• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.277-299
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• 2010

This study explores Witi Ihimaera's The Whale Rider (1987) from ecological and postcolonial perspectives. Ihimaera is one of the prominent Maori writers who have critically voiced their concerns about the fragmentation of Maori tradition and the alienation of an environmentally friendly culture in New Zealand. Throughout the novel The Whale Rider, with his mythic imagination and cultural sensitivity, Ihimaera raises ecological awareness in terms of environmental justice and promotes critical consciousness regarding sociocultural and histo-political realities of the Maori people as alienated others in their ancestors' land. Revolving around the developmental process of a young Maori girl named after a mythical Maori ancestor Kahutia Te Rangi also known as the Whale Rider to inherit the Maori leadership, the novel describes the historical, cultural, emotional landscape of the Maori community in the white-centered society of New Zealand. In particular, this paper analyzes the leaving and homing process of narrator Rawiri which is deeply embedded in Maori myth and philosophy toward an eco-friendly culture and postcolonial reality. Indeed, Ihimaera skillfully juxtaposes young man Rawiri's experience outside the Maori community and young girl Kahu's life at the Maori home. In the end, while Kahu achieves her destiny in a mythical way to foster a new vision of harmonious co-existence that is rooted in Maori heritage and compatible with Western culture, Rawiri comes to understand the interrelatedness of all existence and embraces both the rational knowledge of scientific empiricism and the traditional knowledge of spiritual experiences. The novel The Whale Rider was also turned into a film by New Zealand's most influential female film director Niki Caro in 2002, and the film Whale Rider received international acclaim.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1711-1712
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• 2012

Variation in diet and the rates of colorectal cancers have confounded researchers in recent years. Comparisons of populations in different geographic locations and of different ethnic origins have shown considerable differences in disease frequency, location and relation to diet. This paper revisits an earlier comparison of Maori rates of disease and diet based on data from 20 years ago with surprising changes in disease rates today.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.241-260
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• 1995

The Maori's traditional clothing materials, basic forms of dress, and the pattern and technique of tatoo were examined in the present study in order to deepen the appreciation of the cultural heritage of the Maori. The research method employed was the analysis of written materials. And a fild-trip was also made for the study. The study was limitted to the traditional culture of body adornment of the Maori including the clothing which is preserved and practicing by them at the present day, and the origin and the process of the historical development of those are not included in the scope of the present study. Followings are the results of the study: (1) By far the most widely used fiber for Maori clothing is abtained from what is commonly called New Zealand Flax. The fiber of kiekie(Freycinetia baueriana) and cabbage trees(Cordyline spp.) may also be used. The strong, long-lasting fiber of toi(cordyline indivisa) is used for a prestige warrior's cloak. Flat strips of ti kauka(Cordyline australi) are also used as thatch on rain cloaks. (2) Regardless of technique used, Maori weaving is always worked horizontally from left to right. Traditionally the work was suspended between two upright turuturu or weaving sticks. As the work progressed a second pair of uprights was used to keep the work off the ground. These uprights were moved forward as required. Because the weaver sat on the ground, the working edge was kept at a height that was comfortable to reach. No weaving tools are used, the wefts(aho) being manipulated by the fingers. The two main Maori weaving techniques are whatu aho patahi(single-pair twining) and whatu aho rua(double-pair twining). (3) The Maori wore two basic garments - a waist met and a cloak. The cloth of commoners were of plain manufacture, while those of people of rank were superior, sometimes being decorated with feather or dyed tags and decorated borders. Children ran more-or-less naked until puberty, being dressed only for special events. Some working dress consisted of nothing more than belts with leaves thrust under them. Chiefs and commoners usually went barefoot, using rough sandals on journeys over rough country (4) The adornment of men and women of rank was an important matter of tribal concern as it was in chiefly persons that prestige of the group was centred, The durable items of Maori persons adornment were either worn or carried. Ornaments of various kinds were draped about the neck or suspended from pierced earlobes. Combs decorated the head. Personal decorations not only enhanced the appearance of men and women, but many had protective magical function. The most evident personal ornament was the hei-tiki made of jade or other material. Maori weapons were treasured by their owners. They served on bottle and were also personal regalia. A man of rank was not fully dressed without a weapon in hand. Also weapons were essential to effective oratory. (5) No man or woman of rank went without some tattoo adornment except in extremely rare instances when a person was too sacred to have any blood shed. The untattooed were marked as beeing commoners of no social standing. This indelible mark of rank was begun, with appropriate rite and ritual, at puberty. And tattoo marked the person as being of a marriageable age. Maori tattoo was unlike most traditional tattoo in that its main line were 'engraved' on the face with deep cuts made by miniature bone chisels. The fill-in areas were not tattooed with cuts but with the multiple pricks of small bone 'combs' that only lightly penetrated the skin surface. The instrument of tattoo consisted of small pots of pumice or wood into which was placed a wetted black pigment made from burnt kauri gum, burnt vegetable caterpillars or other sooty materials. A bird bone chisel or comb set at right angles on a short wooden handle was dipped into the gigment, that a rod or stick was used to tap head of this miniature adze, causing penetration of the skin surface. Black pigment lodged under the skin took on a bluish tinge. A full made facial tattoo consisted of major spirals with smaller spirals on each side of the nose and sweeping curved lines radiating out from between the brows over the forehead and from the nose to the chin. The major patterns were cut deep, while the secondary koru patterns were lightly pricked into the skin.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.86-91
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• 2013

