Outcasts and Orchestrators: Finding Indigeneity in Contemporary Aotearoa Punk Culture

Abstract

Though not acknowledged as a realm heavy with indigenous participation, punk culture has the potential to provide solidarity for the indigenous people it attracts. In this study, I explore how indigeneity is being expressed in Aotearoa punk culture by indigenous punks. Through interviews, participants articulated that punk culture has provided an alternative means of belonging in contemporary and diasporic settings that have necessitated a broadening of ways in which to find and reclaim indigeneity. Though punk culture cannot be seen as a realm that is imbedded with indigenous sentiment, participants suggest that its egalitarian philosophies and ethos of freedom and autonomy are conversant to indigenous experiences and desires that make it a potential port of solidarity for indigenous punks.