Wairua, a Maori (indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) concept, somewhat restrictively translated as spirit or spirituality, resonates with many indigenous peoples globally. While spirit is recognised as an important human dimension, the denigration of non-western spiritual understandings means that indigenous peoples often choose to remain silent. Transferring these concerns to research approaches, we edit our voices, with a view to what we think will count as knowledge and what we choose to share with academic audiences. This article discusses the challenges we face when we enter into conversations about wairua and how this might be approached in research. With reference to emerging social science innovations in affect and emotion, the article draws on audio visual recordings of people's experiences of significant national days in Aotearoa New Zealand. Issues of analysis and representation are explored, along with the potential of these methods to explicate feelings, emotions and spirit.

Although research acknowledges wairua (spirituality) as a key component of Māori understandings, experience and practice, few studies include wairua as an explicit analytical theme or domain. Utilising the A Wairua Approach to research, we explore the experiences of two participants on Anzac Day. Through A Wairua Approach analysis of video recordings, we explored the meanings and connections related to whakapapa (genealogy) and the mana (prestige, status) of the 28th (Māori) Battalion. We also explored the promises made and broken and what participants saw as tikanga (method, formality) in their responses to Anzac Day and the meanings it held for them. Through expression of emotions, the participants recalled past events and actively engaged in making connections between present and past grief and injustices. Although national days may unite people, they are not necessarily felt in the same ways in different contexts. For these participants, being Māori shaped their experiences and the forms that connection took.