Introduction to the special issue: The invisibility of the Realm of New Zealand

Authors

Keywords:

public narratives, national histories, historical absences, Indigenous scholars, Pacific peoples

Abstract

The invisibility of the Realm of New Zealand in the historical and contemporary discourses about New Zealand mean there is limited understanding about what the Realm is. This special issue is a timely interrogation of this invisibility and the impacts it has had on Pacific peoples in the Realm, written by Pacific scholars who have ancestral connections to New Zealand’s imperial past. It asks, How do we grapple with the Realm of New Zealand as an invisible part of New Zealand’s contemporary reality and historical past as a colonial empire? This introduction addresses the contemporary importance of understanding the Realm of New Zealand, in legal and actual terms, laying a foundation for the complex discussions in this special issue.

Author Biography

Marcia Leenen-Young, Te Wānanga o Waipapa, University of Auckland

Marcia Leenen-Young is a senior lecturer in Pacific studies in Te Wānanga o Waipapa at Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland. She completed a PhD in ancient history and has since transitioned to focus on the history of the Pacific. Her research interests include the historical relationship between New Zealand and the Pacific, Indigenous Pacific ways of telling history, Pacific research methodologies and Pacific pedagogies. Marcia is also the editor of Waka Kuaka: The Journal of the Polynesian Society, the first of Pacific descent.

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Published

2025-05-28

Issue

Vol. 134 No. 1 (2025): Waka Kuaka | Journal of the Polynesian Society

Section

Foreword

License

Copyright © 2024 by the Polynesian Society (Inc.)

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

Inquiries should be made to:

Dr Marcia Leenen-Young, Editor
The Polynesian Society
c/o School of Māori and Pacific Studies
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019, Auckland
New Zealand

email: m.leenen@auckland.ac.nz