Extraordinary Conditions, Ordinary Realities and a Squandered Opportunity: Māori Social Imaginaries and Covid-19

ABSTRACT In 2020, the nationwide lockdown in Aotearoa/New Zealand offered a rare opportunity to re-configure power relations between Māori and the state. These extraordinary circumstances constituted an opportunity to direct an expansion of state power towards re-imagining inequitable outcomes for Māori. Across myriad fora, whānau [extended family] communicated their sustained desire for utu [reciprocity] in the relationship with the Crown; the recognition of our right to exercise tino rangatiratanga [absolute sovereignty] in the co-ordination and delivery of a distinct response to COVID-19. Survey data demonstrates an ongoing commitment from Māori to work towards a more socially cohesive future, one that prioritises care for those made vulnerable, protects te taiao [the environment], and one that shifts away from capitalism, individualism and greed [Houkamau, C., K. Dell, J. Newth, J. P. Mita, C. Sibley, T. Keelan, and T. Dunn. 2021. The Wellbeing of Māori Pre and Post Covid-19 Lockdown in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Auckland: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga; University of Auckland.]. This momentum, real or perceived, soon waned. The ordinary realities Māori endured pre-pandemic have continued. Simultaneously however, Māori cling to mokopunatanga – a commitment to ensuring successive generations will flourish. Imagination is therefore not a thought exercise, but a set of deliberate, consistent desires in ‘pursuit of the possible’ [Tuhiwai Smith, L. 2018. “In Pursuit of the Possible: Indigenous Well-being (website).” http://mediacentre.maramatanga.ac.nz/content/pursuit-possible-indigenous-well-being, accessed 19 March, 2022]. In this article, I trace the desires of the Māori social imaginaries in practice through the state’s management of COVID-19. I argue that the state’s response failed to meet the urgent, everyday needs of Māori, a decision which has haemorrhaged beyond Māori communities into the national sphere. Using two case studies, I examine the broader social costs of squandering an extraordinary opportunity to re-imagine the ordinary, inequitable realities Māori endure.