	He Whakamārama
	Ngā Tohutoro
	Ngā Tuhituhinga
	Ripene Ataata

He Whakamārama

Kaupapa Māori is the “conceptualisation of Māori knowledge” that has been developed through oral tradition. It is the process by which Māori mind receives, internalises, differentiates, and formulates ideas and knowledge exclusively through te reo Māori. Kaupapa Māori is esoteric and tuturu Māori. It is knowledge that validates a Māori world view and is not only Māori owned but also Māori controlled. This is done successfully through te reo Māori, the only language that can access, conceptualise, and internalise in spiritual terms this body of knowledge…this Kaupapa Māori knowledge is exclusive too, for no other knowledge in the world has its origins in Rangiātea. As such it is the natural and only source for the development of a mechanism which aims to transmit exclusively Kaupapa Māori knowledge (Nepe, Tuakana, 1991 pp.15-16)

Kaupapa Māori theorising is not a new phenomenon. Configured within the living ancestry of iwi, hapū and whanaungatanga, the dynamic foundation concepts of kaupapa and tikanga continue to inform the reproduction and transformations of ngā tïkanga me ngā Ritenga as iwi laws today (Taki, 1996, p. 17).

Kaupapa Māori bodies of knowledge, provide both a historical context and a cultural orientation that is founded upon a three dimensional framework of human existence based in te ira Atua, te ira Whenua and te ira Tangata. (Taki, 1996, p. 16)

Kaupapa Māori theory is developed from a foundation of Kaupapa Māori and mātauranga Māori. Its base is firmly entrenched on this land, on Papatūānuku and that holds Kaupapa Māori theory as a distinctive framework. (Pihama, 2001, p. 110)

Kaupapa Māori theory as having derived from organic community processes, such as Te Kōhanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa Māori, provides us with a theoretical process that ensures those struggles, and the inherent power relationships within those struggles, are a conscious part of our analysis. (Pihama, 2001, p. 100).

A Kaupapa Māori base (Māori philosophy and principles) i.e. local theoretical positioning related to being Māori, such a position presupposes that:

The validity and legitimacy of Māori language and culture is taken for granted
The survival and revival of Māori language and culture is imperative
The struggle for autonomy over our own cultural wellbeing, and over our own lives is vital to Māori survival (Smith, G., 1990, in Gordon, L. & J. Codd., p.100).

Transformation is one of the driving elements of Kaupapa Māori. How that transformation is defined and brought is determined by how the issues are understood, theorised and engaged. (Pihama, 2001, p. 102)

Kaupapa Māori theory must be about challenging injustice, revealing inequalities, seeking transformation. (Pihama, 2001, p. 110)

Kaupapa Māori is concerned with sites and terrains. Each of these are sites of struggle. Each of these sites have also been claimed by others as ‘their’ turf. They are selected or select themselves precisely because they are sites of struggle and because they have some strategic importance for Māori (Mead, 1996, p. 208).

Coming then from a Kaupapa Māori theory necessarily means that we must engage all forms of colonial oppression and those structures that maintain and perpetuate those oppressions. This indicates a need for Kaupapa Māori theory to have the scope to engage the multiple forms of oppression that exist. These include oppressions based on race, class, and gender, in all their many forms, and which includes analysis of these forms as they exist in a context of colonisation. (Pihama, 2001, p. 138)

Kaupapa Māori theory builds on the ‘Kaupapa Māori’ foundations of taking for granted the validity and legitimacy of Māori language, knowledge and culture. Kaupapa Māori theory emphasises the critical theory intervention potential within the logic of ‘organic’ Kaupapa Māori practice (Smith G, 1997, p. 97).

Kaupapa Māori theory does not depend on Critical Theory for its existence just as Critical Theory does not depend on Kaupapa Māori theory for its existence. Kaupapa Māori theory is founded in this land, Aotearoa. Critical Theory is founded in Europe.
A strong Kaupapa Māori theoretical framework must be cognisant of our historical and cultural realities, in all their complexities. (Pihama, 2001, p. 88)Kaupapa Māori theory is driven by whānau, hapū, iwi, Māori understandings. Critical Theory is driven by European sourced philosophies and understandings (Pihama, 2001, p. 103)

Kaupapa Māori as an intervention strategy, in the western theoretical sense, critiques and re-constitutes the resistance notions of conscientisation, resistance and transformative praxis in different configurations (Smith G, 1997, p. 65).

Kaupapa Māori is not a Theory in the Western sense; it does not subsume itself within European philosophical endeavours which construct and privilege on Theory over another Theory, one rationality over another rationality, one philosophical paradigm over another paradigm, one knowledge over another knowledge, one World view over another World view of the Other. Kaupapa Māori Theory is rather Kaupapa Māori Praxis. My problematic continues. I de-construct the title further; what remains is simply KAUPAPA Māori (Walker, S., 1996, p. 119).

In a Kaupapa Māori framework, to be Māori is taken for granted; one’s identity is not being subtly undermined by a ‘hidden curriculum’. Māori language, knowledge, culture and values are validated and legitimated. Māori cultural aspirations, particularly in a wider societal context of the struggle for language and cultural survival, is more assured (Smith, G., 1997, p. 467)

Kaupapa Māori theory is evolving, multiple and organic (Pihama, 2001, p. 113)

Kaupapa Māori theory is simultaneously local and international. Local, in that it is necessarily defined by Māori for Māori, drawing on fundamental Māori values, experiences and worldviews. International, in that there are many connections that can be made through a process of sharing Indigenous Peoples theories. (Pihama, 2001, p. 102)