Jane DavisTitle: “Te kaha
te hikoi o te Tangata”
Ngäi
Tahu Oraka-Aparima
Runaka, 115 Palmerston St., Aparima (Riverton), Southland |
|
Talk
Jane
Davis, Oraka-Aparima Runaka. |
Abstract Te Kaha te hikoi o Te
Tangata
is the journey of the Murihiku Mäori whänau. The
faith and influence they had with Papatuanuku. The
spiritual and holistic approach that shaped a hunter gatherer culture. The
requirement to change from a stone age people to a world that was monetary
and industrial in a very short time frame. How
far have the whänau got to in their journey now? Is
there enough of an influence of our Tikanga on management processes and
decision making within government local authorities etc.? We
have responsibility for the future care and management of Papatuanuku. |
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Talk
Ko Aparima te Awa
Ko Takitimu mea Hananui te Mauka
Ko Takitimu te Waka
Ko Tahu Potiki te Takata
Ko Murihiku te Rohe
Ko Takutai O te Titi te Marae
Ko Rakiura mea Te Waipounamu te Whenua
Ko Kaitaha Katimamoe Ngaitahu te Iwi
Ko Jane Davis taku ingoa
Tënä koutou tënä koutou tënä koutou tënä koutou katoa
It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this
hui. I would like to thank all the
speakers who have come to participate in the hui. I would like to thank The
Foundation for Science and Research who have supported the Kia Mau Te Tïtï Mo
Ake Tönu Atu program. Also, Dr Henrik Moller and the Zoology team for
organising the hui and the Murihiku Marae whänau for allowing us to share the
Marae with them.
Science was a subject I had not given a great deal of thought to. Science for me was bunsen burners and test tubes
making rather nasty smells. I have come
to understand that in many ways the practices that we use in our daily lives
are science related and within the Tikanga of Tribal Lore there are many
sciences. Te kaha te Hikoi o te Tangata will walk some of those paths so we
may understand how those processes contributed to Mätauranga Mäori in the
past. I will then consider how to use
that knowledge in the present and in the future.
Te Kaha te
Hikoi o te Tangata
Our creation stories tell us Tane Mahuta separated
his parents Ranginui the sky father and Papatuanuku the earth mother by pushing
them apart and allowing light to emerge.
Rangi and Papa had a number of children and all of these children became
gods. Some of those descendants are:
Tane
Mahuta god of the forest
Tangeroa
god of the sea
Tawhiri
matea god of the elements
Rongo
Matene god of peace
Tu
Matauenga god of war
Hine
nui o te Po goddess of death
Our land was formed and clothed by the gods. Te Wao Nui O Tane the great forest of Tane
is the domain of Tane Mahuta. And
Tangaroa rules our sea.
When Mäori came out of the Pacific on their voyage
of discovery they were urged on by the great long white cloud they saw covering
the land. And we can imagine the Tohuka
chanting the karakia and giving thanks to the gods for their safe arrival on
these shores. We know others followed
those first explorers and settled in the north and eventually moved south and
eventually became resident in Murihiku.
Once hapu and whänau came south they realised the
need to adapt and develop a culture suited to their needs with the environment
they were living in. Rather than being
a people resident in one area, they moved with the seasons. Dependent on nature - watching, waiting,
planning their gathering at certain phases of the moon and navigating by the
stars, recording in memory land marks, rivers, lakes and mountains, areas of
mahika kai and manu for birding.
Accumulating knowledge, passing that knowledge on to each generation by
way of the whare kura the schools of learning.
Using their Tikanga - their customs and habit of how things were done.
The karakia - a spiritual link with the gods for their spiritual
wellbeing. Kaitiakitanga -
guardianship, the connection to the natural world. Their rahui - protection or a warning of trespass. Tapu - that which is sacred. Mana - their authority and prestige.
This was a society managed and lead by the Rangatira
and Tohuka living and using the tools and processes of their tupuna. Mäori had brought with them kiore, the
pacific rat and kure, the dog. These
creatures were foreign to the native species, the land and resources. Their impact was relatively low at that time
but that was the forerunner of many introduced species that would devastate the
native wildlife of Aotearoa in the years to follow.
