Academic Scientific JournalsSources of hope: Nadine Anne Hura’s poem “For Papatūānuku”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26881/bp.2025.4.06Keywords:
nature, rhythm, hope, Māori, Mother EarthAbstract
Nature has been a vital element of Māori culture since its very beginning. Māori understanding of the world around depends on natural references; nature is present as embedded in both time and space. Māori mythology acknowledges the Earth Mother and Sky Father as the first parents who gave life to the many Māori gods, but the figure of Mother Earth, or Papatūānuku, marks its presence far beyond the myth of creation: it is part of the worldview, spirituality and even daily life. Nadine Anne Hura’s poem was first published on The Spinoff platform on March 3, 2020 and has gained recognition due to its reposting by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. Hura’s poem provides a compelling example of hope that can be found in the rhythms of a poem, and, in a wider context, through the way in which the poem underlines the importance of reestablishing a connection with nature and spiritual growth.
Downloads
References
Della Valle, Paola (2010). From Silence to Voice. The Rise of Māori Literature. Auckland: Libro International.
Hakiwai, Arapata Tamati (1996). “Māori society today: Welcome to our world”. In: D. C. Starzecka (ed.). Māori Art and Culture. Auckland: David Bateman, 50–69.
Hanson, Allan (1989). “The making of the Māori: Culture invention and its logic”. American Anthropologist 91/4: 890–902. Available at <https://www.jstor.org/stable/681587>. Accessed 15.06. 2017.
Henare, Manuka (2001). “Tapu, mana, mauri, hau, wairua: A Māori philosophy of vitalism and cosmos”. In: John A. Grim (ed). Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community. Cambridge, Mass.: Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard Divinity School, 197–221.
Hura, Nadine Anne. Author’s commentary on “For Papatūānuku – Mother Earth”. Available at <https://www.greensabbathproject.net/all-posts/for-papatnuku-mother-earth-by-nadine-anne-hura-via-jacinda-ardern>. Accessed 15.06.2025.
Hura, Nadine Anne. “For Papatūānuku – Mother Earth”. The Spinoff. Available at <https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/25-03-2020/rest-now-e-Papatūānuku>. Accessed 15.06.2025.
Ihimaera, Witi (1986). The Matriarch. Auckland: Heinemann.
Prentice, Chris (2009). “From visibility to visuality: Patricia Grace’s Baby No-Eyes and the cultural politics of decolonisation”. Modern Fiction Studies 55/2: 321–348. Available at . Accessed 15.06.2017.
Rika-Heke, Powhiri Wharemarama (1996). “Margin or center? ‘Let me tell you! In the land of my ancestors I am the centre’: Indigenous writing in Aotearoa”. Contributions to the Study of World Literature 66: 147–164.
Te Awekotuku, Ngahuia (1996). “Māori: People and culture”. In: D. C. Starzecka (ed.). Māori Art and Culture. Auckland: David Bateman, 26–49.
Wepa, Dianne, Jean Te Huia (2006). “Cultural safety and the birth culture of Māori”. Social Work Review 18/2: 26–31. Available at <http://anzasw.nz/wp-content/uploads/Te-Komako-Winter-200 6-Articles-Wepa-and-Huia.pdf>. Accessed 16.06.2017.
Wilson, Janet (2008). “Suffering and survival: Body and voice in recent Māori writing”. Bodies and Voices: The Force-Field of Representation and Discourse in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies 94: 267–281.
