Māori ways of knowing aren’t always best supported by Pākehā ways of being

Two wāhine from different backgrounds reflect on their growth developing Ko Au Te Taiao, an online learning resource that seeks to centre mātauranga Māori values. As Mero Rokx and Sarah Hopkinson worked through the complexities of this project, they discovered much more about themselves and their relationships to each other, place, and the cosmos. In this article, the co-authors consider ways of working together that enable authenticity and provide reflective questions for other practitioners embarking on similar kaupapa. 

Whakawhanaungatanga

I ahu mai ahau i Te Uranga o te Rā, i te pārekereke o Marotiri maunga. Ko Mangahauini te awa, ko Te Whānau a Ruataupare te hapū, ko Ngāti Porou te iwi. He hononga hoki āku ki Putauaki maunga, arā ko Te Pahipoto ki Ngāti Awa te hapū. Ko Mero Rokx tōku ingoa. I am currently the Kaupapa Māori lead at Te Papa Learning, and the co-lead of this resource, Ko Au Te Taiao.

Ko Sarah Hopkinson tōku ingoa. My ancestors came from England, Wales, and Norway. I grew up at the ankles of Taranaki on Ngāti Ruanui and Te Atiawa whenua. I am a māmā, a strategy creator, a curriculum designer, an urban farmer, a storyteller, and earth dreamer. I have been working alongside Te Papa Learning to develop online resources that connect schools across the motu with Collections Online. Mero and I have co-developed Ko Au Te Taiao , the latest resource from Te Papa Learning.

Now that Ko Au Te Taiao is in the world, it feels important to both of us that we reflect, record, and discuss together some of the largest lessons we have learnt in its development. We recognise our unique perspectives, so we’ve chosen at times to write our own responses. It is the gaps and overlaps between our perspectives, as Māori and Pākehā wāhine, that are interesting to notice and provide places for cross-cultural reflection.

Introduction

Ko Au Te Taiao centres Te Tiriti o Waitangi and aims to support the broadening of perspectives among teachers and learners throughout Aotearoa. It is an online resource providing teaching and learning activities for connecting with te taiao. It is far from perfect, but in the attempt, a great deal of lessons have been learnt.

In creating Ko Au Te Taiao, we have discovered more about ourselves, our relationships to te taiao and the work we do at Te Papa. The collaborative and organic nature of its design has resulted in the development of a taonga that carries the mauri of all those that contributed, it is living evidence of the process becoming the outcome.

Ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au

Mero reflects

One of the beautiful things about whakataukī is the way that they expose perspectives through interpretation. Ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au is much deeper than the expression ‘I am nature’.

Ko au – I am.

I am the legacy of my ancestors – tūpuna who go as far back as the beginning of time, and beyond. I am Papatūānuku, I am Ranginui, and I am everything that exists between them. The innate philosophy that I have of being a descendant of the earth, the stars, and the sky is what ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au means to me.

Ko au – I am.

I am a mother, he ūkaipō. I reflect on my role as a mother, and the inherent obligation of continuing the legacy passed down to me. I feed my offspring into the night, such as the expression ‘he ū-kai-pō’, both fuel to physically grow, and knowledge to understand the responsibilities that they will inherit as being descendants of Ranginui and Papatūānuku.

Co-contributor to the resource, Watene Campbell, expressed a whakataukī that was passed on to him by one of his mentors, Te Korou Whangataua – tū nui, noho iti – stand confidently but sit with humility. This whakataukī was shared when we performed for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. While listening to Watene, I began to notice the relevance of this whakataukī to this resource too. As a mokopuna of Papatūānuku, I realised that I am insignificant in the spectrum of te taiao, but that my actions are significant.

Ko au – I am.

I am iwi, hapū, maunga, and awa. I am my pepeha, the expression of all things that sustain me, the people, the mountains, and the rivers. This was illustrated to us when Sarah and I visited featured artist Winifred Hinerangitoariari Belcher in Mangaone, a village outside of Shannon. Hine Wini (as she referred to herself) spoke with us about the whakapapa of her paintings – about Io, Ngā Whā, Tāne, and Whiro. She stated that she was merely just a portal for te taiao to illustrate what was, and what is needed for restoration. It was at that moment that Sarah and I realised that we were also merely portals for forces that are much larger than we can imagine.

Being in-tune with te taiao is about recognising our place within the ecosystem. From a Māori perspective this acknowledges our position as pōtiki – the youngest of the family. As pōtiki, a natural attachment develops, and this is what we call te matemateāone, the yearning and innate desire to be cradled by Papatūānuku, immersed in te taiao. So I feel her hunger, her thirst, her pleasure, and her pain. My whakapapa is her whakapapa, and my place and impact filters through the web of connections that binds us all together.

Ko au te taiao, ko te taiao ko au.

Through this resource, we enact Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Sarah reflects

There has been momentum in recent years, through both the Ministry and NZQA, to recognise the equal status of mātauranga Māori in schools. It is a lofty ambition, and one that deserves attention. But it comes with considerable challenges, not least of which is that almost 75% of teachers in schools are Pākehā, and mātauranga Māori belongs with hapū, iwi, and those who whakapapa Māori. There is a tension and challenge between these two truths.

