Poia Mai Taku Poi - A History of Poi

ISBN-13: 9783639170924 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 160 str.

Karyn Paringatai

Opis

Māori performing arts is a dynamic part of the Māoriculture which has effectively ensured theinter-generational transmission of Māori knowledgefor thousands of years. Performing arts was crucialamongst a group of people with no written form oftheir language. Traditionally, Māori performing artswas not a performance but a ritual. It was anintegral part ofeveryday life and was used in all aspects oftraditional Māori society. Upon European arrival toNew Zealand Māori social life and customs wereobserved and documented in a written form. Māorisocial life and material culture changedremarkably and these early written sources provide aglimpse of how traditional Māori society operated.The aim of this research is to investigate earlysources on Māori performing arts in order toconstruct a written history of poi - one of the leastresearched but most widely practiced areas of Māoriperforming arts. It is hoped that this study on poiwill encourage others to engage in historicalresearch and unearth other secrets of Māoriperforming arts that have been hidden amongst thepages of early writings.

O autorze

Karyn Paringatai (Ng ti Porou) is a lecturer in Te Tumu, School
of M ori, Pacific & Indigenous Studies at the University of
Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand where she teaches M ori language
and M ori performing arts. Her current research interests include
aspects of M ori performing arts, urbanisation and identity
construction amongst urban M ori.