Kaitiakitanga: Maori perspectives on conservation

Abstract

Maori, like other indigenous peoples, are increasingly involved in attempts to provide appropriate cultural responses to environmental issues. These include efforts to translate and incorporate isolated parts of their language and traditional practises into the prevailing culture. Major problems with this process are the incommensurability of such attempts whereby the real meaning of a custom or word is frequently debased and divorced from its traditional cultural setting, so that its proper functioning is impaired. Added to this is the ignorance on the part of many concerning the conceptual world view, traditional beliefs and practices of the Maori ? or, if knowing these things, a lack of respect for their validity. On the other hand there are some, especially among the modern conservation movement, who have a more empathetic attitude towards indigenous ecological knowledge, but who thereby assume that their environmental ethics and those of indigenous peoples are motivated by similar philosophies and share similar aims. Not only is this assumption often wrong, it may also contribute to the inability of the western conservation movement to properly serve the needs of, and to fully empower, indigenous conservation aspirations as guaranteed to Maori under the Treaty of Waitangi. This paper addresses some of these issues by providing Maori perspectives on an increasingly important environmental concept: that of kaitiaki, and kaitiakitanga.

Rediscovery of Traditional Ecological Knowledge as Adaptive Management

“…Cultural values such as respect (for humans as well as for nature), sharing, reciprocity, and humility characterize a diversity of systems of traditional knowledge and practice, including those of American aboriginal groups (Alcorn and Toledo 1998), Africans (Dei 1993, Niamir-Fuller 1998, and Pacific Island peoples (Roberts et al 1995). Some of these values, such as reciprocity, also characterize local systems of management that seem to be operating sustainably in contemporary communities (Hanna 1998).…”

“…We do not wish to enter into the debate over aboriginal conservation, but suffice to say, exaggerated claims on behalf of traditional ecological wisdom require a reality check (Chapin 1988, Redford andStearman 1993). In any case, indigenous notions of conservation are fundamentally different from those of Western conservationists (Alcorn 1993, Dwyer 1994, Roberts et al 1995.…”

Culturally significant fisheries: keystones for management of freshwater social-ecological systems

“…Mātauranga Māori (Waitangi Tribunal 2011) The unique Māori way of viewing the world, a dynamic and evolving knowledge system encompassing traditional knowledge, language, and culture. Kaitiakitanga (Roberts et al 1995) The inherited nurtured responsibility of Māori to look after the resources within their tribal area. Derived from the verb tiaki, which means to guard, to protect, to keep, to watch for, to wait for.…”

Can the IUCN 2008 Protected Areas Management Categories support Pacific island approaches to conservation?

“…In the past, Pacific legislation that did not recognize the cultural distinctions between western and Pacific islander world views created conflict. For instance, the New Zealand Conservation Act of 1987 directs the Department of Conservation to undertake co-management of protected areas with Maori under the principles of the Treaty of Waitagi that involve 'the preservation and protection of ... resources for the purpose of maintaining their intrinsic values', which is at odds with the Maori concept of sustainable use (Roberts et al, 1995;Berkes, 2004).…”