The Meaning of Being Aged and Being Maori

Wright St Clair, V

The Meaning of Being Aged and Being Maori

aut.researcher	Wright-St Clair, Valerie Ann
dc.contributor.author	Wright St Clair, V
dc.date.accessioned	2011-10-13T20:05:24Z
dc.date.accessioned	2011-10-13T23:19:24Z
dc.date.accessioned	2011-10-16T07:49:21Z
dc.date.available	2011-10-13T20:05:24Z
dc.date.available	2011-10-13T23:19:24Z
dc.date.available	2011-10-16T07:49:21Z
dc.date.copyright	2009-08-30
dc.date.issued	2009-08-30
dc.description.abstract	The human entity‟s co-existence in the world is fundamental to an ontological interpretation of the meaning of being (Heidegger, 1927/1962). Accordingly, being-in-the-world is always a mode of „Being-with-Others.‟ Even when not in the company of others, Being-in-the-world always has a relational quality. It implies a person is never fully „alone‟ in the world. Others are always „there‟ in a contextual way. Such understandings of Being-with will be influenced by a peoples‟ world view. This paper shares three stories told by Maori elders within the context of a hermeneutic phenomenological study undertaken on Auckland‟s North Shore. Each story illuminates something of the spiritual meanings of being aged and being Maori. The study itself aimed to understand the meaning of „being aged‟ through the everyday experiences of those who live in advanced age. Individual research conversations were conducted with fifteen community-dwelling elders; four Maori aged 71 to 93 and eleven non-Maori aged 80 to 97 years. The research conversations were focused on gathering the stories of particular everyday events as well as the person‟s reflections on aging. As a non-Maori researcher, cultural integrity of the text and the interpretations was enhanced through partnership with a Maori advisor. In this paper, the spiritual dimension of the everyday experiences of elder Maori are revealed as being-with as belonging, being-with as elder, and contributing to community.
dc.identifier.citation	Verbal presentation at the International Conference for Ageing and Spirituality, Auckland
dc.identifier.roid	14496	en_NZ
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10292/2328
dc.publisher	The Selwyn Foundation - Selwyn Centre for Ageing and spirituality
dc.relation.replaces	http://hdl.handle.net/10292/2282
dc.relation.replaces	10292/2282
dc.relation.replaces	http://hdl.handle.net/10292/2307
dc.relation.replaces	10292/2307
dc.relation.uri	http://www.selwyncare.org.nz/Resources/library/PDFs/SCAS/Wright-St-Clair__Valerie_-_Presentation.pdf
dc.rights	NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in (see Citation). The original publication is available at (see Publisher's Version).
dc.rights.accessrights	OpenAccess
dc.title	The Meaning of Being Aged and Being Maori
dc.type	Conference Contribution
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/Health & Environmental Science
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/PBRF Researchers
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/PBRF Researchers/Health & Environmental Sciences PBRF Researchers
pubs.organisational-data	/AUT/PBRF Researchers/Health & Environmental Sciences PBRF Researchers/HES R & O Occupational Therapy