title: Dying to research: An autoethnographic exploration of researching Māori and whānau experiences of end-of-life care

authors: Moeke-Maxwell, Tess

subjects: indigenous

abstract: The authors critically reflect on the autoethnographic process involved in navigating a smooth pathway towards investigating dying, death and bereavement for Māori whānau (families) in a way that supports and gives voice to their experience. This study, based in the Māori & Psychology Research Unit at The University of Waikato, is supported by a Health Research Council Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie Career Development Award. It explores the “end-of-life” journeys of Māori and their whānau in South Auckland and Waikato, through the dying process and subsequent challenges of bereavement. The researcher’s journey from novice to someone fully enmeshed in the struggles and triumphs of conducting research with Māori is examined. There is reflection on the challenges and issues that have emerged since settling on this research topic. These include ethical concerns, and the processes and outcomes associated with negotiating tensions between a shifting academic objectivity and the development of a methodology requiring subjective reflexivity.

text: Dying to research: An autoethnographic exploration of researching Māori and whānau experiences of end-of-life care The authors critically reflect on the autoethnographic process involved in navigating a smooth pathway towards investigating dying, death and bereavement for Māori whānau (families) in a way that supports and gives voice to their experience. This study, based in the Māori & Psychology Research Unit at The University of Waikato, is supported by a Health Research Council Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie Career Development Award. It explores the “end-of-life” journeys of Māori and their whānau in South Auckland and Waikato, through the dying process and subsequent challenges of bereavement. The researcher’s journey from novice to someone fully enmeshed in the struggles and triumphs of conducting research with Māori is examined. There is reflection on the challenges and issues that have emerged since settling on this research topic. These include ethical concerns, and the processes and outcomes associated with negotiating tensions between a shifting academic objectivity and the development of a methodology requiring subjective reflexivity.

year: 2010

title: Mātauranga Māori to inform understanding of population dynamics and health of pipi in Waihī Estuary, Bay of Plenty.

authors: Kettle, Tyla

abstract: Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems on earth. They hold significant value to Māori as they connect the whenua (land), awa (river) and moana (ocean), and are an important source of kaimoana (seafood) including shellfish. However, due to increased anthropogenic pressures, many estuaries are degraded, affecting taonga (Māori treasure) species such as pipi (Paphies australis). My thesis uses kaupapa Māori methodology and is co-developed with Ngāti Whakahemo, tangata whenua (people of the land) of Waihī Estuary. This project fundamentally draws upon mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge), combined with western science to map the historic and current distribution, abundance and health of pipi in Waihī Estuary; as well as explore the perceptions of threats to pipi and estuary ecology from tangata whenua and the regional authority. 
Participatory mapping was used via kōrero/interviews with kaumātua to identify sites of significance for pipi, which were then sampled in November 2020. Mātauranga ā iwi from Ngāti Whakahemo informed the sampling locations. Previous pipi sampling methodology and protocols undertaken by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) were used to facilitate temporal comparisons of pipi distribution and abundance. Environmental factors including sediment grain size, organic content, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were also measured to help understand what drives the population dynamics of pipi. Perceptions of tangata whenua and staff members of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC) were also explored following methods similar to Klain et al. (2018) and implementing a dread risk tool via participatory mapping.
Results show that culturally significant sites identified by kaumātua support high pipi abundances of large size (40mm+), with low abundances of pipi in the upper reaches of the estuary. The inclusion of sites identified by MPI allowed for more comprehensive survey on pipi population dynamics by utilising a stratified survey design. Pipi size and abundance was significantly correlated with environmental factors with high pipi densities associated with medium grain size fractions and low levels of TN, TP and organic content. Over harvesting was perceived by kaumātua and BOPRC staff members as the dominant threat to pipi abundance and Waihī Estuary. Nutrients related to sewage inputs and runoff were rated as the second highest perceived threat and diseased shellfish ranked third by kaumātua and BOPRC staff members. 
This study demonstrates that the sharing of mātauranga ā iwi can fundamentally inform western science methods and can be used as an approach to research in the marine science realm. The research space was shared by researchers and kaumātua, was honourable of the mātauranga, iwi voices were heard and a co-developed field survey plan/research plan was produced. Iwi concerns were made a priority throughout, and incorporated into the monitoring, mapping and management frameworks. Thus, I had a Māori-centred agenda which is important as Ngāti Whakahemo are looking to utilise the results from my research to inform their iwi environmental management plan. This approach will help to strengthen current marine management practices and in turn Aotearoa New Zealand’s ecosystems due to iwi environmental management plans being informed by such results.

