Mātauranga Māori (English text)

Mātauranga Māori (English text)

‘Mātauranga Māori in a traditional context means the knowledge, comprehension or understanding of everything visible or invisible that exists across the universe. This meaning is related to the modern context as Māori research, science and technology principles and practices.’

Charles Mohi, Mātauranga Māori – A National Resource, a paper prepared for the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, 1993, pp1-3

Māori scholar Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal defines mātauranga Māori as a term for a body of knowledge with Polynesian origin, which developed further during life in Aotearoa and Te Wai Pounamu. The arrival of Europeans from the 18th century onwards had a major impact on the traditional knowledge system, but Royal suggests that the encounter also forged new knowledge. The fragments and portions of mātauranga Māori that exist today, notably the Māori language, have become the catalyst for creativity and an exploration of how this knowledge system could contribute to life and culture today.

Mātauranga Māori takes many forms, including language (te reo), traditional environmental knowledge (tāonga tuku iho, mātauranga o te taiao), traditional knowledge of cultural practice, such as healing and medicines (rongoā), fishing (kai moana) and cultivation (mahinga kai). Traditionally, knowledge was passed down through wānanga and tohunga who applied it for a common good, as well as in normal day-to-day living. While mātauranga Māori contains its share of traditions, it is not static and continues to evolve as people face new challenges. Often, it is specific to iwi and hapū, but there are some forms of knowledge that are common across all iwi.

Whakapapa relates a person’s relationships to ancestors and the natural world. There is also an extensive whakapapa of all flora and fauna, codifying the natural world in a fashion that can act as a biological classification system. Some scholars see human whakapapa as merely a prominent example of a wider description of inter-relatedness. There are parallels between taxonomy and the whakapapa system, but the latter relates life forms and phenomena back to their place in ecology. Examples of this are most obvious with important food sources, such as freshwater eels (tuna). Over time, iwi developed an intimate understanding of seasonal events in the life histories of tuna, particularly the annual heke, or seaward migration of spawning eels. As a result, there are hundreds of Māori terms describing tuna, classifying the fish by region, season, age, colour and taste, among other characteristics.

Similarly, several plants are treasured for their medicinal properties. One of the most important and best known ‘bush cures’ is the use of hebe species, particularly koromiko (Hebe salicifolia, Hebe stricta and allied species) as a remedy for dysentery. According to Murdoch Riley’s Māori Healing and Herbal, dried koromiko was used by New Zealand soldiers during the Second World War to treat digestive pains and diarrhoea.

Over the centuries, Māori have also developed an extensive knowledge of weather and climate and have learned to use natural phenomena as a predictive tool. For example, the arrival of the godwit (kuaka) heralds the beginning of spring for Ngāi Tūhoe, while early and profuse flowering of cabbage trees (tī kouka) predicts a hot, long summer for Ngāi Tahu.

By Veronika Meduna

Further reading

Murdoch Riley, Māori Healing and Herbal: New Zealand ethnobotanical sourcebook, Viking Sevenseas NZ, 1994

Aroha Te Pareake Mead, Emerging Issues in Māori Traditional Knowledge, can these be addressed by UN agencies, International workshop on traditional knowledge, Panama, September 2005

Mātauranga Māori, chapter 2 of Wai262 claim, Waitangi Tribunal

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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