Creating space for kaupapa Māori
By Delane Luke, Kaiārahi Rangahau Māori
During the Cryosphere and Climate (CliC) Open Science Forum, we were fortunate enough to hold our first Antarctic Science Platform Mātauranga Māori workshop. We saw this as an exciting opportunity to bring together our researchers and Antarctic Science Platform kaimahi (staff) who were already converging in the same place, while also creating space for international and Indigenous researchers visiting Aotearoa to engage with and learn about Te Ao Māori.
Facilitated by Sandy Morrison, Aimee Kaio, and myself, the three-hour workshop provided an introduction to Mātauranga Māori and the values that underpin our work within the Antarctic Science Platform. The workshop covered tikanga; the core concepts of manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, and whakawhanaungatanga; participants learnt their pepeha; and we concluded by taking everyone through the Antarctic Science Platform karakia.
It is also worth noting that it would not be a kaupapa Māori workshop without whakawhanaungatanga — making connections — and, of course, kai as well.
One of the highlights of the workshop was seeing everybody’s eagerness to learn and engage with the kaupapa. Being able to share our mātauranga with researchers from across Aotearoa and beyond was particularly rewarding. While there was naturally some nervousness in facilitating the workshop, hearing our researchers speak so passionately about their mahi continues to be inspiring.
The feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, and many expressed a strong desire to continue building their understanding, capability, and confidence in engaging with Mātauranga Māori — a key aspiration within the Antarctic Science Platform Vision Mātauranga Strategy.
A fitting closing highlight was seeing one of the participants, Stanislav Saas Ksenofontov, open the conference session he was chairing in his native language before introducing himself using the pepeha he had learnt during the workshop.
You can download the workshop presentation by clicking here.