title: He whiringa aroha: A mokopuna and a pare in the peabody essex museum

authors: Murray, Moana

abstract: Taonga, Māori ancestral treasures, embody the mana and knowledge of Māori ancestors. He Whiringa Aroha is one such treasure: a carved pare that affirms the mana of wāhine in the colonial archives, but whose whakapapa has been obscured. This thesis uses the name ‘He Whiringa Aroha’ and the te reo Māori pronoun ‘ia’ to refer to ‘E5501’, which is located in the 1806 Richardson collection in the Peabody Essex Museum. As He Whiringa Aroha travelled from Aotearoa New Zealand to Massachusetts, United States, ia became entangled in historical narratives that disembodied the taonga from hapū and iwi Māori. Taonga were not only physically removed from Aotearoa, but taonga and Māori creative practices were named, gendered, and displayed by colonisers. American sailors collected and displayed He Whiringa Aroha as an exotic ‘curiosity’ to showcase their triumph over Pacific waters. Yet, He Whiringa Aroha is a power portal—a potent braid to the past, the future, and to those Māori ways of being that defy the limiting archival language of colonialism. How do we relate to taonga Māori that have been fragmented by the colonial archive? What are alternatives to restory and reclaim taonga that remain in overseas museums? 

Using a creative methodology grounded in Mana Wahine and pūrākau, this thesis weaves a whiri (braid) of aroha (reverence) that attempts to restore he hononga mokopuna–the connection between taonga and their descendants. Through poetry, a decolonial map, interviews with ringatoi (Māori creatives), and archival research, I explore how the histories of taonga can be reclaimed in Māori worldviews. Interviews with pūkenga and tohunga toi reveal Māori understandings of taonga as expressions of toi, defying western taxonomies of ‘art’ and ‘curio’. Furthermore, archival research into the East India Marine Society and Peabody Essex Museum unmasks the American sailors and their provenance practices that
have marginalised Māori, and in particular, wāhine Māori. Finally, I use pūrākau of atua wāhine, Mana Wahine and takatāpui scholarship to restory and rename He Whiringa Aroha. This archival storytelling raises new ethical questions about ownership and kaitiakitanga (guardianship), which pose interventions for existing conversations about the place of taonga Māori in overseas museum collections. Reclaiming the histories of ancestors in museums is more than decolonizing colonial archives; on the contrary, restorying taonga is an act of Indigenous resurgence. This Masters research opens new possibilities to reclaiming takatāpui narratives and the mana of wahine in museum archives.

text: He whiringa aroha: A mokopuna and a pare in the peabody essex museum Taonga, Māori ancestral treasures, embody the mana and knowledge of Māori ancestors. He Whiringa Aroha is one such treasure: a carved pare that affirms the mana of wāhine in the colonial archives, but whose whakapapa has been obscured. This thesis uses the name ‘He Whiringa Aroha’ and the te reo Māori pronoun ‘ia’ to refer to ‘E5501’, which is located in the 1806 Richardson collection in the Peabody Essex Museum. As He Whiringa Aroha travelled from Aotearoa New Zealand to Massachusetts, United States, ia became entangled in historical narratives that disembodied the taonga from hapū and iwi Māori. Taonga were not only physically removed from Aotearoa, but taonga and Māori creative practices were named, gendered, and displayed by colonisers. American sailors collected and displayed He Whiringa Aroha as an exotic ‘curiosity’ to showcase their triumph over Pacific waters. Yet, He Whiringa Aroha is a power portal—a potent braid to the past, the future, and to those Māori ways of being that defy the limiting archival language of colonialism. How do we relate to taonga Māori that have been fragmented by the colonial archive? What are alternatives to restory and reclaim taonga that remain in overseas museums? 

Using a creative methodology grounded in Mana Wahine and pūrākau, this thesis weaves a whiri (braid) of aroha (reverence) that attempts to restore he hononga mokopuna–the connection between taonga and their descendants. Through poetry, a decolonial map, interviews with ringatoi (Māori creatives), and archival research, I explore how the histories of taonga can be reclaimed in Māori worldviews. Interviews with pūkenga and tohunga toi reveal Māori understandings of taonga as expressions of toi, defying western taxonomies of ‘art’ and ‘curio’. Furthermore, archival research into the East India Marine Society and Peabody Essex Museum unmasks the American sailors and their provenance practices that
have marginalised Māori, and in particular, wāhine Māori. Finally, I use pūrākau of atua wāhine, Mana Wahine and takatāpui scholarship to restory and rename He Whiringa Aroha. This archival storytelling raises new ethical questions about ownership and kaitiakitanga (guardianship), which pose interventions for existing conversations about the place of taonga Māori in overseas museum collections. Reclaiming the histories of ancestors in museums is more than decolonizing colonial archives; on the contrary, restorying taonga is an act of Indigenous resurgence. This Masters research opens new possibilities to reclaiming takatāpui narratives and the mana of wahine in museum archives.

