Providing Space for Indigenous Knowledge

Colonial influences have generally failed to respect indigenous knowledge, languages, and cultures. Determination to reclaim First Nations identity is visible in many jurisdictions. First Nations Peoples continue to call on governments to facilitate changes needed to revitalize their economic, social, cultural, and spiritual well-being. This article is a reflective article generated from our response to the situation of Maori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand. It provides a background on the historical attempts to weaken Maori leadership and the resilience of Maori in their resistance to such undermining. Using a description of a physical space, the Marae (the meetinghouse), the authors provide a glimpse into a distinctive Maori psychology connected to Marae encounters and into Maori ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Three examples of organizational practice at the incorporation of such values are provided. Four implications for management education are posited as relevant not only to the education of managers in Aotearoa but wherever engagement with indigenous people occurs.