“What I reckon is, is that like the love you give to your kids they’ll give to someone else and so on and so on”: Whanaungatanga and mātauranga Māori in practice

Mātauranga Māori (knowledge and wisdom pertaining to Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand) has long been suppressed and invalidated in psychological paradigms, and the practice of whanaungatanga (relationships, connection, and practices among a family collective) undermined in colonising practice. Utilising a mana wāhine methodology (an approach that privileges Māori women’s perspectives and analyses) and semi-structured interviews with 43 participants, we explore contemporary mātauranga Māori pertaining to whānau (extended family) practices. Inter-related yet conceptually distinct aspects of whanaungatanga were elucidated from participant accounts: Diverse and rich networks; children as integral to everyday lives; aroha (love), tiakitanga (guardianship), wairua (capacity for spirituality); and whānau support. Women (and men) participants not deemed ‘experts’ in mātauranga Māori described a lived set of practices pertaining to raising children in a down to earth, pragmatic and humorous manner.