Matauranga Maori - the ukaipo of knowledge in New Zealand

Quite a profound read in relation to discussions with Tracy H. I have not considered teaching science from a Matauranga Maori perspective, (only use vocabulary in isolation) but really need to consider the values and perspectives in a holistic sense.

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand

Matauranga Maori - the ukaipo of knowledge in New Zealand

After their arrival in Aotearoa and Te Wai Pounamu many centuries ago, Māori developed various forms of codifying knowledge—many based upon oral delivery. Some nar- rative forms include moteatea (chants, poems), whaikorero (oratory, speechmaking), maramataka (calendar), waiata (songs), pepeha (quotations), whakataukī/whakatauāki (proverbs), whakapapa (genealogies) and pūrākau (stories)—each with its own categories, style, complex patterns and characteristics (Lee 2008).

Whakapapa is the central principle that orders the universe (Salmond 1991), demon- strates an interconnectivity between everything (Salmond 2012), and is a cognitive genea- logical framework connecting creation of the universe to everything that exists within it via descent from ancestors (Marsden 2003; Roberts 2013). In Māori cosmogony, because there is only one set of primal parents (Ranginui and Papatūānuku, from whom everything ulti- mately traces descent), all things are related (Roberts 2013).

 Mātauranga Māori is considered by some scholars as incompatible with science (e.g. Howe 2016). Pūrākau and maramataka have hitherto generally been ignored or disre- garded by the wider science community. What those who disregard it fail to comprehend is that pūrākau and maramataka is knowledge generated using the scientific method, explained according to a Māori world view.