The New Zealand government-funded Ngā Kete o Te Wānanga (‘the baskets of knowledge’) project explores complementarities and synergies between science and mātauranga Māori (indigenous knowledge) to inform and enhance freshwater decision-making. A case study focussing on the protection of Māori rock art and wider cultural landscapes facilitated exploration and development a knowledge partnering (or convergence) frameworks in the context of freshwater management. Tāngata whenua[1] values, including land-based freshwater taonga[2] and wāhi tūpuna[3] can be significantly impacted by freshwater management decision making - but are rarely considered in current planning processes.
Preservation and management of rock art sites – including their freshwater taonga – requires a diverse knowledge of their history and archaeology, cultural values and biophysical characteristics to assess their vulnerability to resource management decisions. The cultural landscapes often contain important groundwater-dependent ecosystems (wetlands, spring and streams) and therefore an understanding their hydrogeological context is important . The partnering of knowledge was achieved using a collaborative process that involved local Maori knowledge-holders, an indigenous advocacy group (the Ngai Tahu Rock Art Trust) and a hydrogeologist (biophysical scientist).
A sensitivity mapping framework and guidelines were co-developed to help planning authorities identify potential risks to rock art panels and freshwater taonga from activities that have potential to modify the local groundwater and surface water environments. These are currently in the process of being refined and adopted by a local government planning authority. The guidelines and methodologies could be transferred to other land-based tāngata whenua freshwater values.
The outcomes of this research offer a practical gateway for partnering seemingly disparate knowledge systems - mātauranga Māori and biophysical science - to inform freshwater decision-making whilst also acknowledging the needs and aspirations of indigenous communities. Framing knowledge as ‘process’ (rather than ‘the thing known’) can allow new ‘convergent’ knowledge to emerge from sensitively designed and implemented transcultural and transdisciplinary partnerships. This work also helps to shift the predominant narrative of being ‘managers of a resource’ to being ‘managers of our interaction’ with ecosystems.
[1] tāngata whenua - Māori term that literally means "people of the land"
[2] taonga - a highly valued object or natural resource (including wetlands, springs and rivers)
[3] wāhi tūpuna - a place important to Māori for its ancestral significance and associated cultural and traditional values