Mobilizing Māori identity: cultural capital and expatriate “portable personhood”

Elliott and Urry suggest that the paradigm of mobilities is “becoming increasingly central to contemporary identity formation and re-formation” (7). I match this claim against a focus group study I undertook with expatriate New Zealanders in London. The participants were questioned about their experiences of watching Aotearoa New Zealand films while living overseas to understand their perspectives regarding “mobilized” national identity. While my findings regarding the responses of the majority of the participants have been published, I remained convinced additional work was needed to adequately represent the unique perspectives of the final group: four women who self-identified as being involved with Ngāti Rānana (a London-based Māori culture club). Utilizing Elliott and Urry’s term, “portable personhood”, these four women mobilized specific aspects of Māori affiliation through Ngāti Rānana and joint film viewings (3). The concept of portable personhood, as developed and employed by these women, both recognizes and expands their traditional indigenous relationships and responsibilities. These changes include, but are not limited to: (i) how the act of relocation allows for portable personhood (specifically, in this case study, mobile indigenous-orientated identities), not only physically but also culturally, “racially” and even in terms of kaitiakitanga (guardianship); and (ii) what it means—on the ground—to build a cultural network around an identity dislocated from the land that makes it.