year: 2024

title: Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2007

authors: Rua, Mohi

subjects: Maori and Psychology Research Unit

abstract: Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2007. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community.

text: Maori & Psychology Research Unit annual report 2007 Annual report of the Maori and Psychology Research Unit (MPRU) 2007. The unit was established in August of 1997. The unit is designed to provide a catalyst and support network for enhancing research concerning the psychological needs, aspirations, and priorities of Maori people. The MPRU is well situated to draw together skilled and experienced interdisciplinary research groups by networking and establishing working relationships with staff and students within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University, and the wider community.

year: 2008

title: Sources and effects of catchment-derived bioavailable contaminants in Hamilton urban streams

authors: Valler, Tammy L.

subjects: Urban streams

abstract: Awareness of the consistently degraded state of urban streams, with lower biodiversity has heightened worldwide, increasing restoration initiatives to ameliorate the adverse effects. The present study examined anthropogenically-derived contaminants in water and sediments and bioaccumulation in tissues and bile of shortfin eels (Anguilla australis) in Hamilton City urban gully streams. Bioassays were also conducted with two native Crustacea; the amphipod Paracorophium lucasi and freshwater crayfish (kōura) (Paranephrops planifrons) to test endpoints of survival, reburial behaviour and growth. Results of dissolved Cu, Pb and Zn showed the industrial Waitawhiriwhiri catchment, with higher impervious surfaces, to have the greatest potential for generating contaminants in stream waters. Relationships between sediment contaminant concentrations and upstream % impervious area suggest an association with stormwater runoff and metal accumulation. Shortfin eels from Gibbons Creek and Lake Rotoroa bioaccumulated high concentrations of Pb and As respectively in livers, and PAH metabolite pyrene-1-glucuronide in bile was found in many eels, highlighting the bioavailability of these contaminants. Muscle tissues cocnentrations of Pb and Hg in some sites triggered food safety guidelines presenting a low risk for human consumption. Amphipods exposed to sediments from Lake Rotoroa had significantly reduced survival compared with those exposed to other site sediments in a 10-day sediment toxicity test. Photo-induced toxicity is not of concern for biota exposed to these sediments. Sediments did not induce any sub-lethal effect on reburial behaviour. Growth rates of kōura fed Salix fragilis leaf material incubated in Hamilton streams were not significantly different, and the short duration of the study meant conclusions could not be made on the significance of observed accumulated metals and metalloids on differences in growth rates. Results of this study highlight a number of locations in the Hamilton stream network, where contaminants are of concern, especially in streams with fully urbanised catchments with high effective imperviousness and legacies of past land use or pollution. Bioavailability of some metals, metalloids and PAHs is constraining the diversity of some species present in these streams, although not apparent for shortfin eels, as they are very common.

text: Sources and effects of catchment-derived bioavailable contaminants in Hamilton urban streams Awareness of the consistently degraded state of urban streams, with lower biodiversity has heightened worldwide, increasing restoration initiatives to ameliorate the adverse effects. The present study examined anthropogenically-derived contaminants in water and sediments and bioaccumulation in tissues and bile of shortfin eels (Anguilla australis) in Hamilton City urban gully streams. Bioassays were also conducted with two native Crustacea; the amphipod Paracorophium lucasi and freshwater crayfish (kōura) (Paranephrops planifrons) to test endpoints of survival, reburial behaviour and growth. Results of dissolved Cu, Pb and Zn showed the industrial Waitawhiriwhiri catchment, with higher impervious surfaces, to have the greatest potential for generating contaminants in stream waters. Relationships between sediment contaminant concentrations and upstream % impervious area suggest an association with stormwater runoff and metal accumulation. Shortfin eels from Gibbons Creek and Lake Rotoroa bioaccumulated high concentrations of Pb and As respectively in livers, and PAH metabolite pyrene-1-glucuronide in bile was found in many eels, highlighting the bioavailability of these contaminants. Muscle tissues cocnentrations of Pb and Hg in some sites triggered food safety guidelines presenting a low risk for human consumption. Amphipods exposed to sediments from Lake Rotoroa had significantly reduced survival compared with those exposed to other site sediments in a 10-day sediment toxicity test. Photo-induced toxicity is not of concern for biota exposed to these sediments. Sediments did not induce any sub-lethal effect on reburial behaviour. Growth rates of kōura fed Salix fragilis leaf material incubated in Hamilton streams were not significantly different, and the short duration of the study meant conclusions could not be made on the significance of observed accumulated metals and metalloids on differences in growth rates. Results of this study highlight a number of locations in the Hamilton stream network, where contaminants are of concern, especially in streams with fully urbanised catchments with high effective imperviousness and legacies of past land use or pollution. Bioavailability of some metals, metalloids and PAHs is constraining the diversity of some species present in these streams, although not apparent for shortfin eels, as they are very common.

year: 2013