Tears of Rangi: Experiments Across Worlds

Abstract

Tears of Rangi is, says Anne Salmond, an exploration of ontology, defined as “the study of the nature of reality, along with the basic categories of being and their relations” (18). For Salmond, relationality structures te ao Māori, as expressed in whakapapa, but also the hau (the wind of life). Practices, such as giftgiving, bore hau and when exchanged entangled people in relationships, creating obligations and responsibilities