Extraordinary Conditions, Ordinary Realities and a Squandered Opportunity: Māori Social Imaginaries and Covid-19

In 2020, the nationwide lockdown in Aotearoa/New Zealand offered a rare opportunity to re-configure power relations between Māori and the state. These extraordinary circumstances constituted an opportunity to direct an expansion of state power towards re-imagining inequitable outcomes for Māori. Across myriad fora, whānau extended family communicated their sustained desire for utu reciprocity in the relationship with the Crown; the recognition of our right to exercise tino rangatiratanga absolute sovereignty in the co-ordination and delivery of a distinct response to COVID-19. Survey data demonstrates an ongoing commitment from Māori to work towards a more socially cohesive future, one that prioritises care for those made vulnerable, protects te taiao the environment, and one that shifts away from capitalism, individualism and greed Houkamau, C., K. Dell, J. Newth, J. P. Mita, C. Sibley, T. Keelan, and T. Dunn. 2021. The Wellbeing of Māori Pre and Post Covid-19 Lockdown in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Auckland: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga; University of Auckland.. This momentum, real or perceived, soon waned. The ordinary realities Māori endured pre-pandemic have continued. Simultaneously however, Māori cling to mokopunatanga – a commitment to ensuring successive generations will flourish. Imagination is therefore not a thought exercise, but a set of deliberate, consistent desires in ‘pursuit of the possible’ Tuhiwai Smith, L. 2018. “In Pursuit of the Possible: Indigenous Well-being (website).” http://mediacentre.maramatanga.ac.nz/content/pursuit-possible-indigenous-well-being, accessed 19 March, 2022. In this article, I trace the desires of the Māori social imaginaries in practice through the state’s management of COVID-19. I argue that the state’s response failed to meet the urgent, everyday needs of Māori, a decision which has haemorrhaged beyond Māori communities into the national sphere. Using two case studies, I examine the broader social costs of squandering an extraordinary opportunity to re-imagine the ordinary, inequitable realities Māori endure.