Indigenous Māori responses to COVID-19: He waka eke noa?

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has had significant impacts on communities and infrastructures across the globe. Indigenous health experts have called for culturally responsive Government support to mitigate pre-existing inequities and vulnerabilities in Indigenous communities. In Aotearoa New Zealand, official responses to the pandemic typically reflect the worldviews of the settler majority, while Māori interests are treated as part of the national concern. Using autoethnographic, Indigenous voice and an Indigenous wellbeing model, Whiti te Rā, this article contributes insights into Māori cultural values as they were reported in online platforms during the Level 4 lockdown period of March-July, 2020. The authors recorded multiple examples of Māori cultural values and practices that offered individuals, families and communities a digital-social space of safety and hope to build relational resilience, and to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown. Observations and responses aligned to the model's six dimensions of relational wellbeing: Māori language, the natural environment, spirituality, creative and performing arts, family (and extended family) values and genealogical connections. The observations highlight that Māori have a multigenerational approach to crisis management based on ancestral wisdom and experience that can inform Government responses.

Keywords: COVID-19; Community responses; Indigenous; Māori; Pandemic; Psychology; Values.

Figure 1

The Whiti Te Rā model.