Aroha Harris is an associate professor in History at the University of Auckland. Her research reflects her interest in Māori histories of the twentieth century, with a focus on Māori-state relations. Aroha is a founding member of Te Pouhere Korero, the national collective of Māori historians, and has been an editor of their journal of the same name. She is also a former member of the Waitangi Tribunal where she was the historian member of the panel convened for Te Rohe Pōtae inquiry (Wai 898). Aroha has variously published in academic journals and edited collections, including anthologies of short fiction and poetry. She is Māori and belongs to Te Rarawa and Ngāpuhi iwi (tribes). Aroha is our Distinguished Indigenous Faculty Research Fellow.
What are your main research interests and what excites you most about them?
My main research interests focus on the highly contested ground where Māori aspirations meet government policy. Initially, my interests were set in the 1950s and ‘60s, when policies of assimilation peaked in Aotearoa New Zealand and faced a growing Māori population who had their own ideas and aspirations. I am most interested in the ways Māori engage and disengage with policy as it is produced and applied, sometimes working with it, sometimes eluding or defying it, and sometimes subverting it to address Māori priorities.
What project(s) are you working on at the JHI and why did you choose it (them)?
More recently, I’ve turned my attention to a cohort of western-trained Māori nurses that emerges from the 1890s. I’m interested in the many challenges they faced at a time when there was enough official support for the idea of training just a small number of Māori girls to become nurses but also enough opposition to make it a difficult choice for the few girls deemed ‘eligible’. I am also extending some work on the fact of Indigenous history being always beneath our feet – figuratively and literally – wherever we are on Indigenous lands.
How has your JHI Fellowship experience been so far?
It’s a very nurturing experience, a huge gift of time and space to focus on research, supported by wonderful community of staff and fellows. I feel incredibly well looked after and I can’t recall a similar opportunity in my career to date. I have especially enjoyed being challenged by our schedule of weekly seminars which demand that I read, learn, and engage in subjects that are far beyond my usual areas of study.
Why do you believe the humanities are important?
Because of their powerful capacity for storytelling. What I am referring to here are the critiques and analyses that the Humanities produce across a range of storytelling genres and platforms. These stories often reach broad audiences, whether through books, public exhibitions and artworks, film and other modes.
Can you share something you read/watched/listened to recently that you enjoyed/were inspired by?
I have been devouring as much Indigenous writing, film and tv as I can since I arrived in Canada in July. Among the many titles is the five-part television drama, Bones of Crows, directed, written, and produced by Marie Clements. It’s an outstanding historical drama, sweeping across generations to tell the story of Aline Spears and her family, their harrowing experiences of residential school, and their long-lasting impacts. It’s a challenging but beautiful watch.
What is a fun fact about you?
The most fun fact about me is probably the fact of many nieces and nephews, nineteen in all, who I love very much and who keep me smiling. My current set up at home, which was our family home, is an inter-generational arrangement, that includes two nephews, one of whom lives there with his partner and their two sons.