Mätauranga Mäori and Museum Practice: a Discussion Was the Nature of Knowledge and Knowing
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Mätauranga Mäori Report prepared by Te Ahukaramü Charles Royal and Museum Practice for National Services Te Paerangi A Discussion Executive Summary Interest in mätauranga Mäori InterestinmätaurangaMäorihasariseninmanyquarters,includingpublicinstitutions. ThetermhasbecomepopulartodenotesomethingessentialabouttheMäoriworldand toassistingivingexpressiontoMäoriculturalknowledgeinavarietyofsettings. Defining mätauranga Mäori worldandtaongawereusedtofacilitatethismove- ment from normal reality to these non-ordinary but •Thereremainsalackofclarityaboutwhatismeant essential experiences. Rituals, for example, are the by mätauranga Mäori. Confusion can arise when re-enactmentofmyths.Byparticipatingintheritual distinctionsarenotclearlydrawnbetweentheterm one is taking one’s place within the drama and the ‘mätauranga Mäori’ and the knowledge which the plotofthemyth–oneistransformingoneselfintoone termdenotes. oftheprotagonistsofthemyth,notmerelyactingout arole.Taongawereimportantinstrumentsinmaking •Possibledefinitionscanbesociologicalorepistemo- thesetransformations. logical.Asuggestedsociologicaldefinitionisasfollows: ‘MätaurangaMäori’isamoderntermforabodyof Changes in worldview knowledge that was brought to these islands by •The arrival of European literacy, technology, the Polynesian ancestors of present-day Mäori. Here this Bible and so on, brought a new narrative. Many bodyofknowledgegrewinresponsetoconditions pre-contact concepts were intermingled with new in Aotearoa and Te Wai Pounamu. The arrival of concepts.Thischangeinworldviewandexperience Europeanpeoplefromthe18thcenturyhadamajor addedtotraditionalviewsoftaonga. impact on this knowledge, endangering it in many substantial ways. All, however, was not lost, as newknowledgewascreatedthroughtheencounter Contemporary tikanga and taonga with the European and through the experience of •ContemporaryMäoriculturereflectsarangeofexpe- thecreationofthenewnationcalledNewZealand. riencesandwaysofseeingtheworld.Today,aspects Importantfragmentsandportionsofit–notably,the ofatraditionalworldviewareintermingledwithcon- Mäori language – remain today. These fragments temporaryaspirationsfortherestorationandrevital- andportionsarecatalysinganewcreativeperiodin isationofiwi,hapüandwhänauculturalknowledge. MäorihistoryandcultureandinthelifeoftheNew Makingsenseofthesetwodifferentpsychologiescan Zealandnation. bechallenging. A theory of mätauranga Mäori •The discussion includes explanations of certain contemporary tikanga of relevance to taonga which •MätaurangaMäoriincludesarangeofperspectiveson stillfindexpressioninMäoriculturetoday. Mätauranga Mäori and Museum Practice: A Discussionwas thenatureofknowledgeandknowing.Theseviews, writtenbyDrCharlesRoyalforNationalServicesTePaerangi presented as an introduction to an epistemology •ItissuggestedthatNationalServicesTePaerangi oftheMuseumofNewZealandTePapaTongarewa.This commissions research into contemporary tikanga in versionofthereportwaspublishedtothewebatwww.mkta. ofmätaurangaMäori,rangefromexplicitknowledge relationtotaongainordertodiscovertheperspectives co.nzduringJanuary2007.ItwaseditedbyDavidGreen. codifiedprimarilythroughtheuseofliteracy(mätau- ranga)totheabandonmentofexplicitknowledgein andbehavioursthatarerelevanttomuseumpractice. Published2007byNationalServicesTePaerangi,Museum favourofanequivalencebetweenknowledgeandthe ofNewZealandTePapaTongarewa,POBox467,Wellington, world(tohu). NewZealand Copyright©2007MuseumofNewZealandTePapaTongarewa Aspects of the traditional worldview Except for reasonable quoting for research purposes, no •A discussion of the traditional Mäori worldview is partorwholemaybereproducedwithoutpermission. included to provide an understanding of traditional Images:MuseumofNewZealandTePapaTongarewa perspectives on taonga. A key theme is that trad- itional life was lived within the tenets of sacred ISBN978-0-9582847-0-7 narratives pertaining to what was considered the essential nature of the world. These narratives told Coverphoto: Waka huia (treasure box), Te Puäwaitanga people how they should behave in relation to the Rongowhakaata(attributed) Mätauranga Mäori and Museum Practice 01 Contents 1.0 Introduction 4 5.0 Aspects of the traditional Mäori 1.1 Acknowledgements worldview: tikanga and taonga 25 2.0 Interest in mätauranga Mäori 5 5.1.0 Themodelofthemythicprecursor 2.1 TePapa’sinterestin‘mätauranga 5.1.1 Thepöwhiriritual Mäori’ 5.1.2 TeÄwhiorangi 2.2 Otherusagesof‘mätauranga 5.2.0 Themodeloftheancestralprecursor Mäori’inpublicinstitutions 5.2.1 Firstfootsteps 3.0 What do we mean by ‘mätauranga 5.2.2Theriseoftheiwi Mäori’? Towards a Definition 8 6.0 The worldview changes: the 19th 3.1 Asociologicaldefinition and 20th centuries 33 3.2 ‘MätaurangaMäori’isamodernterm 6.1 TheBible,theTreatyofWaitangi 3.3 ‘MätaurangaMäori’asatermabout andliteracy thetotalityofabodyofknowledge 6.2 Taongaasevidenceof 3.4 ChangeinmätaurangaMäori manawhenua 3.5 MätaurangaMäoripossessesa 6.3 TeRauparaha’searpendant: varietyofworldviews thestoryofa19thcenturytaonga 3.6 MätaurangaMäoriisinastateof 6.4 Contemporaryexamplesoftikanga rediscovery–anewcreativeperiod 6.4.1 Takai 4.0 What is mätauranga Mäori? 