Notice Board

Indigenous Studies Book Talk: “He Uri au no Maui”: Oral History from Māori Perspective

Indigenous peoples have our own ways of defining and doing oral history.
While, for some, there is a distinction between oral tradition and oral
history, this is not the case for many Indigenous peoples. “He uri au no
Maui” - I am a descendant of Maui, our illustrious ancestor who fished up
our great land. This is not an assertion of myth or make-believe, but a
genealogical truth, and a living and breathing history in the oral records of
my people. I discuss this here with explicit reference to the ways in which
my tribe, Ngāti Porou, practice and see the form and politics of oral history.
In this talk, I speak about the many conversations with other native scholars
that led to the research and publication of Rethinking Oral History and
Tradition: An Indigenous Perspective (New York: Oxford University Press,
2019). This includes a brief history of the way in which Indigenous oral
history has been displaced and marginalized, and why, then, this book is so
necessary from an Indigenous perspective.

Andy’s Place,
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019, 1:15 to 2:45 pm

Dr Nēpia Mahuika is a Senior Lecturer and Convenor of History at the University of Waikato.  He is chair of the Māori historians collective of Aotearoa, Te Pouhere Kōrero, and President of the National Oral History Association of New Zealand. His most recent publication Rethinking Oral History and Tradition (OUP) is due for release in November 2019.