Prior to 1800 Murihiku Mäori had
experienced internal strife, tribal war, alliances, and strategic
marriages. It was not unknown for a war
party to stop their hikoi and return home to Murihiku to prepare for their journey
to the Tïtï Islands to harvest titi.
That shows how important was the need to gather and store the kai to
fortify the whänau during the winter.
The economy and health of the kaika in Murihiku depended
on the hunting and gathering skills of the whänau. The harvest of the tïtï was an important component of the life
style of Murihiku Mäori in pre European times and remains just as important in
the culture of the whänau in the year 2000.
After the arrival of the sealers and whalers from
other lands, life for Mäori in Murihiku changed dramatically. At first Mäori and European lived as one,
and there were marriages between Mäori and European and children were
born. You will see the descendants of those
people here now. You will see it in the fair faces that look back at you. Those
people are still here. Those names are still here.
In 1840, a Treaty was signed on Ruapuke Island with
the Crown giving the Crown the right to govern and make laws. Mäori had the right to their lands and
possessions. And Mäori had the right of
an ordinary citizen of Aotearoa.
Aotearoa became New Zealand - a British colony.
Land was allocated to settlers for farming and
saw-milling began on a large scale.
Where once Mäori hunted and gathered food - sheep and cattle
grazed. With the new culture came
illnesses and Mäori sickened and died in large numbers. Pests, introduced species and land management
practices assaulted and changed our landscape.
Memories of ancestral heritage and language began to fade. Tikanga once so valued to preserve a way of
life remained only in the minds of a few.
Almost, but not quite, we lost our culture. But there was still a link that would bind some families forever
to their past cultural practices and history: the Titi Islands.
The Titi
Islands
The Titi Islands are a group of windswept islands
scattered around the coast of Rakiura.
They are visited each year by the descendants of Rakiura Mäori in the
hikoi to harvest tïtï and renew the special bond they have with the
islands. In 1910 the pressure of a
developing Southland economy was impacting on some of the southern islands and
some islands were being birded by Pakeha commercial interests. Manawhenua met together and developed a set
of regulations to protect the rights of the iwi and manage the islands. A partnership was forged with
government. The Commissioner of Crown
Lands became the administrator of the Tïtï Islands, now a position held by the
Department of Conservation Conservator.
Perhaps this was a first step in co-management.
How far had a hunter/gatherer stone age people moved
from 1840 to 1910? What did they bring
with them and what could they contribute to the future of New Zealand? They brought with them those same things
that they had, those same practices that their tupuna had had. They brought with them their tikanga - their
way of doing things, their karakia - their link with the old gods, an
intangible link to Tane Mahuta, and the same intangible link to Tangaroa. They brought with them the
kaitiakitanga. They brought with them
rahui - a way of managing and protecting things. They acknowledged things that were sacred (tapu) and they brought
their mana.
The journey to 2000 for Murihiku Mäori has been
testing and difficult. Manawhenua work
with DoC, the Territorial Authorities, University of Otago and other groups
associated with managing a diverse environment. The work with the Department of Conservation has been a forward
step for Murihiku Mäori. It has been
about building a relationship with people of the department and
university. Real and meaningful gains
have been achieved by all parties. For
years we have had people involved in species transfer and pest
eradication. We have formed a bond by
working together. Kaitiaki Roopu works
as a vehicle for sharing views and making decisions by iwi and DoC. The work with the Territorial Authorities
has been supported by Te Ao Marama, a collective group of runaka from Murihiku,
which has moved us on and is successful.
Our work with Henrik has opened our eyes to things we can learn from
other people from other places in the world.
I think that has been a two-way partnership and that the University
research team have also learned from Rakiura Mäori as well. But still some sectors in the resource
management arena do not recognise or give credibility to Mätauranga Mäori.
Murihiku Mäori have adjusted to the new world. They have learned to understand Conservation
acts Resource Management Act Reserves acts CMSs and a host of management
plans. But they have held true to the
value of their tupuna.
The fundamental challenge now is for European
society to accept that indigenous people have a science that is valuable to the
preservation of the flora and fauna of this land.
