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Māori and Bioprospecting

[ Last Updated 16 December 2005 ]
Status:Archived

PowerPoint Presentation Slides
to the
Bioprospecting in New Zealand Seminar, 21 February 2003

Manuka Henare
Mira Szászy Research Centre for Māori and Pacific Economic Development
University of Auckland Business School

This presentation is also available in
PowerPoint (645 KB) and
Adobe Acrobat (470 KB) formats
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Contents

Slide 1: Two Traditional Approaches

  • "I ngā wā o mua" - the past informs the present and shapes the future
  • In a Māori cosmological framework thought precedes materiality

Slide 2: Framework for Biotechnological Discussion

  • Māori approach to technology drawing on traditional religion, philosophy, metaphysics and worldview
  • Māori history - Ancestral activity informs the present generation of Māori

Slide 3: Key Points on Tradition

  • Traditions are needed in society
  • Traditions are properties of groups and collectives
  • Traditions give continuity and form to life
  • Tradition defines a kind of truth

(Anthony Giddens (1999) "Lecture Three: Tradition." BBC Reith Lectures 1999)

Slide 4: Quest for and Source of Knowledge

  • Ngā kete e toru (Three baskets of knowledge)
    • First - philosophy of love, peace, goodness - the study of humanity
    • Second - the knowledge of ritual, incantations, intercession and tradition
    • Third - the knowledge of the arts of war, agriculture, building and carving.

Slide 5: Mātauranga he Taonga Tuku Iho

  • Io wānanga, Rangi and Papa - first source
  • Te kauwae-runga - celestial knowledge
  • Te kauwae-raro - terrestrial knowledge
  • Ngā tūpuna - taonga tuku iho - second source
  • He kōrero tapu / he whakaaro tapu - deeper knowledge
  • He kōrero noa iho / he whakaaro noa iho - popular knowledge
  • Whare wānanga and whare pora institutions of learning

Slide 6: Tradition of Freedom to Choose

  • Knowledge from the baskets are taonga, tapu and has mana
  • Maintain the integrity of the knowledge

Slide 7: Quest for New Knowledge

  • Tane seeks knowledge, learning 3 baskets
  • Hongi Hika and Waikato visit England in 1820
  • Gave Māori written form
  • Encourage study of Christian Bible
  • Development of economic capacity
  • Search for new political institutions and leadership styles
  • New insights on humanity and the wider world.

Slide 8: Adaptations in Māori Society to New Technology and New Knowledge

  • White potato leads to increased food production, changes in land tenure
  • Import and exports - trade between Māori and Sydney, 1831
  • Purchase of trading ships and schooners
  • Added value - wheat farms to flour mills and ownership of ships

Slide 9: Māori Religion and Modernity

  • Traditional religion - open system of enquiry - tribal schools of learning - I te kore, ki te pō, ki te ao mārama - seek enlightenment
  • Sending young people to Sydney for catechetical studies and trades training, 1820s
  • Establishment of learning institutions distinct from the traditional whare wānanga

Slide 10: Transformations in the Māori Economy - 1

  • New technologies 1760s - changes in economy
  • Adoption of first official flag for trade, 1834
  • Formation of Confederation of Tribes
    • He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Niu Tīreni (Declaration of Independence) - new political order for trade and commerce, 1835

Slide 11: Transformations in the Māori Economy - 2

  • Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 1840 - as much about trade and economics as politics
    • No Māori intention to cede control over economy or politics
  • Tradition of Māori parliaments 1862, 1890s - pre-occupied with law, land, fishing and business

Slide 12: Traditional Māori Worldview

  • Cosmic view
  • Non- materialistic, non utilitarian view
  • Metaphysical view
  • Te Ao Hurihuri - Dynamic view of tradition and change
  • Te Ao Mārama - Māori Enlightenment

Slide 13: Conclusions - from Philosophy, Worldview and History - 1

  • Openness to new knowledge in itself
  • Represents indigenous peoples' Enlightenment - tradition and change
  • Māori Tradition redresses imbalances and excesses of Pākehā Enlightenment
  • Humanity has kinship relationship with nature and cosmos

Slide 14: Conclusions - from Philosophy, Worldview and History - 2

  • Humanity has primacy over technology
  • Māori have duties and responsibilities to seek an appropriate approach to biotechnology within own society
  • Knowledge and technology are to serve the common good and maintain tradition
  • Economy is embedded in culture and society - governed by ethics and values

Slide 15: Māori Concerns - 1

  • Perceived effects of bioprospecting on culture and traditions
  • Identifying and incorporating tangata whenua values into the regulatory process concerning bioprospecting
  • Lack of understanding inhibits:
    • scientific and business endeavours
    • Crown's and Māori responsibility inherent in Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Slide 16: Māori Concerns - 2

  • Applying bioprospecting technology and knowledge in a way acceptable to Māori partner
    • Intellectual property (Māori knowledge)
  • Need for more responsible decision making and policy development, including Māori participation in policy development and implementation

Slide 17: Māori Concerns - 3

  • Benefit sharing framework vs. ownership/kaitiaki responsibilities
  • Need to develop tikanga appropriate to bioprospecting by Māori for Māori
    • Research
    • Reaching common understanding - locally and nationally
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