Reclaiming Indigenous Ecologies: Kaitiaki – Spiritual Guardians, Deities, and Beings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55016/bzt9qs82Keywords:
Kaitiaki, Kaitiakitanga, Spiritual Guardians and Animals, Māori Ecologies , Indigenous Ecologies, Indigenous Health and WellbeingAbstract
This article draws on research undertaken for the study, Kaitiakitanga: Māori experiences, expressions, and understandings. Four main themes were identified in that research: whānau, taiao, taonga tuku iho, and tino rangatiratanga. This article draws on one component from the larger study that concerned Kaitiaki—spiritual guardians and beings. The research was undertaken through a Kaupapa Māori methodology, which carried an obligation to apply Māori ways of knowing and being across all areas of the study. Participants discussed how Kaitiaki brought them messages and information that helped inform their lives and that these relationships gave them confidence, strengthened life balance, cultural connection, and spiritual awareness. The findings demonstrate how Māori express, experience and understand their Kaitiaki. These insights offer a way to record how Kaitiaki shows up in our contemporary lives and how we articulate why they show up. This research identifies that Māori continue to be in relationship with Kaitiaki despite the severe impacts of colonization on these understandings and practices. The article begins by briefly outlining how Māori discuss whakapapa relationships which is the context that binds humans to our relations in our environment. Kaitiaki are then discussed and defined. Finally, the methodology, methods, findings, and discussions are offered.
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