belonging
WHANAUNGATANGA| WHAKAPAPA | TANGATA WHENUA | AHI KAA
the capacity to feel a sense of value and worth
Belonging is the security of knowing oneself, in relation to place and people. Everybody has a basic human desire to be from somewhere; a compelling need to belong. Land, for Maori, is a source of that belonging. Traditionally, Maori did not seek to own or possess anything, but to belong. When people feel placed into the fabric of their surrounding, a sense of value and worth in life is created. When severe disruptions occur to this source of belonging the changes become so great that humans must work hard to reconnect that thread. |
Reconnecting to land instills in people a sense of a joint destiny. Sustaining that connection relies on a willingness to constantly recognise this shared destiny.