Noho Taiao: reclaiming Māori science with young people

Abstract

Connections and belonging to ancestral lands are strongly and consistently argued as fundamental to Māori education, health and wellbeing. When our connections with and access to health-promoting places of belonging are damaged, we lose more than component parts of wellbeing. An entire cultural infrastructure integral to identity, community, spirituality, sustainability and even material sustenance is eroded, compromising health, wellbeing and vitality. Young people in rural areas are often seen as missing out on the amenities and attractions available in cities, but are assumed to have compensatory access to and positive relationships with 'nature'. For multiple reasons, many arising from colonial legacies, this is often not so for young Māori and there are initiatives underway that seek to reconnect them with customary environments. Place-based learning approaches that use local environments and ecosystems as living laboratories, reimagining the way students engage with knowledge, science and understandings of the natural world can be valuable in this respect. Te Rārawa Noho Taiao projects in the Far North of Aotearoa have been operating for nearly a decade, using Indigenous pedagogy that promotes Māori science, science leadership, and learning, applying them in ways that produce a range of health and wellbeing benefits. These include enhanced educational engagement, strengthened capabilities, increased participation/belonging, stronger connections, constructive peer processes and positive intergenerational interactions, all based in Māori values and praxis. Such elements are widely recognised in health-promoting frameworks as highly implicated in the creation and maintenance of health and wellbeing for individuals, communities and populations. In this paper, we use interviews with organisers and teachers of these Noho Taiao and a survey of student participants, to explore the educational and health promotion effects. (Global Health Promotion, 2019; 26(Supp. 3): 35-43)

Indigenisation of conservation education in New Zealand

“…The increase in student enthusiasm for science at school after participation in the noho taiao program strongly suggests that delivering science concepts within a cultural context increases engagement of Māori youth (Reihana et al 2019;Walker et al 2019). Our data show that although participation in any of the environmental programs presented to students led to gains in student understanding, the results were driven by the noho taiao experience by further enabling student engagement and leading to enhanced environmental understanding (Wilson and Kamanā 2011;Moewaka Barnes et al 2019;Reihana et al 2019).…”

“…Noho taiao is an iwi (tribal) driven initiative that began in 2009 within Te Rarawa tribal area (Moewaka Barnes et al 2019). The program aims to reconnect rangatahi (youth) to their various iwi marae (tribal meeting places), by providing a cultural space for youth to reconnect, strengthen and grow cultural confidence through engagement with, for, and in, the range of environments within their tribal areas.…”

“…For Māori, marae place-based learning in their environment is key to the fundamental organisation system known as whakapapa (Hikuroa 2017;Moewaka Barnes et al 2019;Wehi and Roa 2020). The noho taiao experience provides context for a Māori worldview and incorporates Māori knowledge and values so that students can interpret this in relation to their local environment (Whyte 2017;Moewaka Barnes et al 2019;Reihana et al 2019).…”

“…International policy acknowledges the key role that IP and expertise play in biodiversity conservation globally (Ens et al 2016;UNEP-WCMC IUCN 2016; and others). However, many IPs, such as Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ), have also endured substantial damage to cultural knowledge systems and practices, environmental relationships, identity and health because of colonisation (Manuelito 2005;Moewaka Barnes et al 2019). In ANZ, European colonisation and settlement in the early 19th century led to the disconnection of many indigenous Māori families from ancestral lands, with land progressively alienated and fragmented since that time (see for example, the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 : Sinclair 2002;Wehi and Roa 2020).…”

Exploring spirituality with older people: (1) rich experiences

“…Connection with people is an important spiritual dimension where a person's connection with their family, work colleagues, clubs, groups and friends may be a considerable element in their spirituality. For many indigenous cultures, the centrality of interconnectedness equally between people and place; between land, forest, sea and rivers; and between groups (tribes/iwi), all need to be acknowledged as central to their spiritual awareness and wellbeing (Moewaka Barnes et al, 2019;NiaNia, Bush, & Epston, 2019).…”