Data, data everywhere, nor any a datum to think...

Data runs through everything I do, or am meant to do, as a researcher.

Data are pieces of the world, and they are people. We have a relationship with data that is, or should be, intimate.

Data have whakapapa.

Tahu Kukutai and friends have just published a free (!) book on the issues for us as Maori: Indigenous Data Sovereignty. Tahu has also been interviewed by Dale Husband on Waatea news, here.

"...if my data been linked up all over the show how do I know that that data is going to be used for my benefit or the benefit of my whanau or iwi. I think without having Maori right at the forefront of those conversations it's not going to benefit us."

Colleague Karaitiana Taiuru (blogging at http://www.taiuru.maori.nz/ ) has worked tirelessly in forging more space - and safer space - for Maori in the digital world. Check out his digital whakapapa thoughts here.

"It is/was common to hide and preserve whakapapa so that outsiders could not make claims to mana and land. Yet Māori in the digital area do not have the same concerns."

I'm always tussling with data: how to store it, who to show it to, what I can do with it at the end of a project. A timely reminder of the importance of proper data control in times of crises (and when are Indigenous peoples not in a crisis?!) has come from Nathaniel A. Raymond and Ziad Al Achkar of the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology, Harvard.

Nate and Ziad are that data are a central component of humanitarian response. Too often, however, "there is a disconnect between data, decision-making and response." The pressures on decision makers to make informed decisions in the first hours and days of an emergency are extreme,

"and if the elements to effectively gather, manage and analyse data are not in place before a crisis, then the evidence needed to inform response will not be available quickly enough to matter. What's more, a lack of readiness to use data can even cause 'big data disasters'".

There thoughts are available here, also free!

National Statement of Science Investment 2015–2025

The government has launched a new science strategy in its efforts to harness our national intelligences and curiousities to the yoke of economic growth.

Matauranga Maori features, as it has done for several strategic statements now, dating back to the original Vision Matauranga strategy, 'To unlock the innovation potential of Maori et cetera, et cetera...



Couple of interesting points in the latest government interpretations of Maori practices and knowledge:

Kaitiakitanga – an emerging approach to environmental management based on traditional Māori principles, concepts, values and views of the environment.

I agree Kaitiakitanga is evolving but to say it is emerging is only true in the sense that the government is increasingly willing to incorporate Kaitiakitanga into its wider environmental management strategies. The risk is that funding and state support is now open to new interpretations including the thoughts and practices of Pakeha. I say this having witnessed a dramatic increase in the numbers and seniority of Pakeha researchers appropriating VM funding and therefore assuming key roles in 'unlocking our potential'.

I remain skeptical until process and personnel our within our control...

As for Matauranga, an articulated extension in its ambit is announced:

Mātauranga Māori – is a body of knowledge first brought to New Zealand by Polynesian ancestors of present-day Māori. Mātauranga Māori can exist, and be understood and applied, at various levels, including: broadly by Māori across New Zealand; or at regional, tribal, and whānau levels. Mātauranga Māori can also include the processes for acquiring, managing, applying and transferring that body of knowledge.

Yes. In other words our cultural logics are now to be explicitly included in how knowledge held by and relevant to the Indigenous People of Aotearoa New Zealand is controlled.

Lot of battles yet to come, and perhaps the Crown is naive to the implications of this statement, but as the right to decide what is true is related to the right to decide what is just, then game on. 

PS: Interesting list of submitters

Nga Pae o te Maramatanga refunded...

This just out from Joyce...

"Four more Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) have been selected by the Tertiary Education Commission at the end of the second round of CoREs funding.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has commended successful applicants, the Bio-Protection Research Centre (Lincoln University), The Riddet Institute (Massey University), QuakeCore: Centre for Earthquake Resilience (University of Canterbury) and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (The University of Auckland.)

The successful CoREs will focus on sustainable pest management solutions, food science and human health, earthquake disaster resilience, and Māori research. All CoREs will contribute to the economic and social wellbeing of New Zealand.

The announcement means the number of cross-institutional centres of research excellence around the country will increase from six to 10. All 10 will receive five years of funding from 2016 to 2020. 

“CoREs provide an excellent collaborative environment for the delivery of world-leading, innovative and strategically focused research. The work of all 10 CoREs will deliver benefits to New Zealand across economic, environmental and social platforms that will make a difference to the lives of all New Zealanders,” says Mr Joyce.

The announcement today follows a comprehensive selection process managed by the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Tertiary Education Commission.

All 21 unsuccessful applicants from the 2013/14 selection round of funding had the opportunity to re-submit a new application for the remaining CoREs places. Applicants had the opportunity to strengthen their proposals between the selection rounds. 

Three of the four CoREs selected today are previous CoREs who were not successful in the first round of funding last year, while QuakeCore is a brand new research centre.

Those selected include a revamped Maori Research CoRE Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga based at the University of Auckland. “The Government dedicated specific funding for a Maori Research CoRE. Of the three applicants for the Maori CoRE, the new revised Ngā Pae o to Māramatanga proposal stood out for the quality and coverage of its research programme.

CoREs have been operating in New Zealand since 2002. In that time the Government has provided over $434.5 million in funding to current and previous CoREs.

The four CoREs announced today are in addition to the six CoREs that were successful in the 2013/14 funding round. Of the 10 CoREs that will be funded, five are existing CoREs and five will be receiving CoREs funding for the first time."

Lincoln University will do very well out of this, with Dr. Jamie Ataria a Deputy Co-Chair (along with Associate Professor Jacinta Ruru at the University of Otago, and the Bioprotection Research Centre having Melanie Mark-Shadbolt managing a number of Maori research associates.

Lincoln Maori researchers secure more Vision Matauranga funding...

Ka mau te wehi!

Maori researchers at Te Whare Wananga o Aoraki (Lincoln uni) have secured VM funding for 2015.

Dr. Amanda Black (Tuhoe) and Melanie Mark-Shadbolt (Ngati Porou, Ngati Kahungunu ki Wairarapa) are developing a National Maori Biosecurity Network, and Dr. Jamie Ataria (Rongomaiwahine, Ngati Kahungunu, and Ngati Tuwharetoa via Cawthron, but we claim him too!) is on a project to improve water quality and river well-being.

Well done!

This success continues a show Lincoln University has developed some heft in the VM space, although we would be the first to acknowledge the VM is just one part of 'KM' (Kaupapa Maori)...