Can we not accept we are one nation, but we are
different people within that nation each recognising and accepting those
differences? Can we accept that we must
work together if we are to keep what we already have but which is daily
disappearing - so we have something to pass on to our mokopuna from the tupuna?
Mana whenua of the future must be strong and
continue to press for the recognition of Mätauranga Mäori at all levels of New
Zealand society. Our schools and
universities are the whare kura of the present. The have the facility to teach western science. Mäori as the Treaty partner can do no less
than expect that Mätauranga Mäori, the science of the Mäori based on tikanga
Mäori is part of the curriculum of all schools and universities.
Rau Rangatira ma. Tënä koutou, tënä koutou katoa.
Tuatahi, me mihi ki runga rawa, nana nei nga mea
katoa.
Tuarua me mihi ki te whiri nau mai haere mai
Tënä koutou, tënä koutou, tënä koutou katoa.
Discussion
Question/Comment
(Edward Ellison, Te Runanga o Ngäi Tahu)
Kia ora koutou. Ki a koe te whaea tënä mihi atu ki a
koe me te kaiwhakarite o te ata nei, a Michael e tautoko ana nga mihi atu ki a
koutau katoa nga mema o tenei hui. Ko Edward Ellison, te Runanga o Ngäi
Tahu. Could you elaborate on the
relationship between the research that Henrik Moller does and your tïtï
committee. You've taken us through the
tikanga, the past, the kaupapa people have with the natural environment, our
taonga and now we’re bringing in western science. There's probably a clash
there. How do you manage that relationship in terms of the protection and
interpretation of the information that is gathered from that research so that
it isn’t taken away from the people?
Kia ora.
JD - Kia ora Edward. Six years ago it was first promoted
that we should begin a research programme researching the tïtï and looking at
sustainable management for the tïtï. And there was negotiation from Dr Henrik
Moller with the tïtï committee to look at developing a programme to do the
research. That then was taken back to the people of Rakiura. We called a hui
and it was discussed at length. People
went away and thought about it again. Then we called another hui. Eventually
after more lengthy discussion a decision was made to proceed with the research.
For all of us, we were stepping into a new dimension that was foreign to us.
And there was real deep concern that we were almost handing over the
accumulated information to a new group. So we met with Henrik and we discussed
how we would proceed. We went to a
lawyer who’s well known here in Invercargill and discussed this with him and we
entered into a formal agreement. This was a formal legal agreement of what the
University would be able to retain, where they would have management, and where
we would have management. That was our first step. Then the research team made
a visit to one of the Islands, to Poutama for two seasons and they eventually
came to Putauhinu, to where the whänau of which I’m part of, live.
Its been a real learning curve for all of us. It
hasn’t always been easy. The team live
and work right beside our whänau and for several generations, there’s been no
one there but us. It had been only our
family to walk on that ground. So we
were cutting a very new track. There have been times, when you’ve almost
thought you wished it had never happened. But then you look at the work that’s
being produced by the team, the doors that its opened, the visions that we now
see. For example looking at patterns of
where the tïtï go and how everything in the world actually impacts on each
other. That’s how we’ve been able to
look at it. I think later on Henrik will
elaborate on how the University team have felt and the values that we have both,
as a people, gained. When you take on something that has such an impact on a
group of people and in particular on the Island where we are, there’s always
the fear that relationships will break down. I think we have been able to talk
through any issues of concern that we’ve had. I think that communication is the
only way that we can manage these things. We’ve laid down some fairly strict
guide rules of where people go, what they do, what their impact is on the
island and we’re in charge of that. And we can’t have it any other way. The
team has been able to live and work within those guidelines.
Question/Comment
(Oliver Sutherland, Landcare Research)
Tënä koutou katoa. E te whaea Jane, tënä koe, he
mihi tino nui tenei ki a koe mo te korero i tehei ata. Firstly Jane I just wanted to thank you for
that for that presentation - covering all of those years filled in a whole lot
of gaps for me. Secondly, I just want
to acknowledge and express my admiration for what you have achieved together
with Henrik Moller and the University of Otago. It strikes me from my experience over the past number of years,
that that tells me a great deal about the goodwill that was existing, the
uncertainties that were existing and how you dealt with them. Now of course we
are seeing the results of some of that work come out. Now for my question. You were talking about the Western learning
institutions embracing Mätauranga Mäori and perhaps putting some resources
towards it. Have you seen anything of
that locally, perhaps down in this part of the country, or have you seen that
happening anywhere else? Do you see a
willingness of the Western, i.e. the Pakeha institutions, to embrace Mätauranga
Mäori and share some of their resources with it?
