Beyond cultural renaissance: Indigenous events as sites of resistance and resilience

Abstract

The rising of the Matariki constellation (also known as Pleiades) is a special time for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand for remembering the dead, celebrating the present, and preparing the ground for the coming year. Its observation had all but ceased by 1940, but it has experienced a resurgence since the 1990s. Previous longitudinal research into media narratives about Matariki events concluded that they acted as an expression of empowerment for Māori. In a time marked by heightened hostility towards ‘things Māori’, we ask how media narratives frame Matariki as a site of resistance, renaissance and resilience. We analyse media narratives from 2020 to 2024 using a qualitative kaupapa Māori framework. We find they have begun to connect the issues facing contemporary Māori with colonization, and make them more visible. Through the lens of Matariki, the Aotearoa NZ media are moving towards portraying a more accurate ‘reality’ of the contemporary Māori lifeworld.