Cultural Law, a text and a cautionary tale...

Cambridge text on Cultural Law that has some interesting chapters on Indigenous Peoples, including Maori, on the basis that 'legal issues lead multiple lives.. they can be political, economic, social, historical, and cultural' (p. 1).

A New Zealand example is legislation to regulate against offensive marks in the Trade Marks Act of 2002 that prevents trade marks being registered if they are likely to be offensive to a significant section of the community, including Maori.

Of course, there is always a test case to rattle the cage. I recall an application for Tiki Wines being declined by the Maori Trade Marks Advisory Committee on the basis of this offense clause with 'TIki' being interpreted as an atua of humankind, generic to all Maori and thus protected by this legislation.

Permission was finally given when it was pointed out that 'Tiki' was a tipuna of Royce McKean and the whanau who owned and operated the vineyard, and they had the perfect right to use the name!

Indigenous Peoples as Citizen Scientists

I'm off to the inaugural Citizen Science Conference in San Jose, February 11-12 next year. I'll be delivering a 'speed talk' which entails 5 minutes to deliver the message, a great idea for conferences where it can be hard talk sitting through hour after hour of deliveries...

My 300 seconds will be on the role of Indigenous Peoples in this CitSci space. We hold important knowledge of their environments. This ancient knowledge is increasingly sought as data for a variety of scientific disciplines and practices including environmental management, ecology, ethnobotany, fisheries, forestry, and disaster risk reduction. Many Indigenous communities are not opposed to working with scientists and various international conventions have articulated a role for Indigenous knowledge, particularly traditional ecological knowledge. However, the history of much ‘collaboration’ has created significant barriers to progressing truly inclusive Citizen Science in many countries. I'll give a few brief examples from Aotearoa New Zealand will to show that empowering Indigenous individuals and collectives as 'Citizen Scientists' will require an acceptance of possibly radically different worldviews as well as the acknowledgement of broader issues of justice and ethics.

Vision Matauranga project: Pan-iwi disaster risk reduction...

Pleased to announce we have been successful in this years Vision Matauranga round:

              Maori Disaster and Emergency Management

Taking Maori from the edge of disasters to the centre of influence.

We know Maori institutions and cultural practices played an integral part in the disaster response to the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010-12. This response from Maori was spontaneously extended to include non-Maori support through well-established but dynamic and evolving Maori cultural networks. Local Maori insights (both Ngāi Tahu and Ngā Maata Waka/Taura Here) were particularly valuable in supporting the vulnerable city residents including the elderly and mental health clients. Maori, both individually and collectively, operated alongside first responder organisations such as the Fire Service and Police, government and NGO officials, iwi authorities, international emergency workers, churches and volunteers. 

This project aims to improve engagement between Maori and mainstream disaster and emergency organisations to enable Maori to engage as Citizen Scientists and in turn enable more efficient responses to future disasters, whether that be in the rescue of survivors, the provision of emergency supplies, medical care, emergency repairs and ongoing pastoral support.

Maori Research Funding

It is difficult to get precise figures for the amount of government investment in Maori research. Three years ago I searched through the FRST Research Abstracts and Report Databases for 2008/09 (keyword 'Māori’) and found 65 projects worth  $51,572,684 out of a total allocation of $500,069,064.

This equates to 10.3% (but does not include other significant funders such as the Health Research Council). 

Many of these projects did not have a significant Māori component (one colleague guessed 10%). Although this in itself does not disqualify any project from being important to Māori, many of us will have been the lone Maori voice on a CRI or other type of project. 

Tutae/uphill/small fork

Further scanning these 65 projects I broke them down to broad sectors and found $38 million for work relevant to Māori land and resources, of which $8,728,555 is designated towards agribusiness; $14,180,423 to forestry; and $1,575,306 to Māori horticulture.

I've just tried to update this survey on MoBIES webpage http://www.msi.govt.nz/update-me/who-got-funded/ and came away completely confused. Again the keyword 'Maori' can be put in, and, da da, $404,877,608.10. 

Love the ten cents.

I clicked on one project 'Adaption to climate variability and change' with NIWA, and found it's worth over 19 million dollars and then sez 'in this small contract we aim to assist Maori communities to better manage the impacts of climate variability' blah blah blah. But this is an old project, starting 2002.

Aha, this is ALL MoBy funded projects dating back to the FRST and then MSI stuff.

I changed the dates and identified projects starting in the last 2 years and came up with $72 million funding across 13 projects. One is of relevance to my research on the impacts of the Otautahi earthquakes on Maori...

No, they didn't ask me ;-(

But that's another korero. At this point it's not possible from the MoBIE data base to identify the funding for Maori researchers, a major concern with the possible/probably demise of Nga Pae. 

So, question: Has the amount of government funding for Maori research truly increased (as my simple keyword search would suggest)?

And if so are we benefiting as Maori researchers??

Innovation, Maori, and the Māori Economy: a flat or lumpy world?

Submitting the following paper for the upcoming Nga Pae o te Maramatanga Traditional Knowledges Conference in Auckland, June 27-30. In it I outline how innovation has been framed in contemporary Maori economic development using a simple dichotomy for landscape. On the one hand, the rapid diffusion of information communication technologies (ICTs) has ‘flattened’ the world, reducing the costs of trade but making greater wealth, and hopefully happiness, possible for those individuals and nation-states that proactively engage with the processes of globalisation. On the other hand, others decry the obvious ‘lumpiness’ of the world where poverty clearly constrains many individuals and communities from benefiting from any such engagement.




The paper pulls together disparate ideas and examples of innovation with the aim of presenting some of the history and cultures of innovation that might be relevant to Māori in navigating what is certainly a bigger world, flat or lumpy.


Innovation, Māori, and the Māori Economy: a flat or lumpy world?

Abstract

This paper outlines how innovation has been framed in contemporary Māori economic development using a simple dichotomy for landscape. On the one hand, the rapid diffusion of information communication technologies (ICTs) has ‘flattened’ the world, reducing the costs of trade but making greater wealth, and presumably happiness and security, possible for those societies and nation-states that proactively engage with the processes of globalisation. On the other hand, others decry the obvious ‘lumpiness’ of the world where poverty clearly constrains many individuals and communities from benefiting from any such engagement. This paper pulls together disparate ideas and examples of innovation with the aim of presenting some of the history and cultures of innovation relevant to Māori in navigating what is certainly a bigger world, flat or lumpy.


