title: He Māori, He Turi, He Turi, He Māori. Advancing the aspirations of Māori Deaf with their indigenous Connections: A case study

authors: Dunn, Katie Merepaea

subjects: Māori Deaf

abstract: Indigenous peoples consider their connection to whenua (land), whakapapa (genealogy), te reo (language) and tikanga (cultural values) to be an integral part of their worldview (Mead, 2003 & Barlow, 1991).

The identity struggle for indigenous minorities living within a colonised environment has been well documented (Bishop, 1995; Smith G, 1997; Smith L, 1999, & Walker, 2004). The controversies over land, customs, culture and language are major issues to understanding and maintaining one’s own cultural identity and, when considering the Deaf indigenous minorities, the task seems colossal.

When a Māori individual belongs to the hearing majority, the ability to find a place to stand, a connection to one’s turangawaewae (standing place), whakapapa, and marae (village) can be a personal struggle; however, this can often be overcome through a shared experience, through communication at a whānau (family), hapū (sub tribe) and iwi (tribe) level.  However, when the individual is part of a double minority such as the Māori Deaf community, the ability to engage and establish a relationship to enhance their connection to their turangawaewae, can become difficult due to the need to communicate in three different languages: English, Māori and Sign Language.  These language issues can create barriers for the Deaf, Māori and hearing communities at a whānau, hapū and iwi level.

This thesis examines a series of workshops created to advance the indigenous connections and understanding within the Māori Deaf community and Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview). It explores how the integration of the Deaf and hearing, indigenous Māori language and New Zealand Sign Language along with practical workshops can assist the aspirations of Māori Deaf within the advancement of Te Ao Māori and Te Reo Māori.  Within this thesis I will undertake a series of interviews with participants who are at the forefront of the Māori Deaf community. A suggestion of moving forward to address the needs of the Māori Deaf community within the desire to connect to their Māori language and customs is also offered within this thesis.

text: He Māori, He Turi, He Turi, He Māori. Advancing the aspirations of Māori Deaf with their indigenous Connections: A case study Indigenous peoples consider their connection to whenua (land), whakapapa (genealogy), te reo (language) and tikanga (cultural values) to be an integral part of their worldview (Mead, 2003 & Barlow, 1991).

The identity struggle for indigenous minorities living within a colonised environment has been well documented (Bishop, 1995; Smith G, 1997; Smith L, 1999, & Walker, 2004). The controversies over land, customs, culture and language are major issues to understanding and maintaining one’s own cultural identity and, when considering the Deaf indigenous minorities, the task seems colossal.

When a Māori individual belongs to the hearing majority, the ability to find a place to stand, a connection to one’s turangawaewae (standing place), whakapapa, and marae (village) can be a personal struggle; however, this can often be overcome through a shared experience, through communication at a whānau (family), hapū (sub tribe) and iwi (tribe) level.  However, when the individual is part of a double minority such as the Māori Deaf community, the ability to engage and establish a relationship to enhance their connection to their turangawaewae, can become difficult due to the need to communicate in three different languages: English, Māori and Sign Language.  These language issues can create barriers for the Deaf, Māori and hearing communities at a whānau, hapū and iwi level.

This thesis examines a series of workshops created to advance the indigenous connections and understanding within the Māori Deaf community and Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview). It explores how the integration of the Deaf and hearing, indigenous Māori language and New Zealand Sign Language along with practical workshops can assist the aspirations of Māori Deaf within the advancement of Te Ao Māori and Te Reo Māori.  Within this thesis I will undertake a series of interviews with participants who are at the forefront of the Māori Deaf community. A suggestion of moving forward to address the needs of the Māori Deaf community within the desire to connect to their Māori language and customs is also offered within this thesis.

year: 2012

title: Sport in the Waikato c.1897-1974: Narratives of Play, Identity and Belonging

authors: Buckley, Karen

subjects: sport

abstract: Regional identities and allegiances in New Zealand have most often been revealed at sporting events. From the colours worn, the slogans chanted, and even the ringing of cowbells, players, teams and supporters have presented facets of their collective character. This thesis engages with narratives of sport in the Waikato region over a period of eighty years to examine these representations as they produced meanings of sporting activities for local people. Informed by competing ideas about historical truth, the thesis interprets printed media as reconstructions of both recurring events, and belonging and membership, to investigate the place of sport in the region, and to decode the ways these stories of drama and contest contribute to the development of some components of a local identity.
Historically, the area now known as the ‘Waikato’ was part of the Auckland Province. The thesis argues that sport is at the centre of a notion of separation from the urban metropolis, and provided opportunities to demonstrate a growing independence. By examining examples of recurring sporting events such as the annual Ngāruawāhia Regatta, regular Auckland/Waikato rugby matches, Empire and Commonwealth Games participation, and regular lawn bowls tournaments, the place and function of sport in a regional space is able to be, in part, exposed. Uneven, often subtle, changes both in aspects of these events and in the representations of them, reveal underlying tensions and power relationships.
Local, if not exclusive, understandings of the place and role of Māori, and depictions of normative gender roles, are central to the analysis of these relationships. Sport is most often a social activity, and dissection of the newspaper texts has enabled the formation of ideas about the ways sports-men, and sometimes women, are collectively presented and organised. In much of the material used, these men and women are also the most recognisable and celebrated ‘heroes’. Consideration of the role of heroes in the formation of culturally constructed group identities informs the thesis, and the relationships between local sporting participants and groups are also important. Divisions, dissension, and competition for resources are all revealed in the reported activities of sports organisations, and changes in the importance afforded these endeavours are also apparent.
The focussed critical use of a local media source provides a consistent, if sometimes homogenous, group of historical narratives. The inclusion of local club and association histories, often produced with extensive use of newspaper archives, changes the perspective and enables a more nuanced examination of the place of different types of heroes, of gender norms and, most importantly, of the ways sporting organisations see and project themselves as part of the region. The stories they collectively choose to remember and tell are central to this narrative of the place of sport in the Waikato.

