5.2.3 Motivation for beginning whakapapa research

Whakapapa research in a Māori cultural context has historically been deeply rooted in identity, often with a spiritual aspect for the researcher. This has been discussed by researchers such as Hemara (2005) and Ta’ala (2006). Kuglin (2004) surveyed genealogists regarding their motivations for becoming involved in this research and this study sought to make a comparison to see if there were any differences in motivation between genealogists generally and whakapapa researchers, given these cultural factors. The nine options that Kuglin used were also used in this study, though some wording was changed slightly, in particular option f. (Appendix 2, Question 1) which was changed from “for religious reasons” to “for religious/spiritual reasons” in the hope that a slightly broader interpretation would allow Māori respondents to identify their spiritual beliefs relating to whakapapa as a motivating factor. Additional options were also provided to allow those who had started researching whakapapa in order to gain some benefit from an iwi/tribal organisation. This process is discussed at length by Ta’ala and it has been the experience of the researcher that these might be significant options for Māori respondents.

Chart 5.

Legend

a. For posterity (to keep a record for future generations)
b. To learn about my roots, about who I am
c. To carry on work already begun by another family/whānau member(s).
d. To keep my whakapapa researcher wife/husband/partner company
e. To trace medical conditions in a family tree
f. For religious/spiritual reasons
g. For employment (as a paid researcher)
h. to meet living relatives
i. Because I enjoy the company of other whakapapa researchers/genealogists
j. I had to provide whakapapa to qualify for an education grant/scholarship (Tamaira study only)
k. I had to provide whakapapa to register with my iwi (Tamaira study only)

Results for this question were quite similar to those found by Kuglin (2004) (Chart 5) with option b “to learn about my roots, about who I am” the most popular answer in both studies. Notably, several respondents in this study felt that religious/spiritual reasons was a motivating factor in their whakapapa research, and though this did not rate as highly as other options it was significantly higher than in Kuglin’s study suggesting that there may well be a spiritual aspect to whakapapa research. Future study might be able to shed more light on this aspect of whakapapa researchers’ motivations. In addition, gaining iwi/tribal benefits were found to be only moderately important motivations for beginning whakapapa researchers.