Utu (Māori concept)
Utu is a Māori concept of reciprocation or balance.
To retain
Utu is one of the key principles of the constitutional tradition of Māori along with whanaungatanga (the centrality of relationships), mana and tapu/noa (the recognition of the spiritual dimension).[3] Along with equivalent traditions in other indigenous communites, it has also been cited as an influence in attempts to introduce restorative justice into the criminal justice systems both in New Zealand and elswhere.[1][4][5]
Utu can also be used in reference to monetary repayments, paying or repaying.[6]
The New Zealand Māori word utu is equivalent to the Cook Islands Māori word 'utuutu. The meaning thereof is to feed an orphaned child.[7] Put directly, the symbol of the orphaned child is that the child is nothing to you. Note that the concept of "the nothing" relates to the mythological understanding that all are born from Te Kore: the Great Nothing. In effect, the orphaned child is Te Kore. And we are all that orphaned child. As a sidebar, the concept of the orphaned child diffusely relates to stories like the Lost Tribes of Israel. That is to say that the children of God (or Te Kore) are lost and orphaned. But, that is just a sidebar.
Now, the basic understanding of utu ('utuutu) is this: what you feed, you will grow. Rather, what you feed the orphaned child is how the child will grow. If he is not fed, he dies. If he is fed love, the child grows to be loving. If he is fed hatred, the child grows to be hateful - and so forth. To the enlightened mind, utu really is the law of
Cultural references
- Utu, a 1983 New Zealand film loosely based on events from Te Kooti's War
- "Amazon's "one-click" patent reconsidered" - a modern example of the term's use within New Zealand society
See also
References
- ^ Ministry of Justice, New Zealand. Archived from the originalon 10 August 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ "UTU - Payment and Revenge, an Eye for an Eye"
- OCLC 1124338401.)
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISSN 1043-1578.
- ISSN 0748-0814.
- ^ "utu - Māori Dictionary". maoridictionary.co.nz. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ See the definition of 'utuutu in Dictionary of Cook Islands Languages https://cookislandsdictionary.com/search?idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=&keywords=%27utuutu&dictionary=Action. Accessed 13 June 2024. Tangiia Enjoy BA (University of Auckland).
- ^ See Chamberlain, N., & Penk, S. (Eds.), Privacy Law in New Zealand ( ed., pp. 43-136) Thomson Reuters at p 50 where Khylee Quince and Jayden Houghton briefly write on utu: https://hdl.handle.net/2292/67023. Accessed 13 June 2024. Tangiia Enjoy BA (University of Auckland).
External links