The Making of the Maori: Culture Invention and Its Logic

Abstract

“Traditional culture” is increasingly recognized to be more an invention constructed for contemporary purposes than a stable heritage handed on from the past. Anthropologists often participate in the creative process. Two distinct inventions of New Zealand Maori culture are analyzed, together with the role of anthropologists in each of them. The conclusion explores the logic of culture invention and some of its implications for the practice of anthropology.

The Rahui: Legal pluralism in Polynesian traditional management of resources and territories

“…The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University Press; Hanson, A., 1989 of the island at that time. Although some current households do not have a representative member in the Coopérative, everyone still has close relatives who are members by ancestry.…”

<i>Once were Warriors</i> – a Model that Matters and a Mirror of Concerns

“…Wilson & Stewart (2008) relate to several studies that depict how various forms of mass media have contributed to negative stereotypes of indigenous populations all over the world. In relation to Hanson's (1989) perspective that 'culture' is 'invented', and that social reproduction can be described as "[…] a case of sign-substitution in the play of signification" (ibid., 898), my analysis underscores the assumption that images of indigenous minorities, such as the Maori, are far from being innocent 'signs' in the 'play of signification'. Images, separate or mixed together, can easily be transferred to essentialist accounts of both minority and majority populations.…”

When Hypothesis Becomes Myth: The Iraqi Origin of the Iraqw

“…The paradox in the situation lies in the fact that their reactions indicated the degree to which the modified Hamitic hypothesis really had become an authentic tradition. These reactions are reminiscent of the distress provoked by Hanson's article on the inventions of Maori culture (Hanson 1989(Hanson . 1991Levine 1991;Linnekin 1991).…”