Abstract
This thesis contemplates our histories of Māori movement, singling out one thread of diaspora tied to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known by its nicknames, the LDS or Mormon Church). This rangahau includes a whakapapa approach, enabling an intergenerational look at the movement my whānau were making prior to and subsequently as part of the LDS Church at home in our rohe, and elsewhere in diaspora. By employing two main strands of research, archival work and interviews, an interdisciplinary set of methods including kōrero, photographs, newspapers and archival materials are synthesised to tell and trace these histories that are glaringly absent or limited in written records. With one in five Māori living outside of the nation state of New Zealand, this work contributes to broader Māori diaspora scholarship.
By focusing on the LDS Church as a main pathway, certain sites – Te Tauihu, Temple View, Lā‘ie and Salt Lake City – are identified and centred, showcasing the mechanisms at work that enable the ebb and flow of movement, Māori identity-making, resiliency, and agency across a range of times and locations. Furthermore, other non-conventional spaces like chapels, schools, and basketball courts are also included as critical sites of connection and belonging amongst whānau and iwi in diaspora. Therefore, this thesis upends two primary orthodoxies present in scholarship, declaring that Indigenous people indeed move, and we engage meaningfully with and assert agency in churches.