LEWIS WILLIAMS, PHD

I subsequently re-drafted the participant questions, and with the help of Maria Ngatai and the
rununga office was introduced to Kuia Ngaroimata Cavill and Rangatira Kihi Ngatai and Mr
Brian Dixon, C.E.O. Ngāi Te Rangi, Rununga Office. Between one and two semi-structured
interviews (approximately 2 hours in length each) were undertaken with each participant,
excluding Kihi Ngatai. With uncle Kihi I sat in conversation around the dinning room table at
their home and took verbatim notes as he answered the questions I had about my own
whakapapa, Ngai TuKairangi and Ngāi Te Rangi, history more generally.
The individual interviews with the other three participants were audio-taped. Hand written
notes were taken at the time of the interviews. A hired transcriber who had signed a
confidentiality agreement undertook the transcribing of the audio-tapes did all of the
transcribing. All individual interview transcriptions were sent to participants for validation and
comment and the necessary corrections made as I went over the transcriptions with each
participant.
A general inductive approach 29 (Thomas, 2000a) was used with the analysis of the data. The
common purpose of this approach is to ‚allow key findings to emerge from the common,
dominant or significant themes inherent in raw data, without the restraints imposed in
structured methodologies‛ (p.3). All transcripts were read through for the purpose of
generating key themes and sub-categories within these. These key themes (and my
interpretation of them) were also in part derived from publications pertaining to Mauao, Māori
Tikanga, cosmology and sources documenting tribal history within the Tauranga City Library,
in addition to my own lived experience of Mauao 30 .
29
Thomas, D. (2000). Qualitative Data Analysis using a General Inductive Approach. Health Research Methods
Advisory Service. University of Auckland: Auckland.
30
During the 3 months that I spent in Tauranga, I spent much time just getting to know Mauao by walking his
slopes and getting a sense of his surrounds, including particular areas and land marks regarded as wahi tapu. So
powerful is this sensory experience of Mauao that he is very near most of the time, even as I currently spend half
my year living in the Canadian City of Toronto.
30