Keywords: innovation, Indigenous economies, science, development, Māori communities
Introduction 

Introduction

By standard indicators the NZ economy continues to underperform and its relative decline (especially to neighbouring Australia) has not abated (McCann, 2009). A significant source of future growth is seen to reside with Māori (especially iwi) ventures, particularly in the primary sector where Māori agribusinesses are framed as the ‘sleeping giant’ of the New Zealand (Lambert, 2011).

Innovation in this context is often glossed as advancing technology, the theoretical examination of which roughly begins at the time of Māori colonisation. James Stuart Mill (1848) articulated the role of technology in his Principles of Political Economy when he described four fundamental sources of national wealth (represented by ‘Y’ in the following equations), namely capital (K), labour (L), land (T) and what he labels ‘productiveness’ (p). The relationships are:

Y = K + L + T + p


In plain language, a nation’s wealth is how it combines capital, land and labour, and what has been variously called productiveness/productivity but which we now recognise as ‘innovation’. But as Kiwi economist Brian Easton (1997) points out, this ‘arithmetic residual’ and has no explanatory ability, indeed has been described as a ‘coefficient of ignorance’. For the early capitalists, this theoretical ignorance was of no importance as long as profits could be made. Science and technology were thus harnessed along with land, labour, and capital to enable the supply of new or better products or services to the market, and improvements to the processes by which such things were made or supplied. In simple terms, innovation creates or alters demand or lowers costs, therefore increasing profits.

This coupling of innovation to profit is actually a much reduced conceptualisation of innovation which is better understood as any new idea, object, or activity, or even the rediscovery of an idea, object, or activity regardless of its commercial worth. But the term ‘innovation’ as it is increasingly used in Māori economic discourse broadly follows current commercial usage as “[t]he search for and development of new or improved production, management, sales or marketing processes that have the potential to add value to a firm’s, an enterprise’s, an industry’s, or a sector’s offering to end-users and/or consumers” (Te Puni Kokiri, 2010, p. 36). The role of innovation in increasing profit was promoted by Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter who considered ‘technical change’ central to modern economics and fundamental feature of capitalist economies (Schumpeter, 1928). Such change was destructive in that it consigned existing inventories, techniques, implements and ideas to obsolescence (e.g., the closure of unproductive/old abattoirs across Aotearoa/NZ) but also creative as it laid the foundations for change by forcing the reallocation of capital and resources (e.g., towards eco-tourism or software development), hence Schumpeter’s term ‘creative destruction’.

In order to arrest the apparent decline of national economies, innovative/novel products are continually developed, particularly for consumers seeking ‘quality’ attributes pertaining to environmental health, sustainability, ecological resilience issues and so on (Saunders, Allison, Wreford, & Emanuelson, 2005). Indigenous ventures, including Māori, now attempt to satisfy these relatively wealthy consumers and their values (Chapman-Smith, 2012) although the targeted ‘niche’ markets can still be very large and difficult to supply.

But many so-called markets remain unfulfilled despite considerable demand, not least in health care and environmental management. This inability of market forces to recognise and remedy future threats to national or regional economies is seen to be the primary cause of unsustainability (Becker & Jahn, 1999), further complicating the role of technological innovation which is assumed as the means to improve productivity, as the cause of uncertainty in more broadly ascribed development goals, and as the solution to these concerns.
Is the world flat or lumpy?

So, ongoing innovation is increasingly seen as vital to questions of national comparative advantage, the competitiveness of firms, long-term economic growth, trade, finance, employment, manufacturing and services, and as integral to the sustainable development of Māori resources (Lambert, 2008). Importantly, the current context for economic development is global, with geographical and cultural ‘obstacles’ interpreted as having diminishing effects through ongoing technological advances, particularly with modern ICTs. Thomas Friedman (2005) argues that cheap communication and travel have ‘flattened’ the world, making greater wealth possible for those individuals and nation-states that proactively engage with the processes of globalisation. For Friedman, globalisation is broadly interpreted as increasingly interdependent participation in extensive chains of production that compete for cheap labour and raw materials from the developing world to ‘satisfy’ demand in both the developing world (where there is a growing number of wealthy and self-consciously discerning elites) and the markets of the ‘West’.


Others have decried the obvious ‘lumpiness’ of the world, evident in both developing countries, where extreme poverty constrained many individuals and communities from benefiting from the new global supply chains (Smith, 2005), and the developed world, where less dramatic but similar disparities persist. 

Māori and Innovation
Constraints to Māori participation in innovation are somewhat glaring. When innovation was theorized as residing within research, science, and technology (RS&T) institutions, Māori lacked critical mass in shaping the processes of a period characterised by the ‘science push’ concept (Fig. 1).

In this model, Māori participation has been minor and being part of any ‘value chain’ has proven difficult (Te Puni Kokiri, 2010). This model can be identified in Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) strategy lead by the Ministry of Primary Industries that has invested in programmes on wool, red meat, dairy, aquaculture, mānuka honey and forestry. Government funding is to be matched by industry investment with the aim of ‘boosting economic growth through research and innovation…to transform great ideas into research, development, and ultimately products, jobs and growth’ (Carter, 2011).

This linear ‘science push’ model was challenged by the ‘market pull’ concept in the 1970s as further empirical evidence showed the complexity of the relationship between science, technology and innovation (Martin & Nightingale, 2000). Through the 1980s and 1990s, international research revealed that the ability to innovate was deeply embedded within firms as collectives of people, capital and ideas. This included a realisation of the importance of networks, including education, localised knowledge and the role of tacit knowledge (Gibbons & Johnston, 1974).

As Fagerberg and Verspagen (2009) point out, academia has now formalised ‘Innovation Studies’ although this still amounts to a disparate collection of approaches. Some approaches have coalesced around the methodologies of geography and policy studies; others have been moulded by the ‘free-wheeling discursive voyages’ into capitalism described by Schumpeter. Beyond this, Smits (2002) notes that innovation is now linked to the emergence of a ‘porous society’ in which ‘knowledge intensive intermediaries’ have a fundamental role combining the insights and abilities of both users and producers. Metcalfe (2007) usefully distinguishes between innovation ecologies, comprised of those people that are the ‘repositories and generators of new knowledge’, and innovation systems or ‘connections between the components that ensure the flow of information necessary for innovation to take place’. This holistic interpretation of innovation has several antecedents. Wulf (2007) referred to an ‘ecology’ of innovation, comprising ‘interrelated institutions, laws, regulations, and policies providing an innovation infrastructure that entails education, research, tax policy, and intellectual property protection, among others.’ Dvir and Pasher (2004) list a number of attributes to innovation ecology, including the time and space to muse; an organisational structure with weak boundaries and a low emphasis on hierarchy; tolerance of risk; clear strategies and attention to the future; recognition and incentives; financial capital; human diversity; and conversations – the ‘unifying principle’.

