New Zealand As an Example of Indigenous Inclusion in Environmental Issues
NEW ZEALAND AS AN EXAMPLE OF INDIGENOUS INCLUSION IN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Natalie Kerr
December 12, 2019 MUS 367 FInal Paper
Dr. Sharon Graf
Climate change currently threatens all inhabitants of the globe without regard for difference nor similarity. However, colonization and subsequent political decisions have marginalized and endangered indigenous Oceanic populations. New Zealand provides a case study that emphasizes the importance of including indigenous populations in climate related education, conservation, and policy. A more diverse approach to climate change that incorporates various identities and cultural connections is vital to protecting the population of the planet.
Introduction
Yesterday, Greta Thunberg was named the Time person of the year for her environmental activism. The teenager from Sweden made global news over the last year for her “School strike for climate” traveling to many countries to deliver passionate speeches about the dangers of climate change and the need to act immediately. This need is felt by many different groups across the world, and the dangers presented by climate change face every person on the planet. The damage that the human population has caused to the natural environment is particularly devastating to indigenous groups that have deep cultural, spiritual, and societal ties to the earth. In the United States, Native Americans have made headlines for protesting the use of sacred lands for a massive oil pipeline which recently sprung a leak devastating the ecosystem. Indigenous groups largely lost their land rights during colonization, which was an especially crushing blow given their regard for the land. Had it not been lost, perhaps there would not be the climate crisis seen today. It is increasingly important to consider indigenous perspectives and representatives in current scientific processes and policy decisions. Indigenous activism and education is necessary and can be supported by artistic efforts. One country that is making strides towards this goal is New Zealand, which will be discussed in depth from an etic perspective here as an example to the rest of the world. New Zealand provides examples of how indigenous, emic beliefs can be combined with modern science and etic beliefs for the benefit of the all. Artistic forms of activism blend well with these ideas to educate the world and equip indigenous communities with agency in the ever changing world.
Background
Political and physical conflict as a result of colonial contact and colonization is a common theme tying together oceanic communities [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. This contact and resulting conflicts were fraught with communication breakdown. One example is discussed by Richard Feinberg of Kent State University, who describes Anutan negotiations with visiting Taiwanese. Miscommunication and cultural differences allowed the Anutan to receive favorable trades at the expense of the Taiwanese. Certain negotiations result in the “death of a canoe.” The Pacific Islanders’ response to the loss of the canoe was different than the response of an American recording the experience would have been —the spiritual connection between the canoe and its owners was a powerful connection [4]. The concept of mana, spiritually given agency and power, was important in this example between the canoe and its owner as well as in those authorized to make political decisions and guide the communication bore extraordinary mana [4]. Mana was also held by the chiefs of Maori tribes when the British colonized New Zealand [4] [1] [3] [6]. However, in this instance, miscommunication resulted in the Maori signing the Treaty of Waitangi, which essentially tricked the Maori into surrendering their sovereignty to the British [6]. The British spoke of governance and the Maori spoke of mana. After taking advantage of the Maori, the British found themselves in the midst of violent land wars which prompted societal change. What followed was a harsh understanding of the new political climate in New Zealand. Ultimately, the native tribes united and created the Maori Parliament in 1892 [6] [3]. Later, the Maori stood up for their fellow colonized Pacific Islanders, advocating for Australia, Vanuatu, Hawaii, and other parts of the Pacific basin in 1982 [6]. Their reputation as activists persists today in headlines like “World looks to Maori on Environmental Issues” as Maori Activists support Native Americans protesting the pipeline crossing sacred Sioux land [7]. Indigenous collaboration is important and exists globally in a few forms. However, indigenous collaboration, representation, and agency begins on home soil.
Seven Maori electorates currently sit on the New Zealand parliament. While this representation is continually debated across New Zealand, the official website of Parliament states that “One th thing is clear though – as the Maori Representation Act celebrates its 150 anniversary, it stands as one of the building blocks of New Zealand’s democratic history” [8] [3]. Maori governmental representation affords them the respect they deserve. While relations between Maori and the New Zealand government have certainly improved since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, there is still work to be done in indigenous-government relationships throughout the world.
