Hereditary entanglement – the significance of whakapapa and genealogical locatedness in Māori research: A researcher’s personal experience

Abstract

This article explores the idea of hereditary entanglement as a concept for recognising whakapapa and the inseparability of genealogical locatedness within the context of Māori research. This article will look at my hereditary entanglement within the context of doctoral research that I completed at Auckland University of Technology. This article will argue that hereditary entanglement is not only unavoidable for Māori researchers who research aspects of their histories and heritage, but that Māori researchers with these connections are, in fact, the only people that can adequately carry out this type of research.