ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the story of Caleb, a 17-year-old Cook Islands and New Zealand Māori young man who had grown up in the care of his Cook Islands maternal grandparents. His dramatic experience, which might appear from a psychiatric point of view to be a kind of psychotic symptom, can also be understood from a Māori perspective as a form of mate Māori (Māori sickness). In the second part of the chapter, Allister, Wiremu, and Caleb offer three perspectives on Caleb’s story and experiences. First, Allister provides a psychiatric viewpoint. Second, Wiremu outlines his views about these puzzling phenomena and shows how an understanding of concepts such as mauri (life force) and tapu (that which is sacred or forbidden) can help illuminate this territory from the spectrum of Māori worldviews. Finally, Caleb ref lects back on his own experience from hindsight seven years later.
