Soon after separating Ranginui and Papatūānuku, Tāne travelled into the heavens with the various celestial bodies, to suspend them in the sky bringing light unto the world. Within the basket ‘Te Mangoroa’ Tāne carried the stars, from which he drew forth the brightest and placed them against the chest of Ranginui. So enthralled was Tāne at what he had achieved that he accidently knocked the basket over scattering the remaining stars across the cosmos. As the stars spilled from the basket they clattered against one and other creating a ringing sound that resonated throughout the universe.

Almost 30 years ago, Jeffrey Sissons, noted historian, proposed two major types of histories principally relating to northern tribal region of New Zealand: (1) founding and (2) conquest. Founding traditions ‘concern marriage, birth and residence; they establish relations between hapū [kin groups] with respect to land’, he wrote (1988, p.200). Certainly this description may apply elsewhere in Aotearoa. There is another dimension of founding narratives that we want to talk about: the voyaging waka. These kōrero (stories) concern entrepreneurial leadership, discovery and expansion.

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga is delighted to announce that our first Horizons of insight seminar for 2014 is taking place next week. By our own Senior Research Fellow - Research Performance Dr Marilyn Tangi Ina McPherson When: Wednesday 26th March 2014 Where: Wharekai, Waipapa Marae, University of Auckland Time: 2-3 PM 

This research is a retrospective auto ethnographical account detailing the life history of my son Jonathon Kyle te Rau Aroha Brewin, born 10/10/75 and died 21/7/85. This is a story full of the many concepts related to happiness, joy, love and deep, deep sadness.

The wide variety of cultural and social features among Māori present a formidable challenge to those who seek to understand Māori identity – what ‘it’ is and how ‘it’ may be conceptualised and defined.

The 5 October 2011 grounding of the MV Rena on Otaiti was acknowledged as the worst environmental disaster in New Zealand’s history. The grounding and subsequent pollution had significant environmental impacts that were experienced in anthropogenic terms as impacts upon social, economic, and cultural well-being. The Ministry for the Environment responded with the Rena Long-Term Environmental Recovery Plan launched on 26 January 2012. The plan’s goal is to “restore the mauri of the affected environment to its pre-Rena state”.

Minority language speakers are being placed under increasing pressure to use languages that are moredominant, more prestigious, or more widely known. This is particularly so when using internet–based technology. Ironically, minority language groups are increasingly embracing the power of this technology as they struggle to ensure the continued health and survival of their own languages. Māori are no exception. Initiatives involving the Microsoft Corporation, Moodle and Google Inc. have resulted in a range of localised interfaces now available in the Māori language.

Associate Professor Paul Kayes, Kia Maia Ellis and James (Hemi) O’Callaghan will discuss the Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research project they are leading - “An investigation into the fisheries resources and interests of iwi, hapū and marae within Tauranga Moana and the impacts caused by the grounding of the CV Rena”. This research aims to assess the status of selected taonga shellfish (including pipi, tuatua, kina and pāua) resources within the Rohe Moana o Tauranga Moana, and the impacts caused by the grounding of the cargo vessel Rena on these fisheries and iwi ability to manage them.

Dr Joseph Te Rito will describe in this seminar the development of a spoken language corpus of the Māori language, and efforts to enhance it for the language’s revitalisation. The spoken corpus is that of the Rongomaiwahine and Ngāti Kahungunu tribes. It is comprised of over 2,000 on-air recordings of elders for whom Māori is their first language. The collection has been created and gathered over the last 25 years by Radio Kahungunu, which Dr Te Rito heads.

Dr Shaun Ogilvie explored new frontiers of knowledge in this seminar by posing a new approach for the relationship between what are often considered to be two distinct bodies of knowledge: mātauranga Māori and applied ecology.

To watch the video of this seminar, click here