E hoki mai nei ki te ūkaipō—Return to Your Place of Spiritual and Physical Nourishment

This paper presents the findings of the Perceptions of Papakāinga project, which explores the connection between place, genealogy, and identity for two Māori (New Zealand’s Indigenous people) communities: one living within an iwi (tribal) context, and one living within an urban context. The research explores how Māori-specific concepts which define home and identity are perceived and enacted across all participants, and how participants define ‘home’ in relation to fluid understandings of genealogy, community, and identity. Across the diverse experiences of participants, the concept of ‘whakapapa’ (genealogy), can be seen to act as a way to understand the connections between identity, people and place.