Kōmako: Reclaiming the Māori literary tradition

I've discovered a new online tool that I want to tell you about.

Kōmako is an online bibliography of writing by Māori in English, which has grown out of research undertaken by Bridget Underhill at the University of Canterbury. Kōmako lists Māori writing from over the past 180 years, gathers it in one place and makes it publicly accessible. This is extremely helpful for research purposes and gives visibility to some amazing works by both well-known and lesser-known Māori authors.

Kōmako utilizes the wonders of modern technology for the searcher - I can type in my iwi and be returned with a list of available writing on my iwi or I can type in my last name and see a list of my Aunty’s poetry. Anybody accessing this resource can search by author, title or iwi to find fiction, non-fiction or even music by Māori writers to go off and try to find at their local library.

Māori writers are one of my favourite things to talk about and here at Christchurch City Libraries we have a fantastic Ngā Pounamu Māori collection which covers a wide range of topics produced by a variety of sources. While they all have their individual merits Māori authors can give us an insider’s view on Te Ao Māori, which is both valuable and necessary to our understanding of a given topic: we would not ask a lawyer what it’s like to be a doctor, we would ask a doctor. As such the cultural insight provided by the Māori writers listed on Kōmako is a taonga, something to be both cherished and celebrated.

While we’re on the topic, check out some my favourite resources by Māori authors held at Christchurch City Libraries:

• Growing Up Māori edited by Witi Ihimaera
• Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou: Struggle Without End Ranginui Walker
• Small Holes in the Silence Hone Tuwhare
• Tikanga Māori Hirini Moko Mead
• Collected Stories Patricia Grace

Find out more

• UC researchers create bibliography of writing by Māori in English (University of Canterbury press release)
• New Zealand fiction by Māori authors in our catalogue

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