April 24, 2024
Indigenous knowledge wake up for Earth Day
A Māori earth systems scientist says a re-evaluation of indigenous knowledge globally is needed more than ever.
Dan Hikuroa from the University of Auckland says western knowledge systems have led to a drive for domination over the planet, whereas indigenous peoples seek to live in harmony.
Drawing on matauranga can allow researchers to tap into hundreds of years of information about natural systems.
“It’s exactly the kind of information we need to reverse the trends we’ve seen of those rising sea levels, sweltering conditions juxtaposed against droughts and massive storms everywhere so that Indigenous knowledge and what comes with it, seeing yourself as part of the taiao, seeing yourself as part of the maunga, the rivers, the ngahere brings a different mind set alongside that really important knowledge,” Associate Professor Hikuroa says.
It was Earth Day this week, with the call going out this year for a 60 percent reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.