While the term ‘ecosystem’ has been applied to innovation in NZ (see, e.g., New Zealand Institute, 2009), the debate is poorly informed by the research literature, dominated by various statistical analyses (often framed or emanating from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, e.g., Statistics New Zealand, 2009). Te Puni Kōkiri has released several interlinked reports that model scenarios of better implementation of science and innovation for developing the Māori economy (Te Puni Kokiri, 2010). Funding remains small and insecure; just $5 million is allocated to the Vision Mātauranga Capability MSI funding.

One approach to interpreting how Māori participate in the networks of innovation is through the active insertion of alternative cultural logics - ‘Kaupapa Māori’ - to directly or indirectly influence research, science, and technology. Consider Figure 2:

This model explicitly builds the ‘cultural environment’ into the innovation process by increasing the spectrum of creativity available for problem-solving. Where identified, it could be argued there is an opportunity for an ‘Indigenous turn’ in which localised communities and their cultures interrogate ‘outsiders’ according to cultural traditions that may include, for example, holistic interpretations of the world and self-determined strategies in which there is no ‘bottom-line’ to cultural aspirations.

But what are the implications for Māori of this ‘innovate or die’ mentality? Although the latest iteration of innovation strategies incorporates mātauranga Māori, is the landscape any smoother? It could be argued that for Māori, fundamental insights come from our communities and their ‘non-certified’ experts. Assimilating or even simply accessing their knowledge is difficult, although the rise of non-certified expertise in many areas indicates how historical boundaries between scientific expertise and a wider citizenry have been eroded (Figure 3).






Some critics have expressed either reservations or complete scepticism about the rigour or applicability of mātauranga Māori in contemporary settings. Wider ideological opponents describe Indigenous methodologies as ‘irrational’ and ‘unscientific’, standard insults against the contagion of native cultures threatening so-called rational European philosophy. However, such controversies merely emphasises the ethical, philosophical, and practical challenges posed when multiple knowledge bases collide and collaborate.

The predominant context for contemporary Māori development is one of highly fluid capital and knowledge that moves through extensive transnational networks, a feature of the modern agribusiness supply chains Māori already engage with. Participants in these networks continually re-imagine and re-orient their personal and collective involvement according to such decisions as the utilisation (or not) of natural resources, how such utilisation proceeds, and the intergenerational transfer of assets and liabilities. Much of the expansion of the Māori economy is in primary production through a number of agri/forestry/aquaculture and fisheries ventures, some of considerable size. Other ventures seek large-scale development of urban and peri-urban lands for residential and commercial uses in the face of growing ecological and social barriers (Wright, 2008).

The recently elevated ‘science and innovation’ platform on which the country might ‘close the gap’ with Australia is a dubious national goal for Māori, many of whom emigrate to Australia to close their own gaps! Again, this state strategy attempts to frame innovation for Māori without including all the people, processes or places we ourselves might bring to the table. Māori connect more dots, much like the current models of innovation that emphasise the interconnectedness or ‘ecology’ of innovation. Connecting more dots seems to be what is needed for the country’s – indeed the planet’s – sustainable development.

The personal abilities of the tactical players – often called ‘knowledge workers’ - is thus at the heart of any strategy. Serious concerns have been raised about the retention of young researchers (Ihaka, 2009; Massaro, Yogeeswaran, & Black, 2012); post-doctoral research positions are reported to have declined by 25% (Hendry, 2012). Many knowledge workers are subject to increasingly vulnerable and temporary employment conditions, and the lure of international research positions is a natural outcome of the economic model followed. Further, many Māori postgraduates are young wāhine who face additional risk factors in a work environment where chauvinist and racist attitudes persist despite the clearly negative effects on completion, outputs, rigour, professionalism, and retention. Fig. 4 represents a generic social network in which an individual student might inhabit. This network would include whānau, friends, possibly one or more Māori communities as participants, mentors, and collaborators, as well as university or wānanga staff and colleagues and possibly Crown Research Institute, corporate and industry participants. The array of issues and challenges are considerable.

This view of innovation emphasises what Māori educationalist Wally Penetito called the ‘sophistication of relationships’, an acknowledgement of fundamental influences on the success or failure of so much of our social world. It could be said that what Māori bring to innovation is the requirement that programmes and projects require occasionally intensive, possibly ongoing, intergenerational, international interaction. The challenges faced by Māori are not ours alone, although we bring our own history, culture and aspirations to the debate. Ultimately, any innovation strategy is implemented by individuals and groups with various agendas and abilities. Finding, engaging, trusting and supporting them will be as challenging as figuring out what they should do.
Smoothing out the lumps

Global extant forces now directly affect the location and practice of innovation in a way quite distinct from previous periods. The resulting economic spaces impact on the growth and influence of the Māori economy, challenging Māori as drivers, practitioners, and purchasers of innovation. The assertion of Māori cultural logics within innovation ecosystems also challenges universities, funding bodies, ethics committees, corporations, voters, and tax payers. Lumpiness as far as the eye can see!

While accusation and controversies abound in collaborative projects involving non-Māori, by accepting and using mātauranga and Kaupapa Māori – even superficially - Pākeha exhibit an essential modern skill: the skill and pragmatism to assimilate ‘all forms or aspects of social activity without exception’, to understand and apply, not only of one particular methodology but any methodology or variation (Feyerbend, 1975, p. 10).

Likewise innovators must be able to pass from one approach to another ‘in the quickest and most unexpected manner’ (ibid.). Further, good innovation is supported from above and below, is networked both here and overseas, and the benefits will be disseminated to all who have contributed, and all who need those innovations for their collective health and security. At all levels this requires understanding, vision, commitment, courage, cooperation, and perseverance, in other words leadership. Innovation will draw on iwi capital (economic, environmental, social, and cultural) through education, training and mentoring programmes, and be reliant on the sophistication of their public and private, local and global relationships. In this sense, it might be said some innovation (particularly in the environmental sciences, community sustainability programmes, biodiversity etc.) is taking an Indigenous turn to navigate what lumps exist on our innovation landscape. The challenge remains to improve the combination of land, labour, capital through social innovation to better contribute to the growth of the Aotearoa/New Zealand economy and, by a still contested association, the development of Māori society.


