Toi Rau

Mātauranga Māori

Mātauranga is a unique body of knowledge produced through and by Te Ao Māori (the Maōri world). It incorporates Māori traditional and contemporary knowledges, language, practices and culture. It encompasses concepts of knowledge and knowing that Māori ancestors brought with them to Aotearoa/New Zealand, and more contemporary areas of study such as kaitiakitanga, the Māori performing arts, Māori identity and Māori language revitalisation. According to Hikuroa (2017, p.5-6), mātauranga Māori is “a method for generating knowledge, and all of the knowledge generated according to that method” and “includes knowledge  generated using techniques consistent with the scientific method, but explained according to a Māori world view”.

Mātauranga Māori is a taonga, and as such requires protection. While iwi Māori are the primary kaitiaki of their knowledge, the university has an obligation to protect mātauranga Māori, and to provide a safe environment in which mātauranga can flourish. WAI 262 Waitangi Tribunal Report provides detail on the Crown’s kaitiakitanga obligations with regard to mātauranga.

Mātauranga Māori is held, developed, and taught by iwi Māori experts (or those considered experts by Māori). It is undergoing revival in te ao Māori, on marae and at wānanga. It is not homogenous and can be iwi, hapū and whānau specific. It finds expression in all fields of human endeavour including engineering, economics, music, sports, art, biology, education, law, medicine, physics, psychology, religion, architecture, philosophy, mathematics, technology, as well as daily life in whānau and in communities.

Mātauranga Māori includes te reo Māori. It can be expressed in te reo Māori or other languages. It can use methods similar to those of science, though it recognises dimensions of existence beyond those accessible to science, and makes sense of a fundamentally relational universe (see Salmond, 2012).

Charles Royal (2012) states that mātauranga Māori:

• “assists the person in their understanding of their (usually) iwi and ancestral origins”
• enables “an examination of existing fragments of traditional knowledges on a variety of topics” including the heavens, forests, medicines, biodiversity of oceans, and so on
• explains the world. It is possible to ask “What is the mātauranga Māori view of birds, or trees or anger or love?”
• provides guidance on how one ought to lead one’s life including tikanga [customs]
• enables philosophical inquiry into, for instance, methodology and knowledge creation
• relates to notions of indigeneity – how we can improve the way in which humankind exists and lives in the world, rekindling kinship (the network of relations) between people, and between people and the natural world.

• Hikuroa, D. (2017). Mātauranga Māori—the ūkaipō of knowledge in New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 47(1), 5-10.
• Royal, C. (2012). Politics and knowledge: Kaupapa Maori and matauranga Maori. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 47(2), 30-37.
• Salmond, A. (2012). Back to the future: first encounters in Te Tai Rawhiti. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 42(2), 69-77.