Power of my Maori name: Stories of indigenous struggles in white New Zealand

Abstract

Every day in Aotearoa (New Zealand), people of Maori ethnicity (the aboriginal peoples of Aotearoa) will experience their indigenous names being mispronounced when accessing health and social services. The New Zealand Government and the Ministries that come under including The Ministry of Health and The Ministry of Social Development continue to work towards reducing barriers for Maori who access their services. Despite this work there appears to be a gap in addressing this specific issue around pronouncing Maori peoples names correctly. This report investigates the gap identified by working with 20 Maori participants that have Maori names over a six month period in 2011.

This research report used a mixed method approach of narratives and statistics, overarched by a Kaupapa Maori methodological approach. The aim of this report is to capture the lived experience of the effect of mispronunciation of a Maori name when accessing health and social services. The desired outcome of the research is to inform medical and social service practice, by encouraging Professionals (my emphasis) to find solutions to support better outcomes for their Maori clients from their first ka nohi ki te ka nohi (face-to-face) interaction.

In this report the writer refers to the Maori as the indigenous people of New Zealand in contrast to Tauiwi (other). It is acknowledged that there is no single way of being Maori as Maori people’s values, beliefs and practices are diverse and different within whanau, iwi to iwi, hapu to hapu. However from the literature there are common threads and values that the Maori population generally engages in. This is what is drawn upon and woven from the literature and into this report while recognising the many ways that Maori people express their identity and experiences.