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Statistics New Zealand. (2009). Innovation in New Zealand. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.stats.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/4D070B56-8EFB-4DFD-A351-3C145AC7B51C/0/5511SNZinnovationreportffweb.pdf

Taatila, V. P., Suomala, J., Siltala, R., & Keskinen, S. (2006). Framework to study the social innovation networks. European Journal of Innovation Management, 9(3), 312-326.

Te Puni Kokiri. (2010). The Maori economy, science, and innovation. Wellington: Te Puni Kokiri/ Ministry of Maori Development/ BERL.

Wright, J. (2008). State of the Environment: “Prioritising Environmental Challenges: What Matters Most?”. Retrieved from http://www.pce.govt.nz/news/speeches/State_of_the_Environment_28_Aug_2008.pdf

Wulf, W. (2007). Changes in innovation ecology. Science, 316(5829), 1253.

Ziman, J. (1984). An Introduction to science studies: The philosophical and social aspects of science and technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Maori Economy, news update

The Labour Party announced its new line up at the end of last year, with Shane Jones at No. 7 and taking on the newly established shadow cabinet position of Maori Economic Development. (NB: always funny to see non-Maori, non-Pasifika, non-Asian NZ MPs as 'European', a la Kiwiblog).

Sealord, the joint venture between Aotearoa Fisheries and Japanese company Nissui, netted $20m profit on revenue of $573m during 15 months trading to September. Although slightly up on the previous result, an unchanged dividend of $16m is to be paid out.

Mutton birds will be tested for radioactivity following leaks from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, having fed and shed in the region in April of last year.

This site records the history of the so-called Maori economy that includes an outline of those reports that have contributed to the current model of understanding and interpreting this economy, and therefore the model by which other cultures and their economies (notably, of course, the Treaty partner), including banks, universities, agribusiness, exporters, and importers. We now see a number of strategic decisions by these potential and existing stakeholders. BNZ have appointed a head of Maori business, Pierre Tohe (of Waikato descent), in acknowledgement of this growing sector.



Other banks are also attentive: ANZ appointed David Harrison as head of Maori relationships in March, 2011; Westpac is also expanding its national Maori strategy.







International Indigenous economies snippets...

Jennifer Campeau elected to Saskatchewan Legislature
Sask Party First Nations candidate, Jennifer Campeau, has been elected in Saskatoon Fairview to the Saskatchewan Legislature.


Jennifer has been a regular attendee of the annual Native American and Indigenous Studies Association conference and organised a panel on Indigenous economic development at last years meeting in Sacramento.






Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean Indigenisation and Empowerment minister Saviour Kasukuwere argues 2012 should see people pursue economic empowerment with the understanding it was only when the majority indigenous Zimbabweans own and participate in their national economy that it would grow in a sustainable manner.


He said such growth, pursued within the socio-economic harmony achieved when the majority was guaranteed an equitable share in their national economy, would become more appealing to foreign investors whose investments are best secured by locals with whom they will partner.

Disease affecting Southland kanakana/lamprey

This from MAF: 

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

MEDIA RELEASE

Kanakana, or lamprey, in the Mataura River have become affected by a bacterial disease.

The bacteria is no risk to human health, however we advise people not to eat kanakana or other fish that look unusual or unhealthy.

We have provisionally identified the bacteria as Aeromonas salmonicida and are completing full testing to identify the exact strain and understand its significance. This bacteria has not been identified in New Zealand before. Full results are expected by late October.

We are also stepping up monitoring programmes in Southland and working with Environment Southland, commercial fisheries, recreational and customary fishers of kanakana, and recreational water users to find out if other waterways and fish are affected.

Until more information is confirmed, fishers and river users are reminded to be vigilant to check, clean and dry their equipment and clothing between waterways.

To date, there are no signs the bacteria is affecting other species. It is known to affect salmon, trout, eel, and whitebait and could affect native fish such as kokopu.

Kanakana with the bacteria are likely to have:

• red and/or swollen fins
• red and/or swollen marks that look like bruises or blood clots.

If anyone finds sick or dead kanakana or any other fish with these symptoms, they can phone the MAF hotline (0800 80 99 66) who will advise what to do next, such as collecting them for testing.

Tane Mahuta and the scattering of ashes

An interesting news item on concerns for Tane Mahuta. But TVNZ can't half twist a story! Essentially two separate issues - the scattering of cremated remains and the spread of Kauri Dieback disease - are combined yet the complexities are barely outlined. On the one hand, kaumatua are concerned that people are risking a cultural despoilment of Tane Mahuta by the remains of their loved ones being dropped on a wahi tapu, a sacred site. And LandCare scientists are worried about the ongoing effects of Phytophthora taxon Agathis (PTA) which has been connected to yellowing foliage, loss of leaves, canopy thinning and dead branches. Affected Kauri can bleed resin through lesions. This can extend to roots and even girdle the trunk as ‘collar rot', killing trees of all ages.


Bleeding resin.

But where and how exactly are faith and reason joining forces in this debate, given there are two different issues? The kaumatua has quite different concerns than the scientist, although both can, Lorax like, speak for the trees! The disease itself was identified in April, 2008. Its closest relative is a chestnut pathogen from Korea (Phytophthora katsurae). The assumption is that PTA is an introduced pathogen but nothing is known about this particular species overseas.

The concern for mana whenua, the people who whakapapa to the area, is that their sacred sites are being trampled on by ignorant (albeit grieving) people who are perhaps following the wishes of their loved departed ones. TVNZ seems incapable of examining what is a complex and difficult subject in anyway that credits either faith or reason.




Warning sign...

Matauranga Maori: methodological musings...

We recently hosted Charles Royal at Lincoln University, albeit briefly. At an informal kai and nibbles Charles gave those staff present an interpretation of Matauranga Maori (see also this presentation from a conference in 2006).



For Charles the principle approach of MM is that of 'tatai': two things come together, producing a third. Now this approach is easily recognisable as akin to other relational methodologies, a la Marx, and the Actor-Network theorists such as Bruno Latour. This marks a significant divergence from those methodologies that elevate individual and therefore isolated analytical units, for example the rational all-knowing consumers of neoliberalism.



