Pūrākau as Philosophy and Some Implications
Krushil Watene (University of Auckland)
This paper explores the role of pūrākau (stories and storytelling) for Māori Philosophy. The paper contends that pūrākau are repositories of accumulated knowledge that not only contain Māori Philosophy but enable its critical engagement and cultivation. Practices of storytelling are, then, vital to the creation and transformation of Māori concepts and ideas, and vital to understanding Māori practices of philosophical inquiry. In laying this out, the paper details some of the ways that Māori and other Indigenous methods reimagine philosophy – not least in ways they include the needs and aspirations of the communities in which these philosophies are experienced and lived.
