Whakaika te Moana

"Ka tākina te kawa, whakaika rā te Moana a Tangaroa-whakamau-tai"

No mua rawa i te taenga mai ō tauiwi, i rawekeweke ai, i whakawhanake ai, whakahaere hoki ai e ngā matua tupuna i ngā momo hanganga pēnei i te pā-ika, te pā-tuna, te pā-auroa me ngā momo māra-mātaitai. Ko ēnei pūkenga, he mōhiotanga, he mātau, i whakaheke mai i ngā kāwai whakapapa i heke iho i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Ehara ēnei auahatanga i te hanganga kikokiko noa, he tīaki, kei roto, he mana-aki, otira, he rangatiratanga ō te mauri ora kei roto i ēnei kura-huna. He tānonitanga ēnei mātauranga i te āhuatanga ō ngā kawa, ngā tikanga, me ngā ritenga tuku iho hei whakahuahua, hei whakamatomato te tupu ō ngā ika, ō te waitī, ō te wai-tā hoki.

Indigenous cultures have been practicing aquaculture in the Pacific and Aotearoa New Zealand for hundreds of years. The Hawaiian loko iʻa (fishponds) and the Canadian clam gardens of today are successful examples of local, indigenous economies based on traditional aquaculture practices. Māori have been alienated from their traditional aquatic cultivation practices (TACP) and their ability to enact kaitiakitanga over marine spaces, their inherent rights as practitioners are undervalued, and their contribution to aquaculture is not yet recognised. Thus, there are no examples of aquaculture operating from a Māori paradigm. 

Mā te mōhio, ka mātau, ka mārama.

Through active practice comes understanding and enlightened wisdom.

E tika ana, mā te wairua tūku iho ēnei mahi rangahau e kawe. I hangaia e mātou i etahi tikanga rangahau no ngā kura ō te Wānanga, hei waka kawe whakaaro mo ngā mahi ō ngā pou ō tēnei whare mātauranga.

1. Te Pou-Kai-Āwha – Me wānangahia i ngā aronga ō ngā hapū hapū kia whakatōpū he ‘Pūna Mātauranga’.
2. Te Pou-Toko-Manawa – Me Wherawherahia i nga akoranga ki ngā momo ture e tāmia ana i ngā hapū, kia whakataiapa mai i tētahi huarahi e taea ai ngā hapū te whakatairanga i ngā pā-ika.
3. Te Pou-Tu-a-Rongo – Me tūhono atu ki ngā mōhiotanga a ngā tūakana ō te Moana Nui-a-Kiwa he whakatauirataga mo ngā mahinga whakarauora Taiao a ngā hapū. Kei kīa he wānanga ō te ‘Tuakana me te Teina’.

We are aiming to implement this philosophy, to retrieve and re-initiate Māori TACP through a ‘practice-first’ approach and wānanga-based applied science research methodology. Our 3 research aims or pou (pillars) are:

1. Te Pou-Kai-Āwha – Use key meaningful engagements and wānanga to record the aronga of specific hapū TACP and establish a ‘Pūna Mātauranga’ or corpus of mātauranga Māori to draw from.
2. Te Pou-Toko-Manawa – Examine the akoranga around legislative restrictions and limitations for hapū, establish a clear consenting pathway to initiate hapū based TACP.
3. Te Pou-Tu-a-Rongo – Use a ‘Tuakana – Teina’ approach to develop practical examples of hapū (Māori) based restorative aquaculture, through observing the mōhiotanga of indigenous practitioners of the Pacific.

