Whānau

{{Short description|Māori language word for extended family}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2024}}

'''Whānau''' ({{IPA|mi|ˈfaːno}}) is the Māori word for the basic extended family group. Within Māori society the ''whānau'' encompasses three or four generations and forms the political unit below the levels of hapū (subtribe), iwi (tribe or nation) and waka (migration canoe). These steps are emphasised in Māori genealogy as a person's whakapapa.

==Early Māori society== In pre-contact Māori tribal organisation, the ''whānau'' historically comprised a family spanning three to four generations, and would number around 20 to 30 people. It formed the smallest partition of the Māori society.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taonui |first=Rāwiri |date=8 Feb 2005 |title=Tribal organisation – Whānau |language=en |pages=4 |work=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/tribal-organisation/page-4 |access-date=2023-02-09}}</ref>

The kaumātua (tribal elders), senior adults ({{Lang|Mi|pākeke}}) such as parents, uncles and aunts, and the sons and daughters together with their partners and children. Large whānau lived in their own compound in the pā. Whānau also had their own gardening plots and their own fishing and hunting spots. The whānau was economically self-sufficient. In warfare, it supported and was necessarily supported by the iwi (tribe) or hapū (sub-tribe).

The whānau would look after children and grandchildren collectively, so the loss of a parent was less likely to be devastating to a child's upbringing. In the case of orphaned children, the child would be taken in by the process of whāngai adoption. This form of adoption is still practised and has some legal codification in New Zealand.

==Contemporary conceptions== Contemporary conceptions offer whānau in one of two ways: # An "object or construction based on descent, cause or a mix of the two"; or # "A collection of ideas".<ref name="Gray whānau">{{cite thesis|last=Gray |first=K. A. P. |title=Tāniko : public participation, young Māori women, & whānau health |year=2008 |publisher=Massey Research Online |page=10 |hdl=10179/640|type=thesis}}</ref>

As a descent construct, {{Lang|Mi|whānau}} has been variably described as 'extended family',<ref name="Moltzen & Macfarlane">{{cite book|last1=Moltzen |first1=R. |last2=Macfarlane |first2=H. A. |contribution=New Zealand: gifted and talented Maori learners |editor=B. Wallace |editor2=G. Eriksson |title=Diversity in gifted education: International perspectives on global issues |url=https://archive.org/details/diversitygiftede00wall |url-access=limited |pages=[https://archive.org/details/diversitygiftede00wall/page/n329 305]–307 |year=2006 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Routledge}}</ref> 'extended family or community',<ref name="Thomas & LaGrow">{{cite journal|last1=Thomas |first1=T. |last2=LaGrow |first2=S. J |title=Whanau workers: Providing services for the indigenous people of New Zealand |journal=Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness |year=1994 |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=86–90 [87]|doi=10.1177/0145482X9408800113 |s2cid=220594467}}</ref> or simply 'family'.<ref name="Pere 1984">{{cite book|last=Pere|first=R.|title=Hui Whakaoranga: Maori health planning workshop, Hoani Waititi Marae, 19-22 March, 1984|year=1984|publisher=New Zealand Department of Health|location=Wellington, New Zealand|editor=Maori Health Planning Workshop|contribution=Te orange o te whanau: The health of the family}}</ref>

==See also== * Ohana (''Hawaiian equivalent'')

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whanau}} Category:Iwi and hapū Category:Māori words and phrases Category:Māori society Category:Family in New Zealand