Transcript Document

Cultural identity and well-being for Māori and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
AIATSIS National Indigenous Studies Conference 2014
Dr. Michael Dockery, CRC for Remote Economic Participation, Curtin University
Dr. Carla Houkamau , Department of Management and International Business, Auckland
University
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2014
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Overview
• Collaboration/history.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander guidance/collaboration.
• Theoretical framework under development - exploring the
relationships between cultural identity and wellbeing for Māori and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
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Theoretical background
• Identity – central to well-being.
• Ethnic identity – problematic.
• Conventional (Western) - decontextualize individual experience.
• SDT - situates well being in the social/relational sphere.
• Ryan and Deci (2000).
• Three innate needs that, if satisfied, allow optimal function and growth:
Competence, Relatedness, Autonomy.
• The central task of any culture/society is to provide its members with access to
pro-social ways of meeting those needs.
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Māori/Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander views on
identity
Māori
• In a Māori ecology- identity
is relational and contextual
(attached to location).
Whakapapa, iwi, hapu,
whānau.
• Sources of identity located in
relational/physical/spiritual
environment.
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders
• Connections to land/past in
determining identity.
• Sources of identity in relation
to land/family and extended
kinship system.
• Interdependence.
• Narrative understandings.
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Colonisation and Māori identity
• Durie (1999): the alienation of Māori from their land and their culture
subjects them to a fragmentation of identity associated with loss of
self-esteem and spirit.
• Post colonial stress disorder (Turia, 2001)
• Psycho-cultural stress (Sachdev, 1990)
• Cultural depression (Keri Lawson Te Aho, 1998)
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Māori culture, identity, sovereignty
• Contemporary/dominant views of an ‘ideal’ or ‘healthy’ Māori identity
cannot be separated from the movement towards Māori
political/social and cultural self-determination.
• Culture as a cure.
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Māori diversity
2006 census*
643,977 (17.7%) – Māori descent
556, 329 (14.6 %) - identify as Māori
52.8% = Māori only
42.2 % = Mixed Māori and other ethnic groups
7.0 % Pacific
1.5 % Asian ethnic groups
2.3 % 'New Zealander'
Youthful population (median age 22)
*Statistics New Zealand, 2007
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Māori diversity
Williams (2000) - Māori sub-groups.
1. ‘Traditional core’ enculturated/rural.
2. ‘Primarily urban’ urban dwelling/bi-cultural.
3. ‘Unconnected’ biologically Māori
4. ‘Kiwi’ or ‘New Zealander’ - indistinguishable from Pākehā.
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The Multi-Dimensional Model of Māori Identity and
Cultural Engagement: MMM-ICE
* Māori identification
1.Group Membership Evaluation and centrality of Māori identity
2.Authenticity Beliefs
3.Socio-Political Consciousness
4.Cultural Efficacy and Active Identity Engagement
5.Spirituality
6.Interdependent Self-Concept
Visible cultural markers (extent to which individual looks physically
Māori.
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The relationship between culture and
well-being for Māori
2009 – initial sample n=270/2012 - n = 500 (verified validity of the
scale)
2012/2103 - Website – (www.Māori-identity.ac.nz)
1500 completed surveys –associations between socio-political
consciousness/cultural efficacy and improved psychological and wellbeing outcomes
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The relationship between culture and well-being
• Self determination theory
supports view can be seen as a
resource in promoting well-being.
• Whānau – identity/competency
via self-sufficiency.
• Although culture can be seen as a
resource
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• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
• Absence of a Treaty and ‘culture as
cure model’.
• Promotion of assimilation/practical
reconciliation.
• On going debate re constitutional
recognition.
• Whānau – identity/competency via
self-sufficiency.
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Conclusion/next steps
• Culture can be seen as a tool towards promoting well-being.
• ARC
• Empirical testing of the theory using survey instruments to capture the
dimensions of identity and cultural engagement for Māori and Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Australians.
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References
Christie, M.J. (1985), Aboriginal Perspectives on experience and learning: The role of language in Aboriginal education, Deakin University
Press, Melbourne.
Durie, M. (1999). Mental health and Māori development. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 33 (1), 5-12.
Greer, S. & Patel,C. (2000) ‘The issues of Australian Indigenous World-views and accounting’, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability
Journal, vol.13, no. 3,pp.307-29.
Houkamau, C. A., & Sibley, C. G. (2010). The Multi-Dimensional Model of Māori Identity and Cultural Engagement. New Zealand Journal
of Psychology, 39, 8-28.
Lawson-Te Aho, K. (1998). A Review of Evidence: A Background Document to Support Kia Piki te Ora o te Taitamariki: Strengthening
Youth Wellbeing: New Zealand Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy. Wellington: Ministry of Māori Development.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and wellbeing. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
Sachdev, P. S. (1989). Psychiatric illness in the New Zealand Māori. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 23 (4), 529-541.
Thompson,S.J., Gifford, S.M.& Thorpe, L. (2000). “The Social and cultural context of risk prevention: Food and Physical activity in urban
Aborignal Community’, Health Education and Behaviour,vol. 27, n.6, pp. 725-43.
Turia, T. (2000) Speech to NZ Psychological Society Conference 2000, Waikato University, Hamilton. Retrieved 20 July 2005 from:
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=8466
Williams, J. (2000). The Nature of the Māori Community. Paper Presented to PSSM Conference, New Zealand Stage Services
Commission. October, Wellington. Retrieved 9 July 2006 from: http://pssm.ssc.govt.nz/2000/papers/jwilliam.asp
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