Wide-ranging new book revitalises understanding of home for Māori in the twenty-first century

The concept of vertical papakāinga – high-rise, apartment-style accommodation – has been put forward as a way to meet the housing needs of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. While allowing for greater density, it requires careful navigation of aspects of tikanga and kawa, as whānau live above others’ heads (traditionally considered tapu). Image: Rau Hoskins.

Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua surveys the many ways whānau, hapū and iwi experience housing and home across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Arriving at a time of promise and change for Māori housing, these stories of home and belonging provide inspiration for the future. Over two dozen contributors from across the country also make this one of the most comprehensive accounts yet published of tangata whenua housing realities and aspirations.

Narratives of resilience open the book, showing how the broad currents of colonisation, social and economic history, and land and law changes have affected housing through time. Personal, heartfelt discussions of the relationships between housing, home and identity highlight contemporary challenges such as homelessness and rangatahi issues.

A rich set of papakāinga housing solutions, accompanied by illustrations, completes the book, revealing new pathways ahead. Developments such as the Kāinga Tuatahi Papakāinga in central Auckland through to the Ngā Uri o Te Aurere Pou Whānau Trust Papakāinga in Mangakāhia show how Māori-led initiatives are reinventing what home and housing mean for Aotearoa.

“This book will make a pivotal contribution to Māori scholarship for generations to come: an historical compendium of kaupapa-driven mātauranga and mōhiotanga,” writes Dr Ella Henry in the foreword.

The research in this book comes from the ‘Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua’ kaupapa Māori research programme of the Building Better Homes, Towns and Cities National Science Challenge.

Contributors to this book

Moana Jackson, Leonie Pihama, Nathan Williams, Mere Whaanga, Ana Apatu, Jenny Lee Morgan, Rihi Te Nana, Matthew Rout, John Reid, Diane Menzies, Angus MacFarlane, Jacqueline Paul, Maia Ratana, James Berghan, Jade Kake, Helen Potter, Tepora Emery, Hinerangi Goodman, Eleanor Black, Sylvia Tapuke, Rangimahora Reddy, Mary Louisa Simpson, Yvonne Wilson, Sophie Nock, Kirsten Johnson, David Goodwin, Lyn Carter, Anahera Rawiri, Rau Hoskins and Irene Kereama Royal

About the editors

Fiona Cram (Ngāti Pahauwera) is the founder of Katoa Ltd, a small company that specialises in Kaupapa Māori research, evaluation and training. She has a PhD in social and developmental psychology from the University of Otago. She has lectured in social psychology and has been a Senior Research Fellow within IRI (the International Research Institute of Māori and Indigenous Education) at the University of Auckland.

Jessica Hutchings (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa, Gujarati) is a Kaupapa Māori research leader trained in the fi elds of environmental and Indigenous studies. She has a PhD in environmental studies and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Māori health research.

Jo Smith (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha) is an Associate Professor at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Formally trained in fi lm, media and communication studies, Jo now contributes to Kaupapa Māori research to do with agriculture, food, and soil health.

Further information

For interviews, review copies or extracts, or to find out where you can buy a copy, please contact Luke Finnigan at Bridget Williams Books, luke.finnigan@bwb.co.nz, Tel: 027 282 7777.

To read a synopsis of some of the chapters – click here.

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