Indigenous Entrepreneurship

Aloha kākou,
This article was interesting in many ways. Amongst other things, it was a reminder that I need to learn more English vocab :)
Indigenous Entrepreneurship- "The enterprise-related activities of indigenous people in the pursuit of their social/cultural self-determination and economic goals."(Anderson)

All the articles were very interesting, but the article on the Potikitanga is one that I found myself always going back to. It spoke of the the social and economic suffering the Maori people faced and their desire to implement entrepreneurial activity into their communities in such a way that "particular histories, cultures and values play prominent role."

 I was surprised that this concept is being looked at by native peoples as something new. The concept of entrepreneurs have been around in our native societies for a very long time. Aliʻis in their own right were Economic & Social entrepreneurs. They were the ones to work through "the process of identifying, shaping and pursuing market opportunities" (Shane). They were the "decision makers whose entire role arises out of alertness to the hitherto unnoticed opportunities."

Socially, Aliʻi had to be sure that the concept of generalized reciprocity was enforced to ensure the well-being of everyone. They were sure to enforce "the construction, evaluation, and pursuit of opportunities for transformative social change". Is this not why we came here to these islands, to pursue social and economic change. Our aliʻi were awesome akamai people. They understood that with good social standings, economically we are set. Hence the arrangement of reciprocity. If one needed something from up mauka, they would trade their goods from makai, and get what they needed. The abundance of goods ensured that this exchange would be on-going, further providing for everyone exactly what they needed.

I feel that implementing entrepreneurial activity into our communities is awesome. It is easily adapted because that is how our cultures are built. We all carry a certain kuleana and should use our expertise in exchange for anothers. The fact that majority of indigenous entrepreneurs are disadvantaged and marginalized is sad. But we must realize that this is a concept that should be familiar to us all.