traditional knowledge conference 2008 te tatau pounamu

e lelei.” I will give an example to show how difficult this is, from the interface of learning and teachingin secondary school. We worked on a project at Mt Roskill Grammar with Mere Kepa. The Tongansused to come along in the evening, see Mere and say, “Hello, Mere.” Mere would turn round and say,“Mālō ‘etau lava.” It blew them away because they didn’t expect a Māori to greet them in their ownlanguage. The intonation was so right. From that day, the Tongans would come along and start talkingaway in Tongan to Mere. Mere would go, “Io…” Mere Kepa was involved in in-depth conversationswith Tongans and meanwhile the Tongans would only say, “Kia ora.” I have seen how Mere’s effortscontributed to that relationship which goes back to 1991. This is 2008 and I know that the issue of thelanguage we use is not going to go away.SemisiIn terms of the research that many of you are probably going to undertake, I know you will have yourown form of talanoa. I realize that when I was using it for my research I was taking a means ofcommunication that was precious to my people and using it in an environment that was abstract andforeign. My plea to you, if you are going to use it, is that it is more than a tool. It is a way that belongsto your people, so look after it and don’t twist it. Don’t bastardize it! Otherwise it will be lost. Preserveit for what it is, in depth. It will enrich your research. That’s the way I employed it and I wouldchallenge any academic who intends to use something from their culture to further research in anappropriate way and to do so in that spirit of preservation in sustaining your own way of doing things.SioneIt has been an honour for us to share our experience and understanding of the concept and practice oftalanoa. It is a concept that is broader than mere tools of communication, methodology or research. Wehave attempted to put it in the context of sharing knowledge, co-owning knowledge and respecting anyform of knowledge. Hopefully, one day talanoa will contribute to the advancement of our knowledgeand indigenous knowledge, in particular.Glossaryanga-e-nofoAotearoafalemāfanamahenimālō e leleiMoananui (a Kiwa)noaPākehāPālangipōpunaketalataketalanoatangata whenuatangatatohitohinoawhenualivingNew Zealandhouseenergyto be accustomed to or familiar withgreetingsPacificsafe; the depth of; a point of reference; dumbNew Zealander of European descentwhite person, English languagenight, to catch/captureexpert, as in an artist(music) or a poettalking, sharing stories, words, historiesissueto tell stories, relate experiences, a research methodpeople of the land, indigenous people of New Zealandperson, peopleto writerecord your daily life, diaryland105