6.4.2Köpaki Towards an Epistemology 14 6.4.3Tiwha 4.1 Biasesoftheauthor 6.4.4Taongaandtüpäpaku 4.2 Developinganinterpretationof traditionalconcepts 6.4.5Heihoamötekörero 4.3 Mätauranga 6.4.6Use oftaongainWaitangi Tribunalclaims 4.3.1 Useof‘mätauranga’torefer tobiblicalknowledge 6.4.7Kaitiakitangaandownership oftaonga 4.3.2‘Mätauranga’andliteracy 6.4.8Deposit oftaongainmuseums 4.3.3Is‘mätauranga’anoldornewterm? toalleviateconflict 4.4 Kai 7.0 Implications for 4.5 Märamatanga museum practice 38 4.6 Möhiotanga 7.1 Thefutureoftaonga 4.7 Whakaahua 7.2 ThefutureofMäoriculture 4.8 Wänanga 8.0 Appendices 40 4.9 Tohu 8.1 Typesoftaongareferredtointhis 4.10 Summary text 8.2 References Kahu kiwi (kiwi feather cloak), Te Huringa I Iwi unknown Mätauranga Mäori and Museum Practice 03 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Interest in mätauranga Mäori ThisreporthasbeenwrittenbyTeAhukaramüCharlesRoyalofMauriora-ki-te-Ao/Living ‘MätaurangaMäori’isatermthathasincreasedinpopularityanduseinrecentyears. UniverseLtdforNationalServicesTePaerangi1.Thepurposeistopresentadiscussion It has somewhat eclipsed ‘Mäoritanga’ as a way of signifying the essentials of the pertaining to mätauranga Mäori generally and tikanga Mäori specifically, and their Mäoriworld–itsvalues,cultureandworldview.AnumberofthemesinrecentNew possibleintersectionandapplicationinmuseumpractice. Zealand history help us understand the growth in interest in and use of the term ‘mätaurangaMäori’. National Services Te Paerangi works in partnership Theseobjectiveswerereiteratedin2002andinJuly2003, with ‘other museums, iwi and related culture and afurthermeetingwasconvenedbyNationalServices One way of accounting for the rise in interest is to wayandtogenerallyconceptualisetheMäoridimension heritage organisations of New Zealand to support TePaerangi,whichfurtherendorsedthefindingsfrom consider contemporary interest in the ‘knowledge withintheknowledgeeconomy. them to enhance their capacity and the quality and economy’.Theterm‘mätaurangaMäori’isbeingused theprevioustwohuiheldhowever,thismeetingwent Another reason for the popularity of the term sustainabilityoftheirservicestotheircommunitiesfor to help facilitate the Mäori dimension within New 2 further to suggest the development of a set of ‘mätauranga Mäori’ is suggested by consideration of the benefit of all New Zealanders.’ In pursuing this Zealand’s knowledge economy. The 2003 report of principleswhichcanbeusedasatoolforiwibased Mäoriinterestintheprosecutionofclaimsbeforethe goal,NationalServicesTePaerangiconductsactivities 5 the New Zealand Institute for Economic Research museumservices. WaitangiTribunal.Whilstlandandothertangibleassets infourkeypriorityareas: (NZIER)onthe‘Mäorieconomy’suggeststhatthere and resources were and continue to be a significant havebeenthree‘waves’ofMäoriinvolvementinNew •standardsimplementation; 1.1 Acknowledgements featureoftheseclaims,itwasnotlongbeforeintangible Zealand’seconomy.Thefirstcommencedassoonas WewouldliketothankWharehuiaHemaraforassisting assets such as language and culture also became a •trainingandskilldevelopment; themarketeconomytookrootinNewZealandinthe withthecompilationofthebibliography,DavidGreenfor focus.TheMäorilanguageclaimoftheearly1980sisan •kaupapaMäoriiwidevelopment;and early11thcentury.This‘wave’constitutedtheexport editing the text and Jan Ainsworth for assisting with the example. Whilst its primary focus concerned the of Mäori labour and goods to the new markets •strategicregionalandlocaldevelopmentinitiatives. completionofthemanuscript. language,itsdeepermotivationslaywiththepossible operating in townships such as Auckland and lossofanentireworldviewandwayofexperiencingthe In 1996, National Services Te Paerangi initiated a Wellington,andfurtherafield(Sydney,forexample). MuseumsStandardsSchemewhichsoughttodevelop world which is facilitated through use of the Mäori andarticulatestandardsformuseumpracticethrough- The second ‘wave’ of Mäori entry into New Zealand’s language. The claim to indigenous flora and fauna out New Zealand. During the development of the marketeconomy,asnotedbyNZIER,camemuchlater (known as Wai 262) is perhaps the most well-known standardsscheme, andtooktheformofthesignificantriseinthevalueof exampleofaclaimpossessingasignificantmätauranga capitalassetsheldintheMäoriworld.Thisrisebegan Mäoridimension. Mäori participants also expressed the need to develop after the