Arama Tairea

MA Student in Religious Studies

Supervisors: Sara Rahmani & Geoff Troughton

Kia vai rai auraka Kia taui’ia - Let it remain, Let it change: Exploring contemporary understandings and experiences of religion for Cook Island Māori living in New Zealand

My research is a qualitative investigation examining religious shifts occurring for Cook Island Māori living in New Zealand. As witnessed in New Zealand census data, Cook Island engagement with religion is changing: in 2006, census data reported that 24.1% of Cook Islanders self-identified as having no religion; in 2018, this figure had increased to 37.7% (Statistics New Zealand, 2018). At present, little is known about this change, what might be the long-term implications, and how the nonreligious understand religion. This thesis will examine understandings and experiences of religion held by Cook Island Māori living in New Zealand, seeking to examine the intersection between changing religious identities and cultural identities. In particular, this thesis will examine how Cook Island Māori negotiate competing understandings of the significance of religion in Cook Island Māori culture.