So, creating a resource for schools to embark on a journey of authentic discovery, that might further enable safe spaces for those who whakapapa Māori, felt like a useful offering to support the sector. Developing Ko Au Te Taiao, alongside Mero has been an honour.

Through the process, I have learnt that: 

• Mātauranga Māori values are informed by practice that is led by Māori, rather than by what might be learnt abstractly. 
• Knowledge is deeply place-based and has evolved from embodied ways of living in relationship with te taiao, over generations. 
• There is no fixed content, no singular truth or universally accessible information that is available to all.

I think there are lots of Pākehā, like me, who support the vision of Aotearoa being a place in which te ao Māori is revered by all, cultivated and celebrated. An Aotearoa in which indigenous ways of knowing lead us forward.

I also think that many of us are still realising that there is really no way to do this inside Pākehā systems as they stand. Put simply, Māori ways of knowing are not best supported by Pākehā ways of being. And knowing this, if someone asked us to start the project again, Ko Au Te Taiao would almost certainly not be on a website. It’s somewhat of an oxymoron.

So for me, alongside a commitment to centring mātauranga Māori, there also needs to be an acknowledgement that we cannot do this inside Pākehā models of transmission. We just don’t know what we don’t know. And that’s okay. It’s important we accept the un-knowing.

So committing to enacting Te Tiriti has to be followed with conversations about the ways the structures, pedagogies and practices need to evolve to centre Māori ways of being, alongside Māori ways of knowing. In this way, enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi is predominantly Pākehā work, the work of getting “right-sized” in relation to indigeneity. I wonder what beautiful things would manifest if we could put Pākehā energy at shoulder and behind those that whakapapa Māori. We don’t need to lead out all the time.

There is a great deal to reflect on here. One of the largest lessons is humility. I remember chatting to Mero at one point about understanding myself as a toddler on my Te Tiriti journey. There is much to celebrate about toddlerhood – I’ve begun walking, clumsily, in shoes that support tino rangatiratanga. And I’m developing some important competencies in knowing myself as a Pākehā body.

But with toddlerhood comes a new kind of confidence that makes many, many mistakes.

We don’t know the risks of running with scissors.

The important thing is not to shy away from this stage of toddler awkwardness. Not to see the trips and the grazes and bumps as failures. I am embracing the learning and grateful for the support around me. It is important that I continue to focus on the invitation from tangata whenua to know myself better.

It is the only way to learn, the only way to grow.

Over the course of developing this resource, Mero and I have begun a wonderful friendship. We have found ourselves talking widely about our histories, experiences, and truths, about what it is to be a Māori woman and what is to be a Pākehā woman. Our lives have deep contrasts and many things in common. Both are delightful to notice. And I have learnt so much about so many of my Pākehā habits and assumptions, because hard things have been able to be talked about with softness.

I don’t know exactly how friendships grow, but they certainly take time. And when we have that time, we can talk from the heart knowing the ears of the other are listening. This article is a reflection of that trust. And through this trust, new possibilities rise. Ko Au Te Taiao has taught me there really is so much listening to do, to truly do things differently.

Mero reflects

Enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a foreign concept to me. I simply focus on being myself and notice when situations and contexts don’t allow space for that. To know, to be, and to do as Māori, both safely and authentically, is what I consider to be a space that enacts Te Tiriti.

The enactment of Te Tiriti within education means radically different things in different settings. I have witnessed this as a learner, as a kaiako, and as a parent in both Māori medium and English medium. It has only been in kohanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori that I have experienced a true enactment of Te Tiriti. Even this could be an overstatement, considering the under-resourcing. The success of enacting Te Tiriti in these settings was only through whānau, hapū, and iwi efforts. Over the years, as a professional, I have observed the challenges, the efforts, and the failures. These failures do not fall on the individual but rather, on the system.

To know, to be, and to do as Māori, means that I am equipped to be Māori, my whakapapa is acknowledged, and my surroundings reflect who I am. By being equipped, I have, or have access to, te reo, tikanga, and mātauranga. Ko Au Te Taiao is an opportunity for me to advocate for Te Tiriti, gently manipulating the discrepancies to privilege all of the above and to counteract the dominant values. It is our hope that this resource assists the growth of safe and authentic spaces for Māori to know, to be, and to do as Māori.

Tāne, naturally features strongly within the mātauranga of te taiao. Aptly, it was also Tāne who went to the heavens to collect the three baskets, or kete, of knowledge. This synonymous connection between te taiao and mātauranga further aligns with how the state of the natural environment reflects the state of the people – when it thrives, so do we.

The kete that Tāne collected illustrates the knowledge that we gain through experience but also through epigenetics. Enacting Te Tiriti requires kaiako to evaluate the contents of their kete and develop an understanding around what a safe and authentic space looks, sounds, and feels like for Māori, including the unlearning of biases.

It is my hope that Ko Au Te Taiao will support kaiako to dig deep into their kete and learn to unlearn.