text: Sport in the Waikato c.1897-1974: Narratives of Play, Identity and Belonging Regional identities and allegiances in New Zealand have most often been revealed at sporting events. From the colours worn, the slogans chanted, and even the ringing of cowbells, players, teams and supporters have presented facets of their collective character. This thesis engages with narratives of sport in the Waikato region over a period of eighty years to examine these representations as they produced meanings of sporting activities for local people. Informed by competing ideas about historical truth, the thesis interprets printed media as reconstructions of both recurring events, and belonging and membership, to investigate the place of sport in the region, and to decode the ways these stories of drama and contest contribute to the development of some components of a local identity.
Historically, the area now known as the ‘Waikato’ was part of the Auckland Province. The thesis argues that sport is at the centre of a notion of separation from the urban metropolis, and provided opportunities to demonstrate a growing independence. By examining examples of recurring sporting events such as the annual Ngāruawāhia Regatta, regular Auckland/Waikato rugby matches, Empire and Commonwealth Games participation, and regular lawn bowls tournaments, the place and function of sport in a regional space is able to be, in part, exposed. Uneven, often subtle, changes both in aspects of these events and in the representations of them, reveal underlying tensions and power relationships.
Local, if not exclusive, understandings of the place and role of Māori, and depictions of normative gender roles, are central to the analysis of these relationships. Sport is most often a social activity, and dissection of the newspaper texts has enabled the formation of ideas about the ways sports-men, and sometimes women, are collectively presented and organised. In much of the material used, these men and women are also the most recognisable and celebrated ‘heroes’. Consideration of the role of heroes in the formation of culturally constructed group identities informs the thesis, and the relationships between local sporting participants and groups are also important. Divisions, dissension, and competition for resources are all revealed in the reported activities of sports organisations, and changes in the importance afforded these endeavours are also apparent.
The focussed critical use of a local media source provides a consistent, if sometimes homogenous, group of historical narratives. The inclusion of local club and association histories, often produced with extensive use of newspaper archives, changes the perspective and enables a more nuanced examination of the place of different types of heroes, of gender norms and, most importantly, of the ways sporting organisations see and project themselves as part of the region. The stories they collectively choose to remember and tell are central to this narrative of the place of sport in the Waikato.

year: 2016

title: Length of Hospital Stay for Osteoarthritic Primary Hip and Knee Replacement Surgeries in New Zealand

authors: Lao, Chunhuan

abstract: This study aims to explore the length of stay (LOS) of publicly funded osteoarthritic primary hip and knee replacement surgeries in New Zealand. Patients with osteoarthritis who underwent publicly funded primary hip and knee replacement surgery in 2005–2017 were included. We have identified 53,439 osteoarthritic primary hip replacements and 50,072 osteoarthritic primary knee replacements. LOS has been reduced by almost 40% over the last 13 years. Logistic regression showed that women, Māori, Pacific and Asian patients, older patients, people with more comorbidities and those having opiates on discharge and patients in earlier years were more likely to have extended LOS following hip replacements and knee replacements. Regional differences were noted in LOS between the Waitemata District Health Board (DHB) compared to Tairāwhiti DHB where patients were the most likely to have a LOS of more than 5 days after hip and knee replacements. LOS after hip and knee replacements has been reduced dramatically. Women, Māori, Pacific and Asian patients, older patients and people with more comorbidities are more likely to have extended LOS. Patients dispensed opiates on discharge had a longer LOS. There are great geographical variations in LOS for primary hip and knee surgeries in New Zealand.

text: Length of Hospital Stay for Osteoarthritic Primary Hip and Knee Replacement Surgeries in New Zealand This study aims to explore the length of stay (LOS) of publicly funded osteoarthritic primary hip and knee replacement surgeries in New Zealand. Patients with osteoarthritis who underwent publicly funded primary hip and knee replacement surgery in 2005–2017 were included. We have identified 53,439 osteoarthritic primary hip replacements and 50,072 osteoarthritic primary knee replacements. LOS has been reduced by almost 40% over the last 13 years. Logistic regression showed that women, Māori, Pacific and Asian patients, older patients, people with more comorbidities and those having opiates on discharge and patients in earlier years were more likely to have extended LOS following hip replacements and knee replacements. Regional differences were noted in LOS between the Waitemata District Health Board (DHB) compared to Tairāwhiti DHB where patients were the most likely to have a LOS of more than 5 days after hip and knee replacements. LOS after hip and knee replacements has been reduced dramatically. Women, Māori, Pacific and Asian patients, older patients and people with more comorbidities are more likely to have extended LOS. Patients dispensed opiates on discharge had a longer LOS. There are great geographical variations in LOS for primary hip and knee surgeries in New Zealand.

year: 2019