The Piano, directed by Jane Campion in 1993, became a sensational movie with a special theme focusing on gender and sexual identity, when it won Palme d'Or in the Cannes Film Festival at the same year. Most of the critics discuss the representation of Victorian sexual repression in the colonial setting. But the critical acclaim tends to view the existence of the Maori people and the colonial setting as the backdrop of the narrative, although this colonial background is constructed as a medium to accelerate the release of the repressed passion. Regarding the race issue as a compelling discourse that gets left out of "feminist" accounts, this paper analyzes The Piano, focusing on both how the story of colonialism is constituted in the film and how the film represents ambivalent images of the Maori people, the native of New Zealand.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.277-280
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• 1998

Fingerprints of 104 New Zealand Maori males and 98 females have been analyzed. Whorls are more abundant in females (55.0%) than in males(47.3%). The index of pattern intensity reveals a higher va1ue in females(15.39) than in males (14.52). The bimanual differences both in males and females are not statistically significant for the occurrence of pattern on the digits of the right and left hands. The difference between the sexes in occurrence of patterns is not statistically significant. Incidences of actual symmetry on the homologous digits represented a mean of 78.8% in all subjects. The mean total ridge counts showed 161.7 in females and 159.6 in males, respectively. Thus, the Maori show greater affinities with the Mongoloids in quantitative dermatoglyphics.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2465-2472
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• 2015

Background: The Quality Audit (BQA) program of the Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand (NZ) collects data on early female breast cancer and its treatment. BQA data covered approximately half all early breast cancers diagnosed in NZ during roll-out of the BQA program in 1998-2010. Coverage increased progressively to about 80% by 2008. This is the biggest NZ breast cancer database outside the NZ Cancer Registry and it includes cancer and clinical management data not collected by the Registry. We used these BQA data to compare socio-demographic and cancer characteristics and survivals by ethnicity. Materials and Methods: BQA data for 1998-2010 diagnoses were linked to NZ death records using the National Health Index (NHI) for linking. Live cases were followed up to December $31^{st}$ 2010. Socio-demographic and invasive cancer characteristics and disease-specific survivals were compared by ethnicity. Results: Five-year survivals were 87% for Maori, 84% for Pacific, 91% for other NZ cases and 90% overall. This compared with the 86% survival reported for all female breast cases covered by the NZ Cancer Registry which also included more advanced stages. Patterns of survival by clinical risk factors accorded with patterns expected from the scientific literature. Compared with Other cases, Maori and Pacific women were younger, came from more deprived areas, and had larger cancers with more ductal and fewer lobular histology types. Their cancers were also less likely to have a triple negative phenotype. More of the Pacific women had vascular invasion. Maori women were more likely to reside in areas more remote from regional cancer centres, whereas Pacific women generally lived closer to these centres than Other NZ cases. Conclusions: NZ BQA data indicate previously unreported differences in breast cancer biology by ethnicity. Maori and Pacific women had reduced breast cancer survival compared with Other NZ women, after adjusting for socio-demographic and cancer characteristics. The potential contributions to survival differences of variations in service access, timeliness and quality of care, need to be examined, along with effects of comorbidity and biological factors.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.54-55
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• 2001

The Maori people were early New Zealand settlers of Polynesian descent. The incidence of non-infectious diseases appears to have been low in these people, perhaps in part due to the presence of protective chemical constituents within their food plant supply. Three of the tropical crops they introduced are still eaten here today: the sweet potato of kumara (Ipomoea batatas), the taro (Colocasia esculenta) and the cabbage tree or ti (Cordyline terminalis).(omitted)

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2001.10b
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• pp.11-12
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• 2001

The Maori people were early New Zealand settlers of Polynesian descent. The incidence of non-infectious diseases appears to have been low in these people, perhaps in part due to the presence of protective chemical constituents within their food plant supply. Three of the tropical crops they introduced are still eaten here today:the sweet potato of kumara (Ipomoea batatas), the taro (Colocasia esculenta) and the cabbage tree or ti (Cordyline terminalis).(omitted)

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.55-76
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• 2016

In this paper, I offer a reflection on two cases to assess in preliminary manner the viability of an indigenous methodology for Southeast Asian Studies. The first is Kaupapa Maori Research (hereafter KM) as spelt out in the much talked about book by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People (Smith 1999). The second case is Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino Psychology, SP), which began to take shape in the late 1960's and 1970's in the Philippines. Arguably these are among the most developed efforts at decolonization or indigenization of methodology. I intend to use these cases to explore the factors that made possible the flourishing and stagnating of indigenous methodologies. I shall argue that the broader context of knowledge consumption, not epistemological and methodological concerns, poses the most formidable challenge to the viability of indigenization efforts.

• Proceedings of the Korea Environmental Mutagen Society Conference
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• 2001.10b
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• pp.54-55
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• 2001