The Tīvaevae Framework: Indigenising the Process of Novel Writing

Abstract

While there is a large amount of literary research and prose produced about the Pacific, only a small amount of work considers Indigenous interpretation and production of literature within the region. This essay explores the potential of Indigenous concepts in literary analysis and creative writing practice from a Māori perspective, Māori being the name of the Indigenous people of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, located near the centre of the Pacific Ocean. By applying the Tīvaevae framework, a Cook Islands research method most often used to inform research in education, social sciences and quantitative research, creative writing becomes a collaborative process that mimics the crafting of tīvaevae quilts. The article also discusses how the archetype of the calabash breaker, based on the Tusitala Marsh poem, was engaged during this process. It concludes with a discussion on what it means to be a Māori writer in an academic environment that calls for ‘Pacific scholars’.