The challenge remains to identify those actants relevant to Maori, trace their travels and travails and actual begin to do something to increase the number of beneficial outcomes and avoid, remedy or mitigate the negative outcomes (acknowledging we're still in the midst of debating what they might be).

Graham Smith has also published and presented widely on the methodological history and implications of matauranga Maori.

Other sites...
See this site - Rangahau - for a great collection of Matauranga Maori practitioners.

Also this post on 'Badiou, Extension and Networks...'

Traditional Knowledges Conference

A good time was had by all in the recent Traditional Knowledges Conference, Auckland University in the well-appointed School of Business. I flew up on the Tuesday, staying Wednesday night. Met many old friends from MAI days, quite a few of us now having passed through the PhD grinder and surviving relatively sane.

Great to finally meet Prof Dan Longboat. He's been hosted by Dr. Jamie Ataria (who's spread between LandCare and Lincoln Uni). Dan 'gave' us the term 'Re-indigenising Humanity' which we're using at Lincoln to frame projects to do with, well, more about that later...

Prof Dan Roronhiake:wen (He Clears the Sky) Longboat

Conversations with Dan and his colleague Steve Crawford (who's also visited LandCare a couple of years ago) are just further enticement to work closer with Indigenous peoples across the Pacific. So many similarities and opportunities to learn from each other and transfer the ideas, skills and people we all need. Then we can starting helping Pakeha...


As for the conference dinner, most excellent food if slightly delayed...and why am i always at the naughty table?!

Table 12: Waitangi Shortland, Pip Pehi, Lisa Kanawa, Sean Ogilve, Craig Pauling in the front row; Tui (?), Marg Wilkie, moir, Dan Longboat, Mahinarangi across the rear.

‘Indigenous Research Ethics and Agro-ecological Development: Raising the IRE in Biotechnology Transfer’

Paper presented to the Matauranga Tuku Iho Tikanga Rangahau/Traditional Knowledge and Research Ethics Conference, Te Papa, June 10th-12th, 2004.

Abstract
Although biotechnology has been an integral component of human history, contemporary research now operates with a precision and level of expertise that marks a significant break from previous understanding. By enabling the manipulation of the basic ‘building blocks’ of life, biotechnology sciences have had profound impacts in the humanities, including challenges to property rights, economic strategy, research and development policy, and – not least - ethics. In this context, previously isolated eco-social groups have experienced increasing contact and exchange as both purposeful and accidental transfers of biotic components occurs, and the potential for ‘recombination’ (of DNA, agricultural landscapes, political economies and ecosystems) has dramatically increased.

These new technologies and methods have provoked wide concern as well as hope and excitement. This last point is driven by the coincidence of two developments - advanced biotechnologies and the completion of a 'sociotechnosphere' in which novelty is a commodity. These developments infer two fundamental resources upon indigenous peoples, revolving around biotic and cultural concepts of capital. This paper examines the interplay of agro-ecological and cultural development as it effects the participation of Maori in local and global genetic information networks, and seeks to extend our ethical participation. It does this by locating significant sites in the utilisation of genetic information, thereby identifying the relevant ecosocial institutions to which Maori belong and with whom we should engage.

Key words: biotechnology, ethics, agri-business, Maori development, Plant Genetic Resources.

Introduction
While the reliance of humankind on biotic resources is axiomatic, their actual utilisation is the focus of disputes within and between societies. In this regard, New Zealand shares a common history with a small group of countries characterised by extensive 19th century white-settler small farm agro-ecology (Fairweather, 1985). This beginning has seen an ongoing commitment to a generic assemblage of crops and an associated array of cultivation methods, supplied to increasingly environmentally conscious markets. The phylogenic basis of New Zealand’s land-based industries is around 50 species, with just 28 accounting for 99% of cultivated land by area (Halloy, 1994).

Maori participation in this 'biopolitical-economy' of New Zealand has been problematic from the outset of post-contact experiences. By occupying a multiplicity of niches within European thought and capitalist production, Maori have struggled to regain the initiative in self-determination. The Maori economic base is heavily dependent on biotic resources, predominantly agricultural commodities (see Table 1). Much of this is committed to export, resulting in many iwi and hapu ventures being overly exposed to market volatility and environmental change (Te Puni Kokiri, 2002; NZIER, 2003).

Table 1: Maori Commercial Asset Base (c. 2000-2002):

Sector value (1) % % Maori prod.(2)
Agriculture $3,074m 59% 36% ($700m)
Fisheries $671m 13% 16% ($299m)
Forestry $501m 10% 2% ($43m)
Business $945m 18%
$5,191m 100%

1. Although returns were improved for the financial year 2000, much of this is attributable to favourable climatic conditions and the depreciation of the New Zealand currency (Te Puni Kokiri, 2002: 18).
2. NZIER (2003: 9). NB: this table is based on two separate sources and is indicative only.


State-induced research (via government and industry-backed institutes such as the recently established Centres’ for Research Excellence) explicitly acknowledges two things. The first is that a vibrant future for New Zealand's economy requires adopting and innovating new technologies. Much of this still focuses on the country's biotic resources, although with the now ubiquitous proviso that it be ‘sustainable’. The second is that Maori have a role in processes by which this is to be achieved, explicitly in calls for research and development to be responsive to Maori.

Implicit in this is that Maori be responsive to research. This paper argues that if a robust ethical framework is desired, then the potential(s) of modern biotechnology and their fundamental elements must be identified. To summarise, New Zealand's economy - and Maori disproportionately so - is increasingly dependent on sustainable agricultural and horticultural production and the novel marketing of the resulting produce in a global market. Maori must be able to recognise the implications of research that utilises the genetic information implicit in biotic resources. While some attention has been given to indigenous flora (culminating in the Wai 262 Claim, see Harris and Kapoor, 1990; McLean and Smith, 2001; Williams, 2001), the reliance on introduced species is rarely noted (see however Roskruge, 2001, and Halloy, 1994). The ethical implications of the reliance of agri-biotechnology research and development processes on Plant Genetic Resources have now reached the fullest global reach that was first 'promised' in 1492 by the great Colombian exchange (Crosby, 1986).

