Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Advance Access originally published online on October 12, 2006
The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 2007 12(1):93-111; doi:10.1093/deafed/enl023
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Perceptions of M
ori Deaf Identity in New Zealand
Victoria University of Wellington
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Abstract |
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Following the reframing of "Deaf" as a cultural and linguistic identity, ethnic minority members of Deaf communities are increasingly exploring their plural identities in relation to Deaf and hearing communities of affiliation. This article examines M
ori Deaf people's perceptions of identity, during a coinciding period of Tino Rangatiratanga (Mori cultural and political self-determination and empowerment)1 and the emergence of Deaf empowerment. Interviews with 10 Mori Deaf participants reveal experiences of enculturation into Mori and Deaf communities and how they negotiate identity in these contexts. Consistent with the model of contextual identity in Deaf minority individuals of Foster and Kinuthia (2003), participants expressed fluid identities, in which Mori and Deaf aspects are both central but foregrounded differently in their interactions with hearing Mori, Deaf Mori, and the wider Deaf community. This New Zealand case study illustrates how changing sociopolitical conditions affect Deaf minority individuals' opportunity to achieve and express identification with both Deaf-world and family heritage cultures.
1 A glossary of Mori words appears in Appendix B.
2 The decision whether to describe this group as "Mori Deaf" or "Deaf Mori" is an unavoidably politicized one. According to the English syntax of an adjective premodifying a noun, the phrase Mori Deaf implies that Deaf is the category of referents and Mori is a descriptor, which we understand to be a Deaf-centric perspective. From a hearing-centric perspective, the description is usually phrased in reverse—Deaf Mori—connoting a Mori person who has the secondary characteristic of deafness. At the risk of pre-empting or contradicting discussion of potentially competing identities, we will use the term Mori Deaf, in keeping with the phrasing typically used by Mori Deaf themselves (eg, on a 2005 flyer for the "2nd National Mori Deaf Hui [conference]").
3 This research was funded by the New Zealand Health Research Council and the Philipa and Mornyn Williams scholarship.
4 Kirsten is a descendant of Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Rongowhakaata and Te Whakatohea.
5 The study this paper is based on (Smiler, 2004) includes fuller narrative accounts of participants' life experiences, which are illuminating but too lengthy to include in an article.
6 "Anthony" is a pseudonym. All participants in this study (except for Patrick) were given pseudonyms to protect their identity.
7 The naming of Ruamoko incorporated Mori and Deaf cultural precepts: In Te Ao Mori, Ruamoko is the personification or god of earthquakes, the frustrated, unborn child of Papat
nuku (earth mother) who manifests frustration over being unborn through geothermal activity such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. In NZSL, the sign for Ruamoko is the same as earthquake. Mori Deaf explain that they chose this name because Deaf people stamp on the floor creating vibrations to communicate with others. The image also captures their feeling of being frustrated as outsiders in society and suggests the latent political awakening rumbling in the Deaf-world.
Correspondence should be sent to Kirsten Smiler, Health Services Research Centre, Rutherford House, Victoria University of Wellington, P.O. Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand (e-mail: kirsten.smiler{at}vuw.ac.nz).
Received February 8, 2006; revised August 29, 2006; accepted September 11, 2006