Te Pouhere Kōrero 11

Te Pouhere Kōrero is a collective of Māori historians established in 1992 at Rongopai Marae, Waituhi, near Gisborne. The group brings together Māori working in history across many fields – iwi researchers, academics, museum curators, educators, Treaty claims specialists and writers – with a shared commitment to exploring and promoting Māori perspectives on the past. It operates as a kaupapa Māori space: for Māori, by Māori and about Māori.

The group’s peer-reviewed journal, Te Pouhere Kōrero – Māori History, Māori People, was first published in 1999. Now co-published with Bridget Williams Books (BWB), the journal is widely distributed in print and online. Volumes 1–10 are available online via the New Zealand History Collection, part of the digital BWB Collections, accessible through subscribing public, school and tertiary libraries across Aotearoa.

Volume 11 is edited by Aroha Harris and Melissa Matutina Williams, and explores the central place of whanau wellbeing – whānau ora – in Māori life, both past and present. In what ways have our understandings about whānau ora shifted over time? In what ways have they been subject to policy making, including surveillance, policing and regulation? How can our practices as researchers and writers reflect and embody what we learn as we learn it? These questions and others are investigated by the writers in diverse ways, from explorations of the liveliness of archives and the stories within data, to reflections on the memory work of photography and how an object like a Singer sewing machine can be a touchstone for whakapapa.

About Te Pouhere Kōrero

Te Pouhere Kōrero (www.tepouherekorero.org.nz) operates as a broad collective of Māori colleagues interested in history. It was established in November 1992, at an inaugural hui convened at Rongopai Marae at Waituhi, near Gisborne, Aotearoa New Zealand. The official journal, Te Pouhere Kōrero – Māori History, Māori People, focuses on Māori and Indigenous history.