20 years through a Mātauranga Māori lens

14 April, 2023

Of all the lenses we could apply to the MacDiarmid Institute’s 20 years, one of the most important to examine is our work in the Mātauranga Māori space. Institute Deputy Director Māori, Associate Professor Pauline Harris, from Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Rakaipaaka and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, says she knew Paul Callaghan and has watched the Institute’s journey in Mātauranga Māori over the years:

“I met Paul Callaghan when he went to the Antarctic with Ocean Mercier and Dan Pringle, and then many other times over the years. I used to ask Paul for advice around Mātauranga Māori. He was always really open to talk to me and gave me feedback on my ideas and questions. Over the years also the Institute has always been really supportive of my science outreach to Māori communities, sharing equipment and gifting outreach packs for the kids, which they very much enjoyed.”

Pauline says while there were early movements towards building relationships with Māori, particularly through (former Director) Professor Kate McGrath’s connections with Taranaki iwi, the earliest MacDiarmid Institute workshops exploring Mātauranga Māori concepts were student-led initiatives, such as the 2015 symposium organised by Bart Ludbrook on ‘Mātauranga Māori, Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials’.

She says the Institute has come leaps and bounds in this regard over the last four years in terms of developing relationships and engaging with Mātauranga Māori and Māori on a variety of projects: “The Institute has grown in its ability to nurture and grow these relationships and connect with Māori business in the economic space. And there is now a genuine desire to work with iwi Māori on environmental issues, to develop capacity and capability, and to develop young Māori as well. And, importantly, this commitment to capability and capacity development has been done with Māori leading it.”