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E tūmanakō ana mā te tira rangahau nei, hāpai i ngā Kaitiaki mātauranga ō Ngaruahine, ō Te Awa Tūpua ō Wanganui, ki te whakatānoni mai i nga pūkorero ō ēnei pūkenga, hei pūna mātauranga mo ngā pukenga pā-ika, māra-mātaitai hoki. Ka whakarūnanga mai i ngā pūkenga taiao a ngā uri ō Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, ki tēnei ohu rangahau. Ka tūhono atu ki ngā tohunga Loko i`a me ngā tohunga mārā mātaitai ō te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, hei hāpai ō te whakarauoratanga ō ngā mōhiotanga Māori. Otirā kia whakatinana i te āhuatanga ō te Tuakana me te Teina hei iho pūmanawa mo ngā wānanga nei.

We are investigating the TACP and knowledge and practices held by our hapū partners from Whanganui and South Taranaki, and our indigenous relatives, to re-explore a hapū-based blue economy. We are applying a ‘Tuakana – Teina’ approach to support the reclamation of the TACP by learning from our relatives in Hawai`i and Haida Nation (Canada), who are active practitioners. We will breathe life back into our practices through a novel cross-cultural wānanga series. Strengthening an international indigenous practitioners’ network (Aotearoa, Hawai`i, Canada where possible), we will draw on the collective wisdom to innovate new aquaculture focused mātauranga alongside our hapū partners.

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Mā te Māori a ia anō e hāpai, e whakarauora ki te rapu i te ara e tiaki ai i te Ao-tūroa, mā tōna mātauranga, mā nga ūmanga pūtaiao (o te EBM), me nga ūmanga pākihi a ngā hapū ake. Nā tēnā, ka kauwhatatia ngā wānanga rangahau nei, hei rapu i te mōhio, ō ēnei kura huna, e whakatinana mai ai i te mana motuhake me te rangatiratanga ō ngā hapū ki tā ngā tikanga ō te Te Tiriti ō Waitangi. Me hura i ētahi ara ki te Kaitiakitanga mo enei tikanga tawhito-hou a te Māori, hei hua mō te hangarau, me te pākihi e tupu matomato ai ngā ika i nga takiwā katoa o Tangaroa, me ōna mātauranga katoa.

The blue economy has not yet been defined specifically for Aotearoa, nor explored within our unique Treaty context. This project is exploring examples of where a blue economy can honour the Treaty partnership and create space for mātauranga, kaitiakitanga and TACP centred around hapū local economies. A blue economy defined by hapū will improve livelihoods and generate restorative aquaculture to support ecosystems that promote the health, wealth and wellbeing of hapū and their communities.

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Ko te pae tawhiti e kainamu mai nei, kia whakaoho i te hinengaro Māori o ēnei rā, ki ngā tikanga tuku iho o te pā-ika, te mārā mātaitai, te pā-tuna me āua momo hanganga. Otirā, ki te ōhia i ngā rauemi pū-taiao, ngā rauemi hangahanga ō naianei hei whakarewa ano i ēnei pā hangahanga a te Māori. E tumanako ana kia rere te wairua Māori mai i te timatatanga ō tēnei kaupapa rangahau, tae rawa atu ki te pūakītanga ō ngā hua, ngā rauemi ki ngā hapū. Me tangata-whenua ai ngā pūkenga o te reo Māori, me ōna tikanga, me ōna mātauranga, me ona kura pākihi hoki, ki roto i ngā mahinga mōana o ngā hapū o te motu, kia whakaika te moana, kia uru-oratia te Ao-tū-roa. 

The re-connection of hapū to mātauranga, tikanga, kawa, and traditional aquaculture practice will have cascading impacts and effects for hapū including building their local blue economy. Not only will this expression of kaitiakitanga support our blue economy and an ecosystem-based management approach, it will also be a catalyst for Māori development. This may include reinforcing te reo Māori retention, exploring mātauranga-based engineering, as well as supporting kaupapa Māori approaches to aquaculture, indigenous innovation, bilingual education, and potential future economic activities. These will be significant contributions to the Aotearoa blue economy and a unique point of difference benefiting all New Zealanders.

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Project page image: A lamprey and eel weir on the Whanganui river, photographed in 1921 by James McDonald. Two men in a waka are attending the weir © Alexander Turnball Library