JD - Kia ora Oliver. I am sad to say, I really haven’t seen a positive shift by
learning institutions towards Mätauranga Mäori. Recently as part of the Waiau Mahika Kai Trust that I am part of,
we developed a kete, a learning aid, to place into the schools here in
Murihiku. It was based on Mahinga kai
and Mahinga kai practices. We have tried in several areas for help to have it
printed so that we could give it to schools.
We were unsuccessful. We have
tried Ngäi Tahu Development Corporation for assistance there too. So it isn’t easy for us to spread the
word. While we say it among ourselves
and we are perhaps talking here to the converted, it is much more difficult our
there. I find that difficulty here in
Murihiku.
We just have to keep on building those relationships
and gaining the confidence of other people. But that also is very shifty ground
because the relationships we build with institutes are based on relationships
with individuals. For example the
relationships we built with the Department of Conservation has been built on the
relationships of particular people and when those faces change, then you have
start all again with the organisation.
We don’t want to keep doing that, do we? We want to go further than that.
Question/Response
(Rau Kirikiri, Manaaki Whenua)
Kia ora tatou.
Might it have made a difference had there been one of your own doing the
mainstream science? You have been
talking here about Pakeha scientists working with Mäori and trying to get
Mätauranga Mäori and mainstream science together. I think there is a school of thought out there that is saying -
"lets get more Mäori actually doing the science". Might that have made a difference in this
particular exercise?
JD - Kia ora Rau.
Yes, I do agree. The problem was
we didn’t have those scientists of our own.
We haven’t been able to find those people. We encourage as many Ngäi Tahu and Mäori students as possible to
come forward and to train in the research team. And we do have people now training and being part of that
team. We have been able to have Jane
Kitson. Jane came as a field worker and
she is now doing her PhD. We have Corey
Bragg and these are all whänau. Its
very uplifting for us that we have been able to, not direct, but encourage
those young people to join in. We hope
that in the future that they can carry out that science for us. The other thing is, while we must encourage
our young people to train as scientists, they can’t go forward just wearing the
cloak of our Pakeha father. They have
to also have the cloak of our Mäori mother.
Question/Comment
(Jo Harawira, Kaupapa Atawhai, Manager for Tainui, Department of Conservation)
Tënä tatou katoa. Tuatahi mihi kauaki ki a koe Mike,
nau e tuku te arawhata ki to tatou matua i te Rangi. No reira, tënä koe. Ki a
koe Jane me nga korero e wharikihia i tenei ata, ma matua e whakarango. I come from an education background and in
my interview with DoC I asked if the Department of Conservation has an
education arm that has programmes that go into schools?” And they said “Why do you ask that?” And I said, “Well basically out there you
have got a whole lot of people who do not have a conservation ethic and that
conservation ethic starts with the 3-5 year olds. The Department of Conservation must have heard my message because
they provided funding to get more of that conservation message going into our
tamariki so that they are growing up with a conservation ethic. So I’d just like to say Kia ora to you for
your korero.
JD - Well thank you. That’s good to know that those things are happening and we must
support and encourage that.
Question/Comment (Michael
Skerrett, Te Ao Marama and Titi Committee Member)
How do you find the Western science stacking up
against our Mätauranga Mäori? Does it
in fact reinforce the beliefs and practices that have been handed down to us?
JD - I can’t really speak for Henrik, but I think
what the research is finding out is that some of the things that we are told,
and talk to Henrik about, are in fact proven facts in Western science. For example, we told them that at a certain
time the birds will go to the edge of the cliff, and they'll decide whether to
go or not and then they'll move back and they'll get back up the hill
again". You might think that's
strange. But they have now radio
tracked the birds and they've learnt that what we've said actually
happens. That's just a small example of
how we are learning from one another.