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When the Europeans arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as guns, stoats and Christianity, they brought ideas of cisgender monogamous heterosexuality that were imposed upon the Māori people as if there had never been anything else. But one word, takatāpui, proved otherwise.
Lecturer Hemi Kelly and activist Elizabeth Kerekere excavate the linguistic evidence that pre-colonisation, Māori culture had included myriad sexual orientations, gender fluidity and polyamory.
Content note: there is one Category A swear in this episode.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Resource hub of takatāpui.
Read more of Elizabeth’s work concerning takatāpui and Māori gender identity and sexual orientation.
this gender is a million things that we are more than anthology of poems by takatāpui/genderqueer/trans writers from across Aotearoa.
Useful: a Māori dictionary, and a Māori-English dictionary, also available as an app or book.
Māori is flourishing amongst pre-schoolers.
British yellowhammer birdsong is flourishing in New Zealand.
Gallery of New Zealand birds, flourishing and not.
YOUR RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
auscultation
CREDITS:
Hemi Kelly is a lecturer in the Māori language. Find his podcast Everyday Māori on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the other podplaces; follow on Instagram @EverydayMaori and on Facebook A Māori Phrase a Day; read his book A Māori Phrase a Day.
Elizabeth Kerekere is a scholar and activist the chair of Tiwhanawhana Trust, which advocates for takatāpui. Find out more at takatapui.nz.
The Allusionist music is by Martin Austwick. Download his songs at palebirdmusic.com and listen to his new podcast Year of the Bird about the songs he writes.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Thanks to Ian Steadman.
Find the show at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/helenzaltzman and instagram.com/allusionistshow.
