Tohutohu- worldviews,
I am the daughter of a fourth generation Pakeha of Irish descent and a Ngati Whatua, Ngati Wai, Waikato Maori. I was raised not knowing a lot of my Maori heritage. My world view was typically Pakeha. As a young child my parents used to ask me, "Are you Maori or Pakeha?" Wanting to be loyal to both my parents, I would answer, "I'm each Maori and each Pakeha." They would laugh at my description. In my forties I began a journey of discovery of myself as Maori. I learnt to look at life through a Maori lens. I learnt to look at the world through the eyes of my tupuna.
I learnt to navigate the internal storms that arise when living a dual existence, a foot in each world. The culture of a life time, changing in a heartbeat. A yearning for the voices of tupuna long gone. Then there were the storms that arose when the people who I had built friendships with throughout my life began hearing a different perspective that I brought into our conversations. This occurred also into work relationships where my way of working was different to the way 'it' had always been done. These storms can brew up overtime or can strike with fierce abandon.
How do we cope with the storm? How do we predict it and prepare for it? What do we need to be safe in it?
Ko te mumu, Ko te awha, Ko te manihi kaiota.
I learnt to navigate the internal storms that arise when living a dual existence, a foot in each world. The culture of a life time, changing in a heartbeat. A yearning for the voices of tupuna long gone. Then there were the storms that arose when the people who I had built friendships with throughout my life began hearing a different perspective that I brought into our conversations. This occurred also into work relationships where my way of working was different to the way 'it' had always been done. These storms can brew up overtime or can strike with fierce abandon.
How do we cope with the storm? How do we predict it and prepare for it? What do we need to be safe in it?
Ko te mumu, Ko te awha, Ko te manihi kaiota.
Tidal turbines in Kaipara Harbour.
Within the waters of Kaipara Harbour are the children of Tangaroa. Although a gap analysis from Kaipara Harbour Management Groups showed the harbour was not in good health and that efforts were being made to restore it’s low levels of fish stock and marine life, it is easy to say that there would be no negative environmental effect on these systems and ecology was not robust enough to absorb the risks associated with an experimental energy project (Phillips2011). This relationship that Maori have with their significant waterways or bodies of water, is not easily understood by those from the dominant culture. Marsden (2003) describes the Maori view of the Natural world and Natural resource as being like human genealogical tables which denote successive generations of descent. Every living organism in the natural world, including trees, birds, fish or other object is part of a chain or procession of events. Dr Ranginui Walker (Marsden pg 34 ibid) distinguishes indigenous cultures as believing they have a special relationship with Mother Earth and her resourses. They think of themselves as an integral part of the natural order and as recipients of gifting rather than controllers or exploiters of their environment. From a non-Maori perspective, the environmental risk were studied by experts and considered of a low risk. The enterprise, should it eventuate will cost over $600 million dollars. After four years it should create a ‘modest but growing profit’ says the Crest Energy website (2013). This economic consideration has always been a strong argument for projects such as this. Pierre Bourdieu (1986) suggests cultural capital is an economic capital. Therefore the dominant culture has a greater investment towards projects like this one. The cultural capital for Maori, being the history, knowledge, and current responsibility or kaitiakitanga, holds little value in a neoliberal world view. Additional to this world view, is the view of science and technology. If you can create the technology then it equates to progress, and progress is good. Marsden (ibid) suggests, “The greater the so-called progress, the more deeply enmeshed a person becomes in the socio-economic process.” He called this the Metropolitan Culture and described it as a state of continual flux, where ambition, profit and power becomes the meaning of life.
Within the waters of Kaipara Harbour are the children of Tangaroa. Although a gap analysis from Kaipara Harbour Management Groups showed the harbour was not in good health and that efforts were being made to restore it’s low levels of fish stock and marine life, it is easy to say that there would be no negative environmental effect on these systems and ecology was not robust enough to absorb the risks associated with an experimental energy project (Phillips2011). This relationship that Maori have with their significant waterways or bodies of water, is not easily understood by those from the dominant culture. Marsden (2003) describes the Maori view of the Natural world and Natural resource as being like human genealogical tables which denote successive generations of descent. Every living organism in the natural world, including trees, birds, fish or other object is part of a chain or procession of events. Dr Ranginui Walker (Marsden pg 34 ibid) distinguishes indigenous cultures as believing they have a special relationship with Mother Earth and her resourses. They think of themselves as an integral part of the natural order and as recipients of gifting rather than controllers or exploiters of their environment. From a non-Maori perspective, the environmental risk were studied by experts and considered of a low risk. The enterprise, should it eventuate will cost over $600 million dollars. After four years it should create a ‘modest but growing profit’ says the Crest Energy website (2013). This economic consideration has always been a strong argument for projects such as this. Pierre Bourdieu (1986) suggests cultural capital is an economic capital. Therefore the dominant culture has a greater investment towards projects like this one. The cultural capital for Maori, being the history, knowledge, and current responsibility or kaitiakitanga, holds little value in a neoliberal world view. Additional to this world view, is the view of science and technology. If you can create the technology then it equates to progress, and progress is good. Marsden (ibid) suggests, “The greater the so-called progress, the more deeply enmeshed a person becomes in the socio-economic process.” He called this the Metropolitan Culture and described it as a state of continual flux, where ambition, profit and power becomes the meaning of life.