traditional knowledge conference 2008 te tatau pounamu

Many authors have written about the importance of whakapapa and Māori traditional concepts in theconstruction of a distinctive Māori worldview for their research. But this content is neither analysed norelaborated on as a point of reference for their research, and is often abandoned as being based on deities thathave no reference point for a strong foundation on which robust research can be formulated.Kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophy) as a methodology is a very important framework. It provides thespace in which Māori ideals, values and experiences can be discussed in terms of the position of āhuatangaMāori (Māori features) and the legitimacy to exist. However, similarities of restriction for researchingtraditional knowledge can be drawn between kaupapa Māori and Te Ao Māori (the Māori world) asconcepts. To elaborate, Royal (2007) states that Te Ao Māori talks of a “world prescribed with an ethnicprescriptor, called ‘Māori’”. What is important are knowledge, experience and action designed to uphold andsometimes defend a “world” called Te Ao Māori. Te Ao Mārama, however, can be seen as follows:Te Ao Mārama, on the other hand, is a traditional set of terms (found in many iwi creation traditions)concerning the world of our actual experience, one could say the “real” world. The movement throughTe Ao Māori to Te Ao Mārama entails moving from consciously upholding or defending a world toembracing the world as it is and utilizing mātauranga Māori in our engagement with it. I see this as acreative task—utilizing our indigenous knowledge to make sense of our contemporary world. In away, one can consider this as a move from an “artificial” world called Te Ao Māori to the “real” worldof Te Ao Mārama. (Royal, 2007, p. 9)Full comparisons between kaupapa Māori and Te Ao Mārama methodology are not able to be elaboratedon here. What is important at this point is that Te Ao Mārama becomes an extension of Te Ao Māori, andbuilds on the knowledge that already exists in order for the creative potential of mātauranga Māori to berealized.The key point that distinguishes the Te Ao Mārama paradigm from the Te Ao Māori worldview, asdefined by Royal (1998a), is that traditional knowledge is sourced through methodologies such aswhakapapa, which serve to give humans a paradigm, cosmological picture and worldview orientation. Royalstates that this cosmological picture held an explanation for the creation of the world and also generated aphilosophical orientation to the phenomena of this world. The most important point he makes is that theparadigm of Māori knowledge is, at first, generated from cosmology of this kind.There I argue that the Māori worldview, the paradigm out of which all Māori culture was created, isentitled Te Ao Mārama. This Te Ao Mārama worldview arises out of cosmological whakapapa orgenealogies, which are metaphorical of the creation of the world and of the psyche of the human being(1998a, p. 4).Additionally, Royal (2006) states that researchers in mātauranga Māori often study ways in whichmātauranga Māori comes to form its views and perspectives on “existence”. The most important point hemakes is that this entails a study of mātauranga Māori approaches to the creation of knowledge and which,he says, ultimately leads the student of mātauranga Māori to wānanga. This, in effect, alludes to the fact thatmātauranga Māori is not the definitive endpoint of Māori knowledge but rather that the researcher’s ability to“wānanga” knowledge will lead to more infinite uses for such knowledge. In the context of this paper, this isreferred to as knowledge descending from divine knowledge or knowledge held by Atua (Maorigods/supernatural beings). This is illustrated by whakapapa/whakaheke pertaining to these Atua in thefollowing section.MethodologyWhakapapa/Whakaheke as MethodologyMāori have complex and sophisticated learning systems through which mātauranga Māori is transmitted andreceived. One such system is through the use of whakapapa. Whakapapa is regarded as an analytical tool tounderstand the Māori world and relationships (Pihama, Smith, Taki & Lee, 2004). Whakapapa/whakahekecan be used to outline the theogony of Atua and what “attributes, acts and gifts” they contribute to thecontext of humanity and the environment—in short, which wānanga they are responsible for.237