Who are we on this whenua and within this moana? What are our individual and collective roles in Pacific, Māori, and Indigenous futurities, or the futures envisioned and worked toward in the present? How can we draw from the past, engage with the present, and simultaneously prepare for the generations to come?
Committed to envisioning a political process that requires engaging with the present while also attempting to dream beyond it, this course will both examine and seek to transcend a critical social issue: the fact that Pacific, Māori, and Indigenous peoples are so often seen in regards to the issues they face that their futures become obscured, or worse, deemed impossible. This class will therefore begin from the understanding that we have to first believe in better futures--combating deficit narratives, negative frames, and colonial rhetoric--to be able to then work towards those futures in the present.
Tagata Moana, Tangata Whenua: Hawaiki Futures is an opportunity to engage in the work of envisioning by exploring personal and political questions, grappling with our unique positionalities, and locating ourselves in time and space. In this transdisciplinary course, students from across the disciplines will come together to explore a range of issues and concerns affecting Māori and Pacific people here in Aotearoa and in the wider region. In doing so, they will have the chance to think about how we can cultivate relationships with land, ocean, and sky; how we can nurture a sense of respect and reverence for place; and how we can act upon our roles to work toward more sustainable communities and environments, physical and cultural wellbeing, and social justice and equity.
To guide our journey, this course will draw on ancestral and contemporary navigations and migrations; on understandings of whakapapa, belonging, and connection; on old and emerging solidarities and local and regional responsibilities; and on values embedded in cultural customs, tikanga, and Pacific and Indigenous languages, stories, and ancestral memories