The concept of taonga in M ori culture: insights for accounting

• Published in: Accounting, auditing, & accountability Vol. 25; no. 6; pp. 1025 - 1047
• Main Authors: Craig, Russell, Taonui, Rawiri, Wild, Susan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Emerald Group Publishing Limited 27.07.2012
• Subjects: New Zealand; Taonga; Accounting; Asset; Culture; M ori
• ISSN: 0951-3574
• DOI: 10.1108/09513571211250233

Purpose - The indigenous M ori culture of New Zealand offers valuable insights for the development of ideas about the concept of asset. To highlight such insights, and to encourage a rethinking, this paper aims to explore the meaning of the closest M ori term to asset, taonga.Design methodology approach - The critical review the authors conduct fuses Western literature-based scholarship with an indigenous scholarly method that utilises oral information and the written literature of M ori scholars who have recognised traditional and scholarly credentials.Findings - Taonga includes a sacred regard for the whole of nature and a belief that resources are gifts from the gods and ancestors for which current generations of M ori are responsible stewards. Taonga emphasises guardianship over ownership, collective and co-operative rights over individualism, obligations towards future generations, and the need to manage resources sustainably.Originality value - The insights offered by M ori culture are beneficial in addressing a range of vexing environmental and social issues in ways that embrace a broader set of principles than those based on individual property rights and economic values.