Questions

• What are the contents in your kete of knowledge? What might be hiding in there that can be unlearnt?
• What are the features of design processes that truly centre kaupapa Māori?
• How can workplaces support the growth of critically compassionate collegial friendship, trusting that meaningful outputs will happen as a result of these friendships?
• What are the structures in place that enable the lessons and growth from one project to be used as nutrients for future projects?

Through this resource, we develop more active relationships with Papatūānuku

Mero reflects

Reflecting on my active relationship with Papatūānuku,  I am reminded of the saying ‘he mokopuna koe nā Hinetītama’.

Hinetītama is the child of Tane and Hineahuone and the grandchild of Papatūānuku. It takes more than a blog post to properly explain the story of Hinetītama but, to put it simply, she is the personification of what it means to be interconnected. She is the epitome of life and death, and reminds us of the value in drawing on mātauranga passed down through whakapapa wāhine.

In harnessing the mauri of Papatūānuku, and of Hinetītama, developing Ko Au Te Taiao meant that I had the chance to favour the works of wāhine such as Winifred Hinerangi Toariari Belcher, Robyn Kahukiwa, and Lisa Reihana. Like all of these wahine ringa toi, I am a descendant of Hinetītama, I am resolution, we are life and we are death. Using their work in this resource reaffirmed the value placed in mātauranga gained through being wahine Māori. This isn’t a united we stand sentiment, this is about recognising that wahine Māori experiences are in-tune with te taiao more than anyone else. Hinetītama did not just personify life and death due to being the first human and eventually becoming the goddess of death. Hinetītama personifies life and death because she experienced every trial and tribulation that exists within the spectrum.

The links between the destruction of te taiao and the dishonouring of te Tiriti are a culmination of attitudes that align with the diminishing of mana wahine. That combination of interconnectedness and trial-tribulation that Hinetītama represents, is the mauri that guided my contributions to Ko Au Te Taiao. I thought about my descendants and the world in which they needed to thrive, mauri balanced both in te taiao and within themselves.

I advocate for them.

Sarah reflects

When I take a look around Aotearoa New Zealand, it is abundantly clear that all is not well. The values that my Pākehā ancestors brought to this land have also brought us to this moment, a time where those in kāwanatanga spheres of power are not informed by life giving systems. From inside a Pākehā worldview that continues to individualise, capitalise, exploit and commercialise, it is impossible to be in a living relationship with Papatūānuku.

The dominant worldview needs to urgently transform its understanding – we belong to the earth, the earth does not belong to us. Ko Au Te Taiao, is an attempt to help with the remembering that is required – a rich opportunity to stop and notice our interconnectedness. It feels essential in these times. I trust you can feel this as intently as I can.

Pākehā values are both the reason, and the conditions, for this colonised reality. But there is nothing inevitable about the systems that we work within, or about who we get to be next. So for me, Ko Au Te Taiao provides me with powerful guiding directives that help me imagine into new/old ways of being. It helps me remember that:

• I am only as well as the world around me for I am entangled.
• The health of the waterways, the forests, the tuatara, the fungi – of all that is seen and unseen, in the living world around us, is my health too.
• We are not separate from each other or the other living beings that surround us.
• We are not more important than those that have gone before us, or those that will come after us.
• We are the simple energy of the earth, organised as human bodies, connected across time and space with everything that was and everything that will be.

Put simply, this resource is a reminder that we are earth.

For many non-Māori, particularly Pākehā like me, we have to go a very, very long way back to remember a time when our ancestors belonged to the earth mother and had an intergenerational sense of care for her wellbeing. So mātauranga Māori provides a place from which we can be inspired to do this work of remembering.

The earth mother, Papatūānuku, in her generosity, holds us all as her children, even in the unbalance, even in this unravelling. She is whispering, plaintively, I am alive, I am alive, I am alive and these whispers, sometimes now shouted, are becoming more urgent than ever before.

Questions

• What contributions can we make to support hapū and iwi aspirations?
• How can you grow your own connection to your aliveness?
• What are the transformative practices that you can support or engage in directly that are regenerating our lived relationships with Papatūānuku?

Parting thoughts

Ko Au Te Taiao is not about cognitive knowledge or teaching a singular truth about the taonga that Te Papa cares for. Ko Au Te Taiao encourages us all to observe te taiao, engage with our shared histories, and consider the wisdom of indigenous ways of knowing.

When we began developing Ko Au Te Taiao it became clear that we needed to take these lessons on ourselves. From the start, this kaupapa required us to move differently, listen deeply and surrender to the flow.

One of the challenges was the relationship between te taiao and Te Papa. This building, with all its hard lines and poured form, does not necessarily speak the language of the soil, the sea and all those that call te taiao home. The drawers, and the accession numbers, don’t necessarily speak the language of entanglement and interconnectedness. Te Papa is not the most obvious place from which to talk about nature connection.

But in prioritising time with taonga, time in te taiao, and time in story, we have enabled the development of a resource that is led by over seventy taonga, each of them act as wayfaring signposts from where we are inside Te Papa and the dominant paradigm, back to place, back to whenua, back to story, and back to life.

View the resource

View Ko au te taiao: Recognising that we are nature through mātauranga Māori values and the collections at Te Papa in the Teaching resources section of our website.