations but as dynamic, relational constructs essential to Māori human ontology. Born of a deeply personal and spiritual journey, the research responds to an enduring question: how can Māori embody their full personhood, including wairuatanga and atuatanga, in relationship with Creator— especially when Christian traditions have historically denied or distorted that identity?
The thesis begins by critiquing the colonial whakapapa of Christianity, tracing its theological assertions of “otherness” from its marriage to imperial power to Aotearoa. It then outlines a research methodology grounded in Kaupapa Māori Theory and Indigenous Mātauranga Māori, offering tools to filter out deficit narratives and synthesize definitions of Māori cosmological terms from expert voices.
Chapters on mana and tapu draw from expert Māori voices redefining these terms as multidimensional constructs. Mana is conceptualised as the applied force of being, comprised of intrinsic (embedded, accumulated) and extrinsic (social, divine) components. Tapu is reframed as a state of purposeful, responsible relationship—manifested through both intrinsic whakapapa and extrinsic investment; mediated by tikanga. These frameworks reveal how mana and tapu do not need to be defined by their effects, by which they typically are. Instead, by pulling them one stage back, they are able to bear a true meaning that then manifests things like authority, power and capacity.
Ultimately, this thesis contends that Māori theology must move beyond syncretic or colonial paradigms by rooting itself in te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, and the active presence of atua Māori as characteristics of Māori human ontology. While this work is but a beginning, it offers a relational, wairua grounded framework for the ongoing renewal of Māori theology and human ontology.