Nor have decisions made on the funding of mātauranga Māori.
In its report to the Government, the Science System Advisory Group reportrecommended the restructuring of Crown research institutes (decisions on this have been announced). It also called for a National Research Foundation to administer research funding and to provide a distinct funding stream for mātauranga Māori.
These issues have implications for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Vision Mātauranga and the Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund.
In 2011 the Vision Mātauranga policy was incorporated into the Crown research institutes’ Statements of Core Purpose.
CRIs are now required to enable the innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources and people as part of their operating principles.
Thus a spiritual belief system was assimilated into the work of the CRIs.
AgResearch – for example – says it grows partnerships with Māori agribusinesses and prepares them for research collaborations.
We connect Māori agribusinesses with AgResearch scientists to co-design collaborative solutions, including both mātauranga Māori and AgResearch knowledge and capabilities.
Landcare Research’s web pages include a policy brief headed
Using mātauranga Māori to inform freshwater management
This says:
A Treaty-based planning framework – relies on forming excellent relationships between iwi/hapū and the Crown (i.e. Government and Councils) and recognition of mātauranga Māori in all planning frameworks.
And:
The physical well-being of our natural environment is paramount for the physical wellbeing of our people. Our gardens encompass the ocean and provide sustenance to those who partake in these resources. Therefore it is only logical that the polluting of our natural environment will greatly impact on our own physical well-being. To restore and maintain the health of one is to restore and maintain the health of all. Wairuatanga
Equally, we believe the spiritual well-being of our natural environment is paramount to our spiritual well-being. If the mauri or life force of our natural environment is strong then we too as a people are strong. It is our legacy from our tipuna to ensure the mauri of our natural environment is strengthened for future generations.
Scientists can measure pollution. They must consult Maori leaders – and accept what they are told – when establishing if a waterway’s mauri has been restored.
The country has seven Crown research institutes, established in 1992. These will be merged into three entities in line with recommendations in the Science System Advisory Group’s first report. .
The report also makes the case for a National Research Council to be established to do the work of a plethora of funding mechanisms which now operate through three primary agencies: MBIE, the Health Research Council and the Marsden Fund as well as several ministry-operated funds.
The report brings matauranga Māori into funding considerations:
There is strong agreement that a Māori-led panel for mātauranga Māori research is needed, and that too would fit in that structure…
The report expands on this:
New Zealand is a multicultural society based on its bicultural underpinnings established by the Treaty of Waitangi, which is core to New Zealand’s identity. It is essential that the science and innovation system is inclusive and beneficial to the diverse fabric of New Zealand’s society.
Māori have a particular relationship with the Crown, and the context of this relationship extends to the unique knowledge systems that are inherent to Māori history, identity, values, culture, ancestry and economic wellbeing.
There is no debate that research into Māori culture and knowledge is an obligation of the New Zealand research system and that this should be largely determined by experts in mātauranga Māori. We will be recommending a distinct funding stream in the proposed National Research Foundation. Science and mātauranga Māori are distinct ways of knowing
The Save Science Coalition – a group of 30 scientific societies and unions -has gone out to bat for matauranga Maori too.
Its goals include
– to defend support for world-leading indigenous research including mātauranga Māori
In a press statement earlier month, the coalition expressed concerns about job losses – about 570 – in the government science sector.
Dr Lucy Stewart, spokesperson for the Coalition, was braced for hundreds of further jobs being lost.
“We are aware of continuing restructuring occurring at Callaghan Innovation, AgResearch and Manaaki Whenua. This is on top of the Government’s proposed restructure of the science sector, which may result in yet further job losses unless the Government makes a clear plan to retain staff through this process.”
The Coalition also emphasised concerns about funding.
“Merging and rebranding institutions costs money, but according to Cabinet papers the proposed changes are to be funded out of existing allocations. Furthermore, there is no commitment to retaining current scientific expertise, at the same time as the Government talks about wanting to attract new talent to our country. We know many researchers have already been forced to relocate offshore.”
Coalition member organisations include
– New Zealand Association of Scientists
– New Zealand Geoscience Society
– New Zealand Institute of Chemistry
– New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists
– New Zealand Marine Sciences Society
– New Zealand Geographical Society
– New Zealand Mathematical Society
– New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Point of Order asked Science, Research and Innovation Minister Shane Reti about the coalition’s concerns and its urge to discuss them.
- Have these matters been discussed between Minister Reti and the coalition?
- Has the Government reached a decision on the establishment of a National Research Foundation?
- Has the Government determined how matauranga Maori research should be carried out and funded in the restructured science and research sector?
- If decisions have been made, will the funding come from money appropriated for “science” or would it come from some other appropriation?
The reply came from a spokesperson on behalf of Minister Reti:
“Minister Reti has not had any discussion with the Save Science Coalition. No decisions have been made about the establishment of the proposed National Research Foundation nor how mātauranga Māori will be considered as part of the science reforms. Funding would be determined following more detailed planning of these reforms.”
For a definition of matauranga Māori, PoO consulted the Science Learning Hub:
Mātauranga Māori takes many forms of knowledge, including environmental knowledge and traditional cultural practice.
Mātauranga Māori is a knowledge base in its own right. It is Māori knowledge, including values and culture. It is different from modern science. Mātauranga Māori belongs to iwi and should remain under Māori control. Mātauranga Maori is taonga (a treasure) and as such should be protected.
The University of California, Berkeley, in contrast, says:
Science is a global human endeavor. People all over the world participate in the process of science. And you can too!
How would you divvy up the public’s research funding to get the biggest bang for each buck?
Bob Edlin is a veteran journalist and editor for the Point of Order blog HERE. - where this article was sourced.
1 comment:
This intent on the part of CRIs and others to incorporate animism and Stone-age thinking into modern science systems is beyond worrying. Funding for 'real' science is woefully poor, so to waste such funding on non-productive witchcraft is appalling. More concerning is the canard propagated that maori somehow have a special 'relationship' with the environment and have ways of keeping it protected and 'pure', unknown to modern science. One has only to consider the faunal extinctions that occurred before European settlement, the extensive burning of South Island beech forests, add to which the current wilderness shambles that is the Urewera area, and the rape of fish and mollusc stocks by maori groups supposedly exercising 'traditional rights' and you can only gape in astonishment at any suggestion that maoris are the great saviours of the environment. The last scientist with any moral courage and common sense please turn out the lights when you leave for a country (anywhere) that doesn't espouse this kind of horse excrement.
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