NZ Histories PLD Te Orokohanga - Māori Creations

 

                                                                          Who's story??

Stories are powerful. 

To hear a story is to interact with it. 

Stories invite us to find ourselves within them. 

Stories invite us... they put forward ideas such as...  

"think of yourself this way," 

"this is how the world works..."  

And we accept, reject or change these ideas. 

I think creation narratives are some of the most important stories that frame how we see ourselves. 

I've noticed that in NZ we live in a very secular culture and the dominant culture (as a whole) shows little interest or understanding of creation stories and world views.

As a whole, NZ society seems to accept a scientific 'creation story' of an evolution of matter and energy devoid of any 'outside force' that might be considered spiritual. (I think this leaves us aching for meaning, feeling very lost in the universe.)

I think this also creates a very interesting environment for teaching any creation stories, including the creation stories from te ao Māori. Within the 'dominant culture' these stories can be looked down upon and trivialised. I suggest, that from the perspective of the 'dominant culture' cultural creation storieds can only be told from the perspective that they are 'outdated' or 'other' or were devised to serve a purpose that is now obsolete. 

Yet, all through history, peoples have told their creation stories, drawing from these stories the values for their society. And as I read the creation stories from Māori culture it helps me to make connections to values and ways of thinking.

Because these creation stories carry with them the important values of their culture, it makes me wonder 'how do we approach teaching them??' I don't think it is possible to be 'neutral' in teaching these things. I can't pretend to be an enlightened NZ teacher standing outside of all the world views, seeing them all clearly and without bias and so conveying them them perfectly to students. All learning that I facilitate comes through my cultural filter and all learning that students encounter enters through their cultural filter. 

Which leads me to this conclusion: I don't want to pretend that I'm neutral and objective in how I see the world. I would rather be open and honest that I see the world through a Christian filter (which, I acknowledge, is a very broad category) and I am still learning to articulate the specific details. That is my culture, the wairua of my Whare Tapa Wha. 

And perhaps that is my starting point, to acknowledge that the Biblical account from Genesis is my worldview, my creation story. And secondly to acknowledge that there are many others. Thirdly, to listen to the creation stories that exist within any group of students that I may be working alongside. Fourthly, to acknowledge that the values within these creation stories are not all the same and there are competing values. I think it would be dishonest to say that "all of them are the same". As whānau and individuals we show certain values (and not others) by our actions.  

Which leads me to examine within myself how I feel about teaching te orokohanga. These aren't my stories. However, they are informative to me and I recognise their value within Maori culture of the tangata whenua - these are valuable to the people of the land where I now live. These parents have entrusted me to teach their children. Have they also entrusted their creation stories to me and expect me to teach them to their children?? Within a group there may be many creation stories... how do I feel about presenting only one 'creation story' in word, picture, art or discussion? How do I feel when the Māori creation story involves values that are in conflict with the creation story that I belong to?? 

Underlying colonial thinking and racism latent within me or a conflict of values or something else??? I don't have all the answers yet... let the slow learning continue. 


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