Whatua te Kakahu

Since the early nineteenth century Maori and Christian worldviews in Aotearoa have both co-existed and clashed. Against the backdrop of colonisation, some Maori began to knit together Christianity and tikanga in powerful new ways. In this significant collection of essays, scholars and experts ask: How did Christian missionaries understand Maori culture? How did Maori make sense of the Bible, and how did they weave it into their world? What precisely were the relationships between Christianity and colonialism? And how do these processes continue to shape our religion, politics and culture today? Whatua te Kakahu reveals anew the story of te ao Maori and Christianity. Weaving together history and cultural analysis, these essays trace the evolving relationship between spirituality and identity in Aotearoa.