Embracing what mātauranga Māori has to offer

This equates to around 28 generations between then and now and many millions of ancestors across those 28 generations. 

Oral-based knowledge systems are predominant among indigenous nations and Māori are no exception. Oral narratives are passed within a generation and onto the next generations for many reasons including (but not exclusively) to teach skills, transmit cultural values, record family and community histories, and explain the natural world.

It then follows that if this knowledge - built up over generations and connected to these lands, water and environment - is available to use, why wouldn’t you consider what is available to us? What possibilities does that knowledge hold given the significant challenges we experience such as severe weather events, flooding, drought and climate change impacts. All challenges that science alone is unable to solve.

We should never be afraid of more knowledge. So, it is a little puzzling – and somewhat frustrating - to see the term mātauranga Māori (literally Māori knowledge) continue to be a source of such controversy in recent times.

It has generated heated public discussion, open letters by academics, and even whipped up fears of childhood indoctrination - which I would argue is entirely unfounded and may stem simply from a lack of understanding of what mātauranga Māori is, and what it can offer.

The debate has even risen to the level of international news after celebrated science educator and writer Richard Dawkins recently weighed in on mātauranga Māori being a part of the school science curriculum in Aotearoa.

Dawkins, speaking about a visit to Aotearoa for his speaking tour, stated in The Spectator: “Mātauranga Māori includes valuable tips on edible fungi, star navigation and species conservation (pity the moas were all eaten). Unfortunately, it is deeply invested in vitalism. New Zealand children will be taught the true wonder of DNA, while being simultaneously confused by the doctrine that all life throbs with a vital force conferred by the Earth Mother and the Sky Father. Origin myths are haunting and poetic, but they belong elsewhere in the curriculum”.

Before laying out a counter-argument to the views of those like Richard Dawkins, I should say that I come from a pro-mātauranga point of view. I lead a Māori Research and Partnerships group at the crown research institute, AgResearch, where we have a stated goal of mātauranga Māori being on equal footing with western science.

I’m proud to be part of a science organisation that supports Te Ao Māori and is committed to working with our Te Tiriti o Waitangi partners. We do this through Te Ara Tika – our way of being that brings a unique Māori approach to our science and knowledge and a big focus is elevating the knowledge passed down by generations through mātauranga Māori to sit alongside our traditional Western approach to agricultural science.