The Maori have a deep respect for their land exemplified by linguistics and religion. The earth mother and the sky father, known as Papa and Rangi in Maori, are worshiped in oceanic creation stories from many cultures. They are praised for providing a world for their children and their Maori decedents. While Papa is the earth mother, the earth itself is considered whakapapa, an ancestor. Thus, one must bear great, geographically specific mana known as manawhenua to make decisions relating to the land. The inhabitants are given the job of guarding the environment, an idea which is called katiakitanga, and the responsibility is guided by those holding manawhenua. Furthermore, temporary bans called rahui and tapu can be imposed on natural resources either through a physical ban or a spiritual restriction. This is done to protect the land from the people, or the people from the land [9] [10] [11] [3] [12] [1]. This intimate spiritual connection led to many inherent conservation practices. Common ecological missteps, including overfishing, overhunting, overworking the land, or misusing resources, are frequently prohibited by indigenous customs. Maori political representation means that they are also connected to environmental law and policy. However, environmental laws were not ratified until 1980 in New Zealand through the 1987 conservation act and 1991 resource management act [6]. The hesitation in these decisions was unsurprising considering the attitudes of colonial powers towards resources, expansion, industry, and environment.
The New Zealand Environmental Foundation and Law Foundation page on Maori and Environmental Law states that “the traditional Maori world view is notably different from the European” [3], which is a vital difference in the face of climate change. The University of Auckland surveyed 6812 Maori and found that their socio-political consciousness and spirituality was directly related to their positive and protective attitudes towards the environment [13]. These are aspects of Maori identity which intertwine with a respect for Maori rights and sovereignty. The research group hypothesized that the connection between the Maori and their land promotes spiritual connection, self-determination, and identity [13]. In the face of a global climate change crisis these vital pieces of identity, ways of life, and cultural connections may be at risk.
Current Concerns
Despite political representation and cultural connection, the Maori remain disproportionately threatened by climate change disasters in New Zealand. This is because of their proximity to the coast and their economic dependence on agricultural systems [14] [11] [9]. Costal proximity is a major concern for the entire oceanic populations of 42 million, especially as some islands could completely disappear due to rising sea levels; atoll nations like Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Maldives, and the Marshall Islands are most at risk for submersion [15]. Mass displacement and loss of cultural homeland would be devastating on many levels. Other forms of extreme infrastructural, health, biodiversity, economic, and natural disasters are also expected (CCATWG). Preparation for such a catastrophe requires the extensive planning and education efforts which are currently underway in New Zealand. There is a phrase headlining this movement: “‘Mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri, ā muri ake nei’ – For us, and our children after us” [14] [3]. The New Zealand Climate Change Adaptation Technical Working Group, (CCATWG), stated in their 2017 report that they are dedicated to informing and including indigenous people in discussion and activism relating to climate change, but their findings suggest that there are significant, Maori-specific education and planning gaps left to be filled.
These gaps are important, embarrassing, and unsurprising. Colonization historically has stripped agency and education from many groups, devaluing cultural norms and practices. The installation and practices of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii are a pacific-specific example of the above. These schools cruelly separated Hawai’ians from their culture and their music in particular, exchanging them for western traditions under the guise of charity to the poor, uneducated, savage Hawai’ians [5]. There are now extensive, traditional indigenous cultural education efforts and scholarships that take place in Hawaii in the Kamehameha school name. They strive to educate and include indigenous people in the research and decision making processes related to their deeply held cultural connections, and to nurture Hawai’ian traditions. Efforts such as this should be considered a basic part of reparations and rights afforded to indigenous persons who have been subject to colonization.
Some such efforts already underway in New Zealand are quite inspiring and fit the CCATWG’s goal of including Maori environmental knowledge in planning and environmental management efforts [14]. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research is funded by the Crown Research Institute and has a specific sector known as Te Kuwaha, which is the NIWA’s National Center for Maori Environmental Research. The researchers themselves are Maori and are committed to sharing their findings with Maori communities and businesses [16]. The National Department of Conservation also has a specific section dedicated to working with the Maori on conservation issues. They also provide funds to protect “indigenous biodiversity on Maori-owned land” and to support Maori in their efforts to “revive, retain, and promote traditional Maori knowledge and its practical use in the management of indigenous biodiversity” [12]. These nationally funded education efforts are vital to the success of partnerships between indigenous groups and scientific policy, especially because of the agency and identity thus restored to indigenous groups.
