Bicultural Practice: Beyond Mere tokenism ● 111all human service workers practicing with Māori. These include mihimihi
(introduction of yourself ), waiata (appropriate cultural songs in appro-
priate cultural circumstances), karakia (prayers for opening and closing
meetings), and pōwhiri (ritual welcoming). At the same time, we are aware
of not wanting to essentialize social work practice with Māori down to a
few cultural artifacts. The factor that mitigates against essentialism is an
analysis of power (Dominelli 2002), leading to relationships that are based
on “power-with” people rather than “power-over” people (Bishop 2002,
43). Forms of cultural competence (in Māori language, customs, and pro-
tocols) can easily become a form of “new racism” (Pon 2009, 60) that can
be used to disempower Māori. Jackson (1994) used the example of a non-
Māori prison officer who had learned the Māori language and was working
with a Māori inmate with very little fluency in the language. The young
man was inadvertently “shamed” by the prison officer, who should have
used his power more wisely. His intentions were honorable, but the outcome
did not reflect this.
Although competency is a contested topic, it is a concept that is at the core
of social work in New Zealand. To be registered as a social worker, a person
must prove a series of competencies. The first three competency standards for
the Social Workers Registration Board and ANZASW relate to competency
to work with Māori and people of other cultures. The capacity to do this
well has a number of components, the first of which relates to the concept of
power. In the past, Māori have experienced many human service and social
workers with poor engagement skills, having little skill in even basic pro-
nunciation, let alone being able to speak basic greetings. Māori were often
merciful, and they judged people on their attitude and humility rather than
their intercultural skills. This approach, however, colludes with the notion of
“power-over,” because power generally rests with the person with the job title
and education rather than with Māori whānau (extended families) or communi-
ties. To ensure a greater sharing of “power-with” whānau (Bishop 2002, 43), we
suggest that actual examination and assessment of the knowledge of Māori
cultural values and the skills of mihimihi, karakia, and waiata for all human
service workers should be as important as any other set of practice knowl-
edge. It is also a matter of epistemological equality, showing equal respect for
Māori theories of knowledge.
The aim is for human service workers to achieve ethnorelativism, which can
also be described as showing cross-cultural literacy (having knowledge) and
cross-cultural fluency (the ability to participate in that culture) (Hirsch 1987).
This relies on a strong commitment from human service and social workers to
regularly put themselves in uncomfortable cross-cultural situations. It requires
a commitment to the notion of servanthood—that is, placing priority on