Abstract:
This thesis attempts to analyze the different ways in which Maori and Pakeha
conceptualize kapa haka (Maori performing arts). It will demonstrate that kapa haka has
been fundamentally influenced by colonisation, and advances the argument that the
colonisation of kapa haka can be examined through a number of different perspectives
that are intrinsically bound to different ways of knowing. Part I retraces the evolution of
the Maori and Pakeha ways of knowing kapa haka before colonization. It advances the
view that at that stage neither Maori nor Pakeha attempted to impose their world-view on
the other, but rather accepted and acknowledged that their historical epistemologies were
independent of each another. Part II argues that this cultural balance was upset the
moment Pakeha, notably the early missionaries, began introducing and imposing their
own values based on their epistemology. Part II will address the contrasting Maori and
Pakeha perspectives on kapa haka by retracing its social history from the moment of
impact. Part III puts into perspective the different ways of knowing kapa haka in an
effort to validate the argument of this thesis. It focuses on the power relations between
the Maori and Pakeha ways of knowing kapa haka and argues that analyzing the different
ways of knowing kapa haka will provide a better understanding of how and why kapa
haka evolved into the art form it is today.