Outreach Projects
Recently, educational and research oriented efforts have come together in New Zealand to produce multiple collaborations and projects intended to support the CCATWG’s goal of Maori education, inclusion, and contribution to environmental remediation efforts. Two such projects are the Water Warriors collaboration between Puna Waimarie and Hagley College classes [10] and a project funded by the New Zealand Government via National Science Challenge bringing together Maori farming communities and educating them on climate change science through art and design [9]. Both projects, though working with different generations, emphasized the importance of collaboration between Maori environmental values and modern science.
The Water Warriors project paired young Maori students with older students from Hagley College to do freshwater water quality research. The goal was to provide an anchor between cultural values and science for both age groups and to foster reciprocal learning and mastery. The project was successful and had significant impacts on the students involved. One student from Hagley college said that “we need to carry this on, so that other people can see that this is our culture and that this is the stuff we live for,” while the younger Te Pa reported that they loved learning things and telling the older student lore like how “the wetlands are Papa’s kidneys!” They also reflected on the relevance of their cultural practices, like throwing back the first fish, in the light of climate change and water quality. One of the authors of the paper reported that “These were my own cultural codes that I had grown up with, that I knew all too well. If only my teachers had told me that this was science, I might have been an astronaut” [10]. Imagine if all Maori, young or old, knew that “this is science” and that their cultural beliefs could be expanded on. They would learn that their role as environmental protector could be enhanced by collaborating with modern science. The burden for making this connection should fall upon the systems that originally stripped the Maori of their land, education, and agency. The benefits of such collaborations are shown to be invaluable by the two governmental initiatives mentioned above and by the work of the Water Warriors who specifically mention that:
“matauranga Maori enriches the western perspective of science and provides a context in which we can safely authenticate and negotiate our respective codified ways of knowing and doing as Maori and or scientist in key areas of the future, such as freshwater quality” [10]. Matauranga Maori is the worldview held by the Maori and the term specifically acknowledges the changes to that worldview as a result of colonization over the generations [9]. It is a term encompassing contemporary, collective Maori knowledge. It is an important concept mentioned in the second example project that uses art to bridge the gap between science and matauranga Maori. The specific knowledge and worldviews held by the Maori in regards to the environment are incredible, featuring agricultural land reading and mapping skills reminiscent of the sailing prowess of Marshal Islanders [9] [1] [14] [11]. The project suggests that art and design or cultural knowledge be synthesized with science, so as to “complement and enlarge each other” and promote interdisciplinary, cross cultural research. The team involved in this project did just that, putting on workshops and holding meetings, as well as creating multiple art exhibits one of which was held on the Tahamata Incorporation farm in Kuku, Horowhenua. The team “communicated Maori values in a more spatial and visceral way” bringing families and community together to combine Matauranga Maori with modern science. This was accomplished in a way that promotes environmentally conscious best management practices that still supported economical, profitable family farms. Their last exhibition called This Time of Useful Consciousness: Political Ecology Now was showcased in the Dowse Art Museum in Wellington and was an artistic expression of the design strategies the team had derived from their research project. They also noted that “the power of art of design lies also in its capacity to crack open binaries, generating new ways of thinking, challenging assumptions and devising solutions” [9]. That power of art and design is similar to the power of performance and deeply connected to identity [2] [5] [1] [2]. This can be seen in many cultural practices from tattooing to carving, basket weaving to painting, music to dance. The Maori are known worldwide for their Haka, which itself has been controversial at times [17] [18]. Perhaps future artistic exhibits considering the climate change crisis will incorporate a version of the Haka that embodies the matauranga Maori of environmentalism.
Conclusion
A Maori Haka for the environment would not be the first demonstration of its kind, though it has the potential to be more widely received. Other indigenous populations have put on environmental activism performances across the globe, such as the performance of “Chauka Calling,” an emotional performance about climate change at the 2009 South Pacific beauty Pageant or New Zealand’s John Hanlon’s 1973 song “Damn the Dam.” Perhaps a haka would be a good addition to the next exhibition or research project exploring connection and collaboration between matauranga Maori and modern scientific practices. New Zealand has made large strides in indigenous inclusion in research and policy but still has plenty of work to do, as evidenced by the CCATWG report and recent news reports of environmental debates. Also, New Zealand cannot prevent climate change on its own; without the help of the rest of the world, the most the Maori and much of the rest of Oceania can hope for is an efficient disaster and evacuation plan from their coastal homelands. Perhaps cultural performance on a global scale by all populations bearing environmental connections is necessary to shake the world into action. References
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