Jean Balchin • Jan 25, 2018 •
When I was 6, my family moved to Mangonui, a little fishing village in Doubtless Bay. Besides the world-class fish and chip shop and the clouds of sprats flying around under the surface of the water, I loved Mangonui for its embrace of te ao Māori (the Māori world). I was a little Pakeha girl from the North Shore of Auckland, … Read More
Laura Goodall • Apr 29, 2016 •
What has the Māori word for ‘chieftainship’ got to do with a team of scientists looking at obesity in Northland? Answer: the researchers broke the scientific mould by putting the Māori communities — not scientists — in the leading role. Researcher Ricky Bell tells us how they did it. Rangatiratanga is a powerful word. It’s loosely translated to mean chieftainship, authority, leadership. But … Read More
Laura Goodall • Apr 07, 2016 •
Scientific and Indigenous ways of thinking differ in how they view where knowledge comes from. Many experiments strip the environment away from a piece of knowledge to see if it still holds true. Yet indigenous knowledge has deep links to its origins and can become ‘lost in translation’ without context. This is something that scientifically-trained people can struggle to get their head around at first. Kennedy Warne, co-founder of New … Read More