title: Ngā tohu o te taiao: Observing signs of the natural world to identify seastar over-abundance as a detriment to shellfish survival in Ōhiwa Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Paul-Burke, Kura

subjects: Tohu

abstract: Māori understandings and experiences of the natural world encompass not only what is known but how it is known, and the intergenerational connectedness of that knowledge with the environments from which it is derived. Ngā tohu o te taiao (hereafter ‘tohu’), or the cultural and environmental signs and indicators of the natural world, are widely used by kaitiaki or local practitioners to identify trends or changes in the state or health of marine taonga (culturally important) species and their associated environments (Paul-Burke, 2017). Māori worldviews position humans within nature and focus on ways in which cultural understandings and intergenerational connections between people and their bio-physical contexts assist in the retention and protection of biodiversity and ecologically sustainable ecosystems (Lyver et al., 2016). Tohu are a fundamental expression of kaitiakitanga or active guardianship and are based on the primal instinct of survival and recognising that in order to survive one must pay attention to the natural signs and signals thoughtfully, so as to manage our mahinga kai (food harvesting area) and ourselves into the future (Paul-Burke et al., 2020). This article considers the example of the over-abundant eleven-armed seastar (pātangaroa, Coscinasterias muricata; hereafter ‘seastar’) predating on culturally and ecologically important shellfish populations in a traditional mahinga kai of Ōhiwa Harbour in the Bay of Plenty region of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The over-abundance of seastars was considered a contemporary tohu of a degrading harbour. It was deemed imperative by iwi (tribe) members that a trial using quantitative methods to investigate predation pressure of seastars on the green-lipped mussel (kuku or kūtai, Perna canaliculus) population be conducted in the harbour. Between September 2018 and February 2019 field trials were undertaken that prioritised mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) alongside marine science to assist with a better understanding of the degrading harbour. It was hoped that the research would help and promote recovery, in particular but not limited to, the once abundant but now severely reduced mussel reefs in the soft-mud-bottomed harbour.

text: Ngā tohu o te taiao: Observing signs of the natural world to identify seastar over-abundance as a detriment to shellfish survival in Ōhiwa Harbour, Aotearoa New Zealand Māori understandings and experiences of the natural world encompass not only what is known but how it is known, and the intergenerational connectedness of that knowledge with the environments from which it is derived. Ngā tohu o te taiao (hereafter ‘tohu’), or the cultural and environmental signs and indicators of the natural world, are widely used by kaitiaki or local practitioners to identify trends or changes in the state or health of marine taonga (culturally important) species and their associated environments (Paul-Burke, 2017). Māori worldviews position humans within nature and focus on ways in which cultural understandings and intergenerational connections between people and their bio-physical contexts assist in the retention and protection of biodiversity and ecologically sustainable ecosystems (Lyver et al., 2016). Tohu are a fundamental expression of kaitiakitanga or active guardianship and are based on the primal instinct of survival and recognising that in order to survive one must pay attention to the natural signs and signals thoughtfully, so as to manage our mahinga kai (food harvesting area) and ourselves into the future (Paul-Burke et al., 2020). This article considers the example of the over-abundant eleven-armed seastar (pātangaroa, Coscinasterias muricata; hereafter ‘seastar’) predating on culturally and ecologically important shellfish populations in a traditional mahinga kai of Ōhiwa Harbour in the Bay of Plenty region of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The over-abundance of seastars was considered a contemporary tohu of a degrading harbour. It was deemed imperative by iwi (tribe) members that a trial using quantitative methods to investigate predation pressure of seastars on the green-lipped mussel (kuku or kūtai, Perna canaliculus) population be conducted in the harbour. Between September 2018 and February 2019 field trials were undertaken that prioritised mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) alongside marine science to assist with a better understanding of the degrading harbour. It was hoped that the research would help and promote recovery, in particular but not limited to, the once abundant but now severely reduced mussel reefs in the soft-mud-bottomed harbour.

year: 2022-03-28

title: Kia kāpuia te reo o Tāmaki ki te Tonga: Tāmaki Makaurau ki te Tonga

authors: Lee-Morgan, Jenny Bol Jun

abstract: Mai i te Papakuratanga o Mataoho tae noa ki tona Ipu. Mai i Pukaki Tapu o Poutiikeka ki Te Puketapapatanga a Hape. Mai i te tahuna o Torea i nga wai o Mokoia, mawhiti atu ki Te Arapueru e karekare mai na ko Te Manukanuka a Hoturoa, kei reira a Taramainuku raua ko Kaiwhare. Ka kawea ki nga.hau o Mangere, e topa ai taku manuhokahoka ki Te Manurewatanga a Tamapahore. Whakaterawhiti taku haere ki Otara-a-nuku, ki Otara-a-rangi koia te tikapatanga o toku tiipuna o Marutuahu. Hoki whenei mai au ki Te Pane o Mataoho, tiro kau ake au ki aku pa whakairo ko Matatukutureia, ko Matukurua nga nohoanga tapu o Huakaiwaka, o Nga Tini-o-toitehuatahi, o Maruiwi kua ngaro katoa ki te reinga.

text: Kia kāpuia te reo o Tāmaki ki te Tonga: Tāmaki Makaurau ki te Tonga Mai i te Papakuratanga o Mataoho tae noa ki tona Ipu. Mai i Pukaki Tapu o Poutiikeka ki Te Puketapapatanga a Hape. Mai i te tahuna o Torea i nga wai o Mokoia, mawhiti atu ki Te Arapueru e karekare mai na ko Te Manukanuka a Hoturoa, kei reira a Taramainuku raua ko Kaiwhare. Ka kawea ki nga.hau o Mangere, e topa ai taku manuhokahoka ki Te Manurewatanga a Tamapahore. Whakaterawhiti taku haere ki Otara-a-nuku, ki Otara-a-rangi koia te tikapatanga o toku tiipuna o Marutuahu. Hoki whenei mai au ki Te Pane o Mataoho, tiro kau ake au ki aku pa whakairo ko Matatukutureia, ko Matukurua nga nohoanga tapu o Huakaiwaka, o Nga Tini-o-toitehuatahi, o Maruiwi kua ngaro katoa ki te reinga.

year: 2017

title: Reply to Mahowald and Gibson and to Heggarty: No problems with short words, and no evidence provided

authors: Pagel, Mark

abstract: Mahowald and Gibson (1) suggest that the shorter word length of frequently used words, and not their stability, could mean that chance sound correspondences account for the pattern of results we report for cognate relationships among proto-words in our study of seven Eurasian language families (2). However, their −0.24 correlation between the phonological length of contemporary English words and our measure of cognate class size is not relevant to the question of chance sound correspondences among the proto-words from different language families. What must be demonstrated is that shorter proto-words were more likely to be judged cognate simply on the basis of their length.

text: Reply to Mahowald and Gibson and to Heggarty: No problems with short words, and no evidence provided Mahowald and Gibson (1) suggest that the shorter word length of frequently used words, and not their stability, could mean that chance sound correspondences account for the pattern of results we report for cognate relationships among proto-words in our study of seven Eurasian language families (2). However, their −0.24 correlation between the phonological length of contemporary English words and our measure of cognate class size is not relevant to the question of chance sound correspondences among the proto-words from different language families. What must be demonstrated is that shorter proto-words were more likely to be judged cognate simply on the basis of their length.

year: 2013