Sexuality and the Stories of Indigenous People—Jessica Hutchings and Clive Aspin (Eds) (2007)
The stories in this book testify to the great diversity of Māori and Indigenous sexuality today and the diverse range of chapters confronts the everyday political issues of being takatāpui in Aotearoa.
Publication details
Hutchings, J. and C. Aspin (Eds). Sexuality and the Stories of Indigenous People. Wellington: Huia Publishers, 2007.
About the book
Sexuality and the Stories of Indigenous People is a collection of 17 essays that explore aspects of being takatāpui. The traditional meaning of takatāpui is 'an intimate companion of the same sex', but it's become synonymous with Māori who are non-heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transsexual or queer. The collection contains personal stories, poetry and insightful discussions about constructions of sexuality, gender and identity. It identifies the effects of colonisation and explores perceptions of Māori sexuality.
There is a unique Māori flavour to each of the stories in Sexuality and the Stories of Indigenous People and a clear identification from the authors of the struggles and celebrations of being Māori and being out as non-heterosexual. This is articulated in themes around being takatāpui and understandings of this from tupuna, as well as authors’ narratives of experiences of being takatāpui on the marae, within whanau and then within the Pākehā queer community.
“One of the most innovative and thought-provoking pieces of decolonising scholarship on indigenous sexuality of our time.” Professor Karina Walters from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington.
Further information
This publication is part of the series Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori publications - a sample list of 150 non-fiction books produced by a partnership between Royal Society Te Apārangi and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.