Te Kawau Tiripou: Mātauranga Māori through GPS as a tool for Iwi and Hapū governance

Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund

Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa is the Post-Treaty Settlement Governance Entity (PSGE) for ngā iwi me ngā hapū o te rohe o Te Wairoa who signed a deed of settlement with the Crown in 2016. Following this settlement, Tātau Tātau has been requried to accept dramatically increased responsibility for the environmental, social and cultural development within its rohe. In developing appropriate resources for environmental and economic management, Tātau Tātau has a responsibility to its constituent iwi and hapū to ensure that this expanded role reflects the values of mātauranga Māori, both in understanding the rohe, and in making effective decisions about its future. GIS, Geographical Information Systems, provides the potential for generating information which can support these economic and environmental decisions in the present while integrating this information with foundational Māori relationships through whakapapa with land, waters and other resources. Working with Massey University, which is experienced in applying GIS for indigenous knowledge, the project will develop a system which allows mātauranga Māori to allow Tātau Tātau to expand its capability in contemporary environmental, economic and social decision-making. The project aims to reflect Māori understandings of time and space and to allow hapū storytelling, using multimedia sources, to be integrated with later layers of historical, environmental, social and economic data. One crucial purpose is to generate a fund of cultural and ecological knowledge, provided by the different kāhui or iwi and hapū who make up Tātau Tātau. The aim is to ensure that kāhui relationships with land and other resources and the distinct histories which flow from them can be preserved, understood and handed on to future generations.

Our Team

Tātau Tātau o Te Wairoa Trust

Prof Michael Belgrave

Dr Cadey Korson

Prof Jonathan Procter