Constructing 'traditional' concepts: The case of Maori governance

Abstract

As colonisation infiltrated Māori societies, ‘traditional’ practices and concepts became dismantled, restricted to isolated domains, concealed, abandoned or adapted to contemporary settings. A colonial government has produced a contemporary form of Māori governance in which most people commonly associate with some type of ‘traditional’ governance system. Although the naming of such institutions has its own tradition, their assimilation into western governance systems merely provides the illusion of traditional control. Understanding that such processes have taken place provides a platform that can increase consciousness of how they can maintain some of their classically traditional structures and practices. This paper considers the case of Māori governance as an example highlighting how traditional knowledges must move from the peripheries of ‘knowing’ and re-establish themselves back at the centre.