Against Defending Science: Asking Better Questions About Indigenous Knowledge and Science

This paper addresses problems with a defensive turn in discussions of science and Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. Philosophers and practitioners of science have focused recent discussions on coarse-grained questions of demarcation, epistemic parity and identity—asking questions such as “Is Indigenous knowledge science?” Using representative examples from Aotearoa New Zealand, we expose rampant ambiguities in these arguments, and show that this combative framing can overlook what is actually at stake. We provide a framework for analyzing these problems and suggest better ways forward

Landscape change as a platform for environmental and social healing

Aotearoa New Zealand is characterised by dynamic landscapes. Major landscape-altering events, such as earthquakes, floods, landslides and tsunami, have deeply influenced the relationships that many Māori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, have with their ancestral landscapes. This work documents perspectives of landscape change from five Māori individuals from various iwi (tribes) and hapū (kin groups) around Aotearoa New Zealand, who have strong ties with their tūrangawaewae (place of connection). In exercising the Māori principle of whanaungatanga, we conducted semi-structured interviews following a general inductive approach over a series of meetings. This research indicates that no matter the cause of a landscape-altering event, connections, sustainability, reciprocity and adaptability are core values to uphold. These values can be used to guide human activity and involvement pertaining to responding to the event days, months and years after. This work also indicates that altered landscapes have a natural way of healing themselves through time, and that people play an important role in defining landscape change and recovery following landscape-altering events

Social-ecological connections across land, water, and sea demand a reprioritization of environmental management

Despite many sectors of society striving for sustainability in environmental management, humans often fail to identify and act on the connections and processes responsible for social-ecological tipping points. Part of the problem is the fracturing of environmental management and social-ecological research into ecosystem domains (land, freshwater, and sea), each with different scales and resolution of data acquisition and distinct management approaches. We present a perspective on the social-ecological connections across ecosystem domains that emphasize the need for management reprioritization to effectively connect these domains. We identify critical nexus points related to the drivers of tipping points, scales of governance, and the spatial and temporal dimensions of social-ecological processes. We combine real-world examples and a simple dynamic model to illustrate the implications of slow management responses to environmental impacts that traverse ecosystem domains. We end with guidance on management and research opportunities that arise from this cross-domain lens to foster greater opportunity to achieve environmental and sustainability goals.Peer reviewe

He Karanga Maha. Investigating Relational Resource Management in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Reciprocity amongst Māori peoples and the natural world is the foundation of the Māori worldview and natural resource management. Autonomy over resource management and the associated practices is an essential component of Māori wellbeing. This paper investigates the cultural, spiritual, historical, and ecological dimensions of mutton-bird harvesting, to gain a better understanding of the relational approach of Māori natural resource management. Resource management in Aotearoa New Zealand currently lacks the relational approach seen in Māori customary harvests. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the key values that underpin this cultural practice. Semi-structured interviews identified three key themes: harvesting practices, kaitiakitanga (resource management based on a Māori worldview), and whanaungatanga (kinship between people). Harvest practices had a bottom-up governance approach creating diverse harvesting techniques that adapt to local environments. Kaitiakitanga identified mana whenua rights to decision-making power in natural resource management as a requirement for success. Whanaungatanga also identified relationships and collaboration as a vital component. To optimize the best outcomes for the environment, we advocate for a genuine cross-cultural and relational approach and the inclusion of these practices and values in the governance of natural resources in Aotearoa New Zealand

Chariocrinus - (Crinoidea: Articulata) from the Latady Formation, Behrendt and Hauberg Mountains, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica

Specimens of a late Bajocian to early Callovian isocrinid assigned to Pentacrinites cf. P. californicus (Clark), and specimens collected by Hikuroa in 1999–2000, are described as a new species of Chariocrinus. All specimens were collected from rock exposures of the Latady Formation at eight localities in the Behrendt and Hauberg Mountains, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica. The fauna, preserved in situ at all localities, is essentially complete, but due to tectonism, localities may have been moved many kilometres from their original position. Chariocrinus latadiensis n. sp. is compared with congeneric species and those of Hispidocrinus. It is the first record of the genus in the Southern Hemisphere, which has European Tethyan affinities. Columnals are pentastellate to pentalobate, and the symplectial articula appear diagnostic of Hispidocrinus but are included in Chariocrinus on the basis of spineless axillaries and fused adjacent crenulae; those of Hispidocrinus are spined and separated by a furrow or smooth band, respectively. A single pluricolumnal (?Apiocrinus) is the only associated crinoid found at any of the localities. Chariocrinus latadiensis lived a semi‐sessile existence on a volcarenite substrate in association with vagrant ammonites, epifaunal and infaunal bivalves, and epifaunal brachiopods. The benthic taxa lived in shallow, low energy marine environments in the Middle Jurassic, part of a submarine back‐arc basin near the shore off southeastern Gondwana

Te Maramataka—An Indigenous System of Attuning with the Environment, and Its Role in Modern Health and Well-Being

The connection between the natural environment and human health is well documented in Indigenous narratives. The maramataka—a Māori system of observing the relationships between signs, rhythms, and cycles in the environment—is underpinned by generations of Indigenous knowledge, observation, and experimentation. The maramataka enabled Māori and our Pacific relatives to attune with the movements of the environment and ensure activities essential for survival and well-being were conducted at the optimal times. A recent revival of the maramataka in various communities in New Zealand is providing uniquely Indigenous ways to ‘reconnect’ people, and their health, with the natural environment. In a world where people have become increasingly disconnected from the natural environment, the maramataka offers an alternative to dominant perspectives of health. It also provides a mechanism to enhance the many facets of health through an understanding of the human–ecosystem relationship in a uniquely Indigenous way. This conceptual paper (i) highlights a uniquely Indigenous way of understanding the environment (the maramataka) and its connection to health, (ii) discusses the connections between the maramataka and scientific research on health and the environment, and (iii) introduces current and potential applications of the maramataka in improving health and well-being