Understanding Pacific worldviews: principles and connections for research

ABSTRACT

In this article, we identify the commonly shared principles that underpin Pacific worldviews. A focused literature review was conducted, concentrated on research by Pacific scholars and experts. The context for the review was to inform and guide a multidisciplinary team, led by the University of Otago, on the nexus between public housing and urban regeneration, and wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand. With Pacific peoples accounting for 26 percent of public housing tenancies in 2022 Kāinga Ora et al. [2023]. Fale mo Aiga Pacific Housing Strategy 2030. file:///C:/Users/thoma81p/Downloads/4208-Fale-mo-Aiga_Placemat-6_0.pd), we considered it imperative that Pacific perspectives be integrated into the methodological approach of the research programme. Five recurring principles were identified from 86 texts, published between 1990 and 2023 in peer reviewed journals and grey literature. They included holistic systems; the collective family; spirituality; Pacific peoples’ connection with the natural world, denoted as guardianship and stewardship; and the theory of space and time and relational relationships, embodied in the Samoan and Tongan concept of Te Vā. These principles sit alongside the Whakawhanaungatanga Māori Wellbeing Model and other frameworks (Te Ao Māori, Māturanga Māori, and Māori Sustainability) developed by the Māori Strand. Notwithstanding the primary purpose of this research, the intention of this article is to share our findings more broadly.

Some Pacific Words

Aiga, kāinga, vuvale, whāmere (family); fale (Samoan house); lau-kafa (Tokelauan word for sennit); paopao (Tokelauan word for outrigger canoe); pou (Samoan word for posts holding up a building); tapa/ngatu (Tongan and pan-Pacific word for bark cloth); te feke (Tuvaluan word for octopus); te kora (Kiribati word for making string from soft dried coconut fibres called binoka); talanoa (talk or discussion, telling of stories); tivaevae (Cook Island weaving of quilts); ula (Samoan word crafting of garlands and necklaces); Vā, La-Vā, Te Vā, Tauhi Va, Teu le va (theory of space and time and relational relationships).

KEYWORDS:

• Pacific worldviews
• Pacific epistemologies
• Pacific holistic systems
• Pacific family
• Pacific spirituality
• Pacific models
• Te Vā

Acknowledgements

We thank MBIE for its Endeavour funding of the Public housing: Maximising wellbeing and urban regeneration research programme led by Distinguished Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman and thank all our colleagues and stakeholders within the programme for their contributions. We would like to thank Libby Grant, Research Fellow at the University of Otago for taking the time to read the manuscript. We also gratefully acknowledge the wisdom shared by Pacific scholars and experts that shared their knowledge, so we could understand Pacific worldviews. This review reminded us of the unending connections that transcend space and time. We are particularly grateful for those who sought to communicate in a way that did not diminish complexity. Finally, wish to thank those who shared their knowledge using imagery to convey the depth of connections of Pacific holistic systems. Many of those Illustrative artforms that portrayed epistemological links are indelibly etched in our minds as we go forward in our research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the MBIE Endeavour Programme, Public housing and urban regeneration: maximising wellbeing [grant number 20476 UOOX2003].