Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0001-6499-361X
Abstract
This paper responds to pilgrimage scholar George Greenia’s assertion that meaningful intersections exist between pilgrimage and various forms of displacement, such as migration or involuntary exile due to famine, war, or political unrest. Greenia proposes that vulnerable, displaced individuals might find shelter, both conceptually and emotionally, within the framing of pilgrimage. By extending concepts of pilgrimage, it can be understood as a deliberate and intentional journey, simultaneously emphasising the transformative potential inherent in migratory movement. By adopting a working definition of pilgrimage as ‘any form of travel that is intentional, purposeful, or transformative,’ the paper considers how migrancy, particularly within settler-colonial contexts, can carry spiritual, ethical, and relational dimensions.
Focusing on Aotearoa-New Zealand and Māori, the country’s Indigenous people, it examines how recent migrants who engage with the historical and ongoing injustices faced by Māori, may experience their relocation as more than just geographical movement but also as a temporal and reflective journey. Everyday acts of decolonisation, such as learning the Māori language and the history of colonisation, forming respectful relationships with Māori communities, and critically engaging with Indigenous media like Whakaata Māori (formerly Māori Television), can foster personal transformation and ethical awareness. Drawing on a mixed methods audience study, the research looked at the attitudes of recent migrants to Indigenous issues and concerns in Aotearoa-New Zealand between 2015 and 2018. To analyse these finding through the lens of pilgrimage these findings are presented using an established literary narrative structure to frame pilgrimage as a journey marked by grief, loss, relational change and hope. Ultimately, this paper argues that migration, when undertaken with openness to Indigenous presence and sovereignty, can be a quiet but powerful form of decolonising pilgrimage.
Creative Commons License
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Recommended Citation
Nemec, Susan
(2026)
"The Migrant as a Pilgrim: Decolonising Identity and Belonging,"
International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage:
Vol. 14:
Iss.
1, Article 11.
Available at:
https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol14/iss1/11
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