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Cultural MappingDuring the Ngāi Tahu ClaimTrevor Howse workedtirelessly for his people.Trevor played a significantrole for the Ngāi Tahu MāoriTrust Board, helping organiseand drive the Claim behindthe scenes. He collated a vastamount of the informationpresented to the WaitangiTribunal, managed the landbank process between NgāiTahu and the Crown, and wasa member of the Ngāi Tahu‘A-Team’ that spearheaded thenegotiation process.Today his knowledge andexpertise is once again helpingdrive another important tribalinitiative in the Ngāi TahuCultural Mapping project.“The history of TeWaipounamu is in thefootprints our tīpuna leftbehind; and today the bestevidence of these footprintsare the names they gave tothe places they lived, huntedand visited as they movedabout the land,” says Trevor.“So we go back to the land,the whenua, and we putthe names in place becausethat’s where the history is.Academia has given us onepart of history – we have aresponsibility to take thatother piece and putit together.”(Ngāti Kurī)“It is what I call the real storyof Te Waipounamu and ittakes in everything. It is notselective, it is encompassingand brings everythingtogether. It takes you throughall those questions you’vebeen asking that brings thewhole of the island intoplay. We do not shut doorsanywhere – we are in factopening doors. It’s excitingwork,” he says.“I am grateful to be part ofthe process. If we are goingto remain a people we can’thave just a few carryingthe information.”The Ngāi Tahu CulturalMapping Project is usingthe latest GeographicalInformation System (GIS)technology to record, mapand transmit traditionalNgāi Tahu knowledge. Withthe aid of GIS technologythe stories and place namesthat record Ngāi Tahuhistory in Te Waipounamuare being mapped onto avirtual landscape for futuregenerations.GIS integrates computertechnology for capturing,managing, analysing anddisplaying all forms ofgeographically referencedinformation. It allows the userto view, understand, question,interpret and visualise datain many ways that revealrelationships, patternsand trends in a varietyof mediums.Trevor Howse was one ofthe key researchers duringthe Ngāi Tahu Claim periodand his work and expertisenow help guide the culturalmapping project.“In the timeframe of theClaim, we didn’t have enoughtime to use all the informationwe gathered. We certainlydidn’t have the technologythat is now available tous,” says Trevor. “It is justwonderful to see the workthat we are producing, andI can only imagine what wewill be able to do in the futurewith the way technologyis progressing.”Ngāi Tahu place names,traditional travel routes,Māori reserved land andother areas of culturalsignificance are examplesof the knowledge that isbeing recorded on the GIStechnology. In essence the GIStool is where relationshipscan be analysed and thenvisualised in the form of maps.The system allows layers ofinformation to be laid over theland, bringing the informationto life and giving it greatercontext.In conjunction with themapping of cultural valuesis the development of areference based system guidedby kaumātua and maraerepresentatives to ensure theauthenticity and integrityof information.Although the GIS technologyis critical to the project, theheart of the work is carriedout in the field, visiting sitesand collecting the historiesof Ngāi Tahu. Sometimescultural sites have beenincorrectly mapped, but byusing mobile GIS devices in thefield to record the knowledgeof local people, the locationsof these cultural sites canoften be corrected.“Ultimately we will be judgedby our peers at the marae,”says Trevor. This mahi willempower our people. I havewaited a long time to seethis happen.”36 37