text: Mātauranga Māori to inform understanding of population dynamics and health of pipi in Waihī Estuary, Bay of Plenty. Estuaries are among the most productive ecosystems on earth. They hold significant value to Māori as they connect the whenua (land), awa (river) and moana (ocean), and are an important source of kaimoana (seafood) including shellfish. However, due to increased anthropogenic pressures, many estuaries are degraded, affecting taonga (Māori treasure) species such as pipi (Paphies australis). My thesis uses kaupapa Māori methodology and is co-developed with Ngāti Whakahemo, tangata whenua (people of the land) of Waihī Estuary. This project fundamentally draws upon mātauranga Māori (traditional Māori knowledge), combined with western science to map the historic and current distribution, abundance and health of pipi in Waihī Estuary; as well as explore the perceptions of threats to pipi and estuary ecology from tangata whenua and the regional authority. 
Participatory mapping was used via kōrero/interviews with kaumātua to identify sites of significance for pipi, which were then sampled in November 2020. Mātauranga ā iwi from Ngāti Whakahemo informed the sampling locations. Previous pipi sampling methodology and protocols undertaken by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) were used to facilitate temporal comparisons of pipi distribution and abundance. Environmental factors including sediment grain size, organic content, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were also measured to help understand what drives the population dynamics of pipi. Perceptions of tangata whenua and staff members of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (BOPRC) were also explored following methods similar to Klain et al. (2018) and implementing a dread risk tool via participatory mapping.
Results show that culturally significant sites identified by kaumātua support high pipi abundances of large size (40mm+), with low abundances of pipi in the upper reaches of the estuary. The inclusion of sites identified by MPI allowed for more comprehensive survey on pipi population dynamics by utilising a stratified survey design. Pipi size and abundance was significantly correlated with environmental factors with high pipi densities associated with medium grain size fractions and low levels of TN, TP and organic content. Over harvesting was perceived by kaumātua and BOPRC staff members as the dominant threat to pipi abundance and Waihī Estuary. Nutrients related to sewage inputs and runoff were rated as the second highest perceived threat and diseased shellfish ranked third by kaumātua and BOPRC staff members. 
This study demonstrates that the sharing of mātauranga ā iwi can fundamentally inform western science methods and can be used as an approach to research in the marine science realm. The research space was shared by researchers and kaumātua, was honourable of the mātauranga, iwi voices were heard and a co-developed field survey plan/research plan was produced. Iwi concerns were made a priority throughout, and incorporated into the monitoring, mapping and management frameworks. Thus, I had a Māori-centred agenda which is important as Ngāti Whakahemo are looking to utilise the results from my research to inform their iwi environmental management plan. This approach will help to strengthen current marine management practices and in turn Aotearoa New Zealand’s ecosystems due to iwi environmental management plans being informed by such results.

year: 2021

title: Men Without Limits: Exploring the subversive potential of hypermasculinity in transgressive fiction

authors: Bond, Mark Wayne

subjects: Masculinities

abstract: (Hyper)masculinity is a universal and ostensibly rewarding concept, but only when performed within cultural limits. If these limits are violated, hypermasculine performances cease to be rewarding and instead begin to subvert the norms they are designed to uphold. Such destabilising performances are found in transgressive fiction, a genre that seeks to contravene cultural norms and taboos via extremely violent or sexual performances. While transgressive fictions often incorporate various physical and sexual behaviours that code conventional representations of masculinity, they derive much of their narrative energy from the subversion of those very conventions. 
Using Hubert Selby Jr.’s Last Exit to Brooklyn (1957), Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory (1984), Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991), and Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) as examples, this thesis will argue that the conjunction of transgression and (hyper)masculinity has the potential to expose and satirise sociocultural structures of meaning. Firstly, this thesis will demonstrate how transgressive texts subvert language by challenging the signifying power of (hyper)masculine speech; secondly, it will discuss the purpose of rituals in affirming masculine norms, and show how transgressive fictions undermine this purpose by stripping ritualistic performances of their legitimising potential; thirdly, it will demonstrate how representations of transgressive hypermasculinity foreground heterosexual masculinity as mimesis while simultaneously exposing its futile suppression of homosocial or conventionally feminine drives. Finally, it will show how transgressive narratives prompt a reading of masculinity as inherently problematic by detaching (hyper)masculine performances from conventional rewards and resolutions.

text: Men Without Limits: Exploring the subversive potential of hypermasculinity in transgressive fiction (Hyper)masculinity is a universal and ostensibly rewarding concept, but only when performed within cultural limits. If these limits are violated, hypermasculine performances cease to be rewarding and instead begin to subvert the norms they are designed to uphold. Such destabilising performances are found in transgressive fiction, a genre that seeks to contravene cultural norms and taboos via extremely violent or sexual performances. While transgressive fictions often incorporate various physical and sexual behaviours that code conventional representations of masculinity, they derive much of their narrative energy from the subversion of those very conventions. 
Using Hubert Selby Jr.’s Last Exit to Brooklyn (1957), Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory (1984), Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991), and Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996) as examples, this thesis will argue that the conjunction of transgression and (hyper)masculinity has the potential to expose and satirise sociocultural structures of meaning. Firstly, this thesis will demonstrate how transgressive texts subvert language by challenging the signifying power of (hyper)masculine speech; secondly, it will discuss the purpose of rituals in affirming masculine norms, and show how transgressive fictions undermine this purpose by stripping ritualistic performances of their legitimising potential; thirdly, it will demonstrate how representations of transgressive hypermasculinity foreground heterosexual masculinity as mimesis while simultaneously exposing its futile suppression of homosocial or conventionally feminine drives. Finally, it will show how transgressive narratives prompt a reading of masculinity as inherently problematic by detaching (hyper)masculine performances from conventional rewards and resolutions.

year: 2016