Full bibliography

Mana wahine, often referred to as Māori feminist discourses, is a theoretical and methodological approach that explicitly examines the intersection of being Māori and female. There is little published academic work that engages with Māori women’s embodied, spatial and spiritual experiences from an explicitly mana wahine standpoint. The exceptions, however, are significant. I draw on these, in this article, to highlight the exciting possibilities of mana wahine, an extension of Kaupapa Māori theory, as a localised and place-specific theoretical approach that examines the diverse and complex geographies of Māori women. The article reflects on Linda Smith’s discussion of four mana wahine projects: wairua, whānau, state, and indigenous and white women’s discourses. It is argued that the need to sustain and further develop mana wahine as an epistemological framework is still as pressing as ever. I contend that applying a mana wahine perspective not only challenges the dominant hegemons that continue to Other Māori women but, and more importantly, validates mātauranga wāhine (Māori women’s knowledges) and subsequently mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledges).