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The Beginning Of Leadership, Whatarangi Winiata

Decent Essays

In the 1880s, the destruction of the Treaty of Waitangi caused a lot of commotion among the Māori people, especially the leaders. In the beginning of the 1900s, Māori leadership appeared to be insignificant, but soon a new generation emerged and began to turn things around. These new leaders were educated at universities and took new approaches to obtaining what they needed (Pfeiffer et al 2010: 8, 10, 20). This essay will look at the beginning of leadership, Whatarangi Winiata, contemporary leadership, and leadership attributes to prove how the concepts of whakapapa (genealogy), iwi (tribe, people), arikitanga (chieftainship), and mana (authority, power) are embedded within Māori leadership. From the beginning, leadership has been determined by whakapapa (Pfeiffer et al 2010: 6). According to the Māori people, everything possess whakapapa from rocks, to mountains, to people. Through whakapapa, the power of being a chief is passed down. Whakapapa is the most important type of knowledge according the to Māori people, and it is customary that everyone knows their immediate ancestors and pass this knowledge on. The power that is passed down through whakapapa is called mana tūpuna. It is passed down by chiefly lineage from generation to generation. When one receives this mana tūpuna they must complete very specific rituals and duties to keep this power that has been passed down to them (Barlow 1991: 61, 62, 173, 174). For the Māori people, arikitanga is the highest power

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