Kainga: People, Land and Belonging

Description

'Dare we elevate kainga as a way of achieving regionalised ecological accountability, and in the process can we bring humanity back into balance with the universe?' Through his own experience and the stories of his tipuna, Paul Tapsell (Te Arawa, Tainui) charts the impact of colonisation on his people. Alienation from kainga and whenua becomes a wider story of environmental degradation and system collapse. This book is an impassioned plea to step back from the edge. It is now up to the Crown, Tapsell writes, to accept the need for radical change. The ecological costs of colonisation are clear, and yet those same extractive and exploitative models remain foundational today. Only a complete step-change, one that embraces kainga, can transform our lands and waterways, and potentially become a source of inspiration to the world.

Paora/Paul Tapsell is a local tribal member of the Arawa people of the Bay of Plenty. He was raised on the ancestral gardens of his grandparents, named Te Whatitiripataihi (the spine tingling thunderclap signalling time for autumn/fall harvest). Paul Tapsell is Professor of Indigenous Studies at University of Melbourne. His recent work includes a digital web service, designed to assist urban-raised Maori youth reconnect to their ancestral communities (www.maorimaps.com).