Recollections of Māori Marsden: A Podcast Series

Abstract

Recollections of Māori Marsden is an audio podcast series accompanied by an exegesis for a practice-oriented Master of Arts thesis in Māori development. The artefact presents five podcasts, which are personal memoirs of the late Reverend Māori Marsden, an Anglican minister and traditional tohunga who was renowned within Māori society as a repository of mātauranga Māori or Māori knowledge systems.

The contributors are Marsden’s immediate and extended whānau in the following order: Myself with Toiroa Williams, along with podcasts I have conducted with my brother Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, Bishop Te Kitohi Pikāhu, Shane Jones, and Marsden’s adult children, Rangitane, Raiha, Kahu, and Raphael who were interviewed together.

The exegesis addresses a practice-oriented research inquiry: with the proliferation of digital devices, can podcasting provide a straightforward way to disseminate meaningful content to Māori audiences that might otherwise prove difficult to publicly access? It contextualises the process of gathering personal recollections via podcasting, particularly when information is being shared due to whānau relationships between the podcaster and discussants. Importantly, it presents ethical considerations that can arise when podcast contributors may not altogether want unedited conversations about their whānau made available to the public.