Biotechnology, Ecosociality, and Aotearoa/New Zealand
Technology is a broad term, the defining characteristic of which is that it is never really complete. Ferré (1988: 1) refers to the 'technosphere' - the space touched or reached by human artifacts that stretches from several miles below the earth's surface or sea-level to many hundreds of thousands of kilometers above the atmosphere. This technosphere is comprised of many interrelated sociotechnical systems that enable ‘the linkage of techniques and material culture to the socio-coordination of labour’ (Pfaffenberger, 1992: 497). This is best understood as an activity system that involves a wide range of decision-making processes and various communities, both professional and lay.

Looking into Ferre’s technosphere we observe a mass of biotic and components whose interaction can be said to form a ‘genosphere’. This phenomenon has a history that increasingly revolves around manipulation by a highly advanced genotype – Homo sapiens. In this world, as David Harvey reminds us, any ecological debate is always a commentary on political-economic organisation (Harvey, 1996). Kloppenburg (1988) and Lyson (2002), among others, have argued that the advanced techniques now available to agricultural researchers are analogous to the reductionist nature of neoclassical economics and provide the framework for turning the traits of plants and livestock into property. As perhaps the most rapidly advancing technology, biology is drawn into the political arena as biodiversity fractures into variously valued resources while remaining a fundamental component of sustainability.

Criticism of modern biotechnology has two main planks. The first stems from the inherent reductionism alluded to above that sees researchers accused of ignoring or seriously underestimating the actual complexities of its subject matter. This criticism extends the analogy of frontier science - a complex research area that is subject to rapid changes in understanding – to ‘cowboy’ scientists that dismiss or ignore the possibilities of negative environmental impacts (Ho, 1998). The second criticism concerns its relevance, with accusations that this technology seeks to provide answers ‘to a false set of questions’ (Campbell, 2000: 32). In many respects this echoes the first criticism by drawing attention to the obscurity of processes by which genetic engineering (GE) or modification (GM) is to deliver on (the originally hyperbolic) promises. These concerns have coalesced into an array of political movements that are vociferously opposed to such techniques, particularly in the food chain and in the area of human reproduction where advances now challenge what it means to be human (Mauron, 2001; McKibben, 2003). The domain of ecosociality is facing unique challenges that call for creative debate. In this context, genetic reductionism can be subverted, exposing moral and ethical choices within a political-economic framework: who gets what?

These observations highlight the unique position of Maori in the literature on indigenous peoples and technology which is dominated by case studies that examine the often extreme disparities of knowledge and power evident in technology transfer in developing countries where indigenous groups maintain (not necessarily through choice) a much more separate existence. The research arena has thrown up a number of subdisciplines that include access to Appropriate Technology (AT), the role of Indigenous Knowledge (TK) and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and the political alliances between indigenous communities and environmentalists (see Willoughby, 1990; Berkes et al., 1995; Gillespie, 1998).

Briefly then, technology can be defined as a process (incorporating political economic and socio-cultural elements as well as scientific institutions) that crystallizes into things, but only with effort. The point of this paper is that the most valuable of these 'things' - the material outcomes of large-scale, interdisciplinary research and development projects - are increasingly biotic in character, challenging assumptions within those networks that New Zealand’s economy (and with it Maori) operates. The survival of eco-social institutions in this context is perhaps more remarkable than their initial establishment. In what ways could advancing biotechnologies force change on the ecosocial institutional context within which hapu and iwi ventures exist? Although the potential of modern biotechnologies has yet to be clearly characterised, it is increasingly clear that the 'public' or lay communities hold a nuanced position (Marris et al. 2001). In order to identify where such challenges might originate for Maori, two models are presented as attempts to describe the arena in which conflicting interests interact.

Model I: Tracking Genetic Information.
The first model presents the utilisation of genetic information as a number of stages involving various specialties, not all of which necessarily use or require the presence of genetic material. These stages provide a useful analytical tool as shown in Figure 1. Such a framework needs also to be situated within the macro agro-ecological context of Aotearoa/New Zealand: what ecosocial groupings to Maori belong to and engage with? From this we can identify relevant biotic resources and their threats, and (because biodiversity is genetic diversity) begin understanding the extended networks of genetic information to which we belong and utilise.

Although space precludes in-depth analysis, the following attempts to reflect the current situation in New Zealand, a situation that is primarily a consequence of the white-settler farming history alluded to earlier. For example, the pastoral history initiated by colonisation means that forage plants are the single most important Plant Genetic Resource (PGR) for the New Zealand economy. Although some native species do contribute to pastures in areas of low fertility, preferred species are exotic (Warmington et al., 1996). Their value lies with their fundamental contribution to the livestock industry, again a range of exotic species (primarily Eurasian in origin, see Diamond, 1997) that have been bred for various qualities revolving around meat and fibre.


Fig. 1. The utilisation of genetic material
Stage Disciplines Examples

Identification and Collection fieldwork, taxonomy, GIS,Te Kete a Tini Rauhanga (1) bioinformatics, ethnobotany, gastric cancer research (2)

Storage and Maintenance ex situ conservation,Lake Waikaremoana Hapu
engineering, public sector Restoration Trust (3)
management, in situ preservation Rene Orchiston collection(4)

Trade and Transfer corporate affairs, trade negotiations, Te Hikoi mai o te kumara(5)
biosecurity

Research and Development genomics, proteomics, traditional ornamental development (6)
breeding, software design, marketing eg Hebe & Phormium spp.


1. A research project in collaboration with Crop and Food, funded by FRST ($960,000) to investigate rongoa Maori (native medicinal plants), headed by Dr Meto Leach and Hohepa Kereopa (Ngai Tuhoe).
2. Research lead by Dr. Parry Guilford into the relevant genes for a type of gastric cancer was conducted using a Maori family (see Guilford, et al., 1998).
3. A 10-year project investigating the decline of kiwi at Waikaremoana, a collaboration between Manaaki Whenua, DoC and tangata whenua.
4. Held by Manaaki Whenua and originating with 50 cultivars of harakeke/Phormium. Now known as the National New Zealand Flax Collection.
5. A hikoi by kaumatua to Japan in 1988, led by Del Wihongi, to seek the return of 9 varieties of kumara ‘delivered’ to Japanese researchers in 1969 following concerns of maintaining the collection in New Zealand.
6. Extensive collections are in private ownership, both overseas and domestically.


