Indigenous Entrepreneurship

Indigenous entrepreneurial orientation: A Māori perspective

“…Addressing the research questions and how Māori entrepreneurs’ worldview and understanding of the ecosystem influences perception of EO creates a platform for exploring EO in an Indigenous context. Although there has been a dearth of research into the conceptualisation of EO from an Indigenous perspective, entrepreneurship is viewed as an important means to improve the socioeconomic well-being and further self-determination and to preserve heritage (Clarkson, Morrissette, & Regallet, 1992; De Bruin, 2003; Peredo et al, 2004). This paper argued that Māori entrepreneurs’ worldview and entrepreneurial ecosystem in which they are embedded influences their perception of EO among new business owners.…”

Indigenous investments: Are they different? Lessons from Iwi

“…For Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand, this has been exhibited through heritage entrepreneurship, tribal entrepreneurship, and Indigenous self-employment. Heritage entrepreneurship has involved the actions of various Iwi (tribes) to reclaim significant assets from the state through the Treaty settlement process, tribal entrepreneurship has encompassed the management and expansion of the tribal asset base through collectively owned enterprises and/or joint ventures while Indigenous self-employment has been characterized by small- and medium-sized enterprises owned and operated by Māori (De Bruin and Mataira, 2003). It is worth noting Māori rapidly embraced entrepreneurial concepts like trade and exporting following the first contact with Europeans, and before becoming a part of the British Commonwealth (Henry, 2007).…”

“…Waikato-Tainui was seriously impacted due to the confiscation of more than 1.2 million acres by the crown during the Land Wars of the 19th century, virtually all the Iwi’s land. For Māori, who were agrarian traders, this left Waikato-Tainui without an economic base (De Bruin and Mataira, 2003). The desire to reclaim land as historical redress serves two purposes.…”

“…Throughout the documents analyzed, TGH consistently emphasized the primacy of land as an asset class and has noted one of its objectives is to maintain and increase its land holdings (Tainui Group Holdings, 2012). The Land Wars of the 19th century resulted in the confiscation of large tracts of lands by the crown, leaving Iwi, who were agrarian traders and tangata whenua, 12 without an economic base (De Bruin and Mataira, 2003). Waikato-Tainui was one of the worst affected Iwi.…”

Culture, Ethnicity and Access to Bank Credit

“…Though, availability of finance is certainly a barrier for almost all entrepreneurs, the situation is worse for entrepreneurs from disadvantaged sections of society across the world. Many studies have backed the claim that indigenous communities often lack access to financial institutions and finance, with many communities even lacking basic financial services (Arthur, 1999; De Bruin & Mataira, 2003). Biggs, Raturi and Srivastava (2002) in their study of indigenous entrepreneurs conclude that obtaining external finance is almost impossible for entrepreneurs from indigenous communities, unless they have accumulated huge personal wealth which is usually never the case.…”