Securing these industries, let alone actually advancing them, will require ongoing experimentation with genetic recombination, driven by both the need for market novelty and sustainability in an increasingly changeable environment. Although valuable collections of globally important PGR exist in New Zealand (particularly of apple and kiwifruit germplasm), international collaboration must continue in what has been described as the Red Queen race, after that character in Alice in Wonderland who must run to stand still (Swanson, 1998). Maori are members of the very same ecosocial interactions as non-Maori, both in Aotearoa/New Zealand and overseas, that engage in the utilisation of similar genetic parcels of flora and fauna.

Model II: Mapping Genetic ResourcesThe following diagram attempts to broadly reflect the theorised markets of relevance to iwi and hapu ventures, by which I mean not so much the place (although physical locations certainly exist) but the scale of management, the nature and extent of networks within which genetic information could be expected to travel (Fig. 2). Such ‘business’ does not necessarily rely on the actual presence of genetic material but may revolve around the legal right to claim royalties from use of historical germlines or patented techniques. No deeper analysis is attempted here although there is an ever-expanding range of complex interests acting to secure or utilise genetic information. Some institutions may act to support private biotic interests in order to secure indirect economic benefits, e.g. the provision of publicly funded biosecurity for industry or sectoral interests by government agencies. Further, there could be great emotional security provided to the individual by the provision of relatively simple DNA identification.

This second model highlights the difficulty that any disempowered community would face in engaging on an equal footing those institutions that control aspects of development needed for self-determination. First there are the usual disparities, in knowledge, power, support. Secondly, there is now global extent of control and influence over an increasingly strategic resource, variously declared a global commons or the property of nation-states, corporations or indigenous peoples. Access to PGR have been blocked before (to 'the usual suspects', enemies of the 'West', see Querol, 1993; Frankel, 1988: 29), local communities continue to experience biopiracy, and the illicit trade in rare organisms continues (Gower, 2004). This model describes a genosphere where access to and benefits from genetic information is dominated by nation-states over sub-national communities, multinational corporations over local businesses, or supranational organisations over democratically elected legislative bodies.

Fig 2. Market scales
Increasing scale
of market

Development Fonterra (1)
Margot Forde Germplasm Centre (2)
Landcare (3)

Trade & transfer MAF Biosecurity (4)


Maintenance ESR (5)
& Storage National Testing Centre (6)
Otari Native Botanic Garden (7)

Collection &
Identification
Increasing Scale of Ownership
individual community state global
firm corporate

1. Fonterra is engaged in a number of projects that involve genetic information although thus far they have disavowed genetic modification in their research (Dann, 2004).
2. Est. 1930s, based in Palmerston North and maintained by AgResearch. Holds approx. 60,000 seed samples (mainly grasses and legumes). 1,500 spp/58 plant families including 18,000 varieties of white clover. An important genebank for New Zealand land-based industries.
3. Landcare maintain the largest herbarium in New Zealand, containing over 500,000 specimens, representing NZ and the South Pacific.
4. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests administers the Hazardous Substance and New Organisms Act (1996) and is the lead government agency in the implementation of Biosecurity strategy.
5. Environmental Science Research hold approx. 40,000 human DNA samples for criminal profiling (Source: Courtney, 2004: A15)
6. Stores the majority of human DNA samples collected in NZ (from newborns), numbering around two million samples. Owned and managed by the Auckland District Health Board (Source: Courtney, 2004: A15).
7. A significant reserve dedicated to NZ native plants. Established in 1906, it covers 75 hectares and is implicated in two (now amalgamated) Waitangi Tribunal claims, no.’s 145 and 474.


Discussion
Like other agri-business participants, Maori are committed to a global network whose purpose is to effect the development and implementation of a range of strategies involving the utilisation of genetic information. This immediately locates us with other beneficiaries of global trade in PGR, a trade that has been criticised as theft by many indigenous groups. While Maori can effectively avoid blame, this paper presents a case for acknowledging where we have benefit from inherited genetic information, and including those dissenting ecosocial institutions within our network of participants.

The sources of vulnerability and the means to attain resilience are multi-scalar, involving linkages to new locations (and therefore previously unknown ecosocial institutions) as well as altering the relationship with historically connected locations (via advancing technologies) and challenging existing ecosocial institutions. Conceptually, significant locations could be mapped by tracing the relevant genetic information, its origins, threats to access or even the survival of viable germplasm, and contradictory interests in its actual or perceived properties, and so on. The ethical and moral issues attendant on the identification, collection, storage, maintenance, trade, transfer, research and (all going well!) socially just development must also be acknowledged. Model I presents a template for tracking where such obligations might exist, which can be only the first step in truly successful development; Model II describes nothing more than the obvious, that as a resource (in this case genetic information) increases in value, its control will be sought and amalgamated by more powerful players.

Conclusion
Marx claimed that ‘the tradition of the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the minds of the living’. By this he meant the constraints of previously solid institutions that were neither willing nor able to aid the ‘revolutionary transformation’ of people and their environments in ‘the creation of something which does not yet exist.’ (cited in Harvey, 1996: 94). Challenges to existing ecosocial institutions, whether Maori or non-Maori, local, national or global, result from and contribute to change and that is evident in the utilisation of genetic information. The 'best practice' (i.e. ethical) ecosocial arrangements cannot yet exist, and their development will require broader sources of input than has been apparent so far.

Notwithstanding the cultural heritage and emotional connections to indigenous flora and fauna (an aspect of Aotearoa/New Zealand that is also claimed by pakeha) the resilient development of Maori agri-business is increasingly dependent on advanced technology and improved marketing that is global in extent. Like pakeha, Maori are entwined within the neoliberal-ordered exchange of commodities and must be cognisant of supranational regulations concerning, among other things, production methods, marketing labels and intellectual property that explicitly uses ‘culture-tags’. International traders must also be aware of their target market's idiosyncrasies that will include moral and ethical judgements. By engaging in modern agri-food business, Maori are complicit in the appropriation and manipulation of genetic information that is generally held (ex situ or in situ), maintained and disseminated according to rational, capitalist demands. Let Maori be proactive in defining the debate. Our complicity needs to be acknowledged, if for no other reason than to raise the IRE in future agri-biotechnology research.

References
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Williams, D.V. 2001 Matauranga Maori and Taonga: The Nature and Extent of Treaty Rights held by Iwi and Hapu (regarding) Indigenous Flora and Fauna, Cultural Heritage Objects, Valued Traditional Knowledge, Waitangi Tribunal Report.
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