Te Kete o Karaitiana Taiuru (Blog)

Archive


  • The Phantom Article 4 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

    The Phantom Article 4 of Te Tiriti o Waitangi

    This article debunks the false narrative that Te Tiriti o Waitangi has a hidden or overlooked Article 4 that gave Māori the right to religious freedom. Despite all political parties agreeing there is no Article 4, that Article 4 is not mentioned in any Waitangi Tribunal Reports and is not a part of any of…

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  • Māori Opinions and Views Framework

    Māori Opinions and Views Framework

    This article explores why there is no ‘one Māori opinion’ and aims to dispel media and politicians comments about “Māori in fighting” use this to create further separation with Waitangi claims, iwi issues and other iwi/social issues that seem to make it to mainstream media. It is based upon Sir Mason Durie’s “Maori Health Decade…

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  • Scammers target Māori Tangi

    Scammers target Māori Tangi

    In a new threat to Māori online,  a new scam is increasing where scammers are creating false social media accounts as death notices and online funeral streaming accounts. Facebook and other social media has become an essential way of communications, particularly with Māori. Many of us find that if we stop using social media, we…

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  • Māori culture and language observations with ChatGPT

    Māori culture and language observations with ChatGPT

    ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022.  It has been discussed by international mainstream media with many academics and education facilities concerned at it’s ability to assist with plagiarised writings and research. As with any new technologies, there is very little Indigenous perspectives or input into developments which…

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  • Tikanga Associated with Biological Samples

    An analysis of traditional Tikanga Māori associated with research, storage and analysis of Māori biological samples including DNA.

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  • Indigenising DNA

    Indigenising what DNA is using Mātauranga Māori and cosmology whakapapa.

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  • What is a Taonga Species

    Comprehensive definition of what a Taonga Species is using mātauranga Māori and cosmology

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  • Tikanga Tawhito: Tikanga Hou Kaitiaki Guidelines for DNA Research, Storage and Seed Banks with Taonga Materials

    As opposed to conforming to Eurocentric values and academic comfort levels, this guideline is the first published bioethics guideline encapsulating traditional and modern mātauranga Māori, to explore ethical research & storage of Māori genetic samples. This is the complete guideline with the ISBN: 978-0-9582597-8-1.   Similar to the New Zealand Health system overhaul (2022) to…

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  • Tikanga: Cell phone on the table you eat from

    Tikanga evolves is a common term. Often this means people who were not brought up with mātauranga creating new tikanga while traditional values are forgotten or not transitioned into evolving society. This article discusses several common tikanga about the tapu nature of the head, not putting food on your head, not sitting on a table…

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  • Why I support a dual name for New Zealand

    Aotearoa, while not an original name for New Zealand, has been popularised and is commonly used as the Māori name for the North, South and Stewart Islands. For this reason, I support the dual name being proposed by the Māori Party, to be an official dual name for New Zealand. It is important to note…

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  • Tikanga with face swapping filters and deep fakes

    Using traditional Māori knowledge, I discuss cultural appropriateness of deep fakes and face swapping filters. Some of this discussion is also applicable to Facial Recognition systems. Apart form Māori, this article may be of interest to developers and organizations with Facial Recognition Systems. It is against tikanga Māori (customary beliefs) to have your image on…

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  • Indigenising through Te Taha Wairua: AI, Algorithms, Data, Internet and IOT

    This article indigenises the Internet and the global digital eco-system which is often called the Web or digital network, and has been specifically written to assist with understanding Data sovereignty, Internet, systems, robotics, algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from a customary Māori perspective. For those who have been reading my series of articles, this is…

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  • Māori business self identification – end of racist profiling

    Stuff reported a story that Māori businesses will soon have the opportunity to self identify as Maori. For the first time, a national register will let companies say if they identify as a Māori business. A change to the National Business Number register will give Māori enterprises the option to record data that identifies them…

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  • Eroding tikanga of the hongi

    The recent introduction of kissing females on the cheek and ignoring the customary practice of a hongi creates a number of issues including the loss of tikanga and the real possibility of discriminating against people in our community. THe earliest written account in the South Island of Ngai Tahu of the traditional practice of the…

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  • Online learning and tikanga Māori

    This article is for Whānau, Māori: students, teachers and academics. The same principles can be applied to working remotely online. I have recently heard it stated that online learning is not tika, it is not right and that it is not our tikanga as our tikanga is kanohi ki kanohi, face to face. This article…

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  • Karakia or cultural appropriation

    This article is about karakia in post-colonial New Zealand and introduced religious influences that have changed Māori cultural beliefs and practices. This is not an article about religions and what religion is the more appropriate. Every person has a right to practice their own religious beliefs without hurting others or being hurt because of their…

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  • Waitangi Day 2020: Flag cultural faux pa

    The Christchurch City Council (CCC) and the Okains Bay Māori and Colonial Museum held their 45th Waitangi Day celebration with a citizenship ceremony at Opara (Okains Bay), Banks Peninsula, South Island. The Christchurch City Council and the Okains Bay Māori and Colonial Museum chose to ignore flying the national Māori flag recognised by the New…

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  • Indigenising knowledge of Telecommunications and Smart Phones

    The complete paper in a pdf format can be downloaded here. An introduction, explanation and indigenising of current day natural phenomena radio technologies that are used for technologies such as 3G, 4G and 5G for mobile phones and indigenises modern day smart phones. Then, the paper compares pre colonial communications and traditional knowledge to explain…

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  • Submission to the Law Commission: DNA in Criminal Investigations

    In 2019 the Law Commission called for public submissions regarding the Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations. This is my public submission and impacts on Māori culture and Tikanga Māori. Introduction What is a Taonga Why DNA is a Taonga C.1 Tikanga C.2 Traditional Knowledge Data Sovereignty of DNA samples Māori world view Recommendations References…

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  • DNA is a Taonga: A Customary Māori Perspective

    Introduction What is a Taonga Tikanga –Whakapapa – Mauri – Wairua Traditional Knowledge Loss of customary knowledge Data Sovereignty of DNA samples Digital Colonisation Tikanga Test Links of Interest References Download the paper in pdf Introduction This paper was originally written in direct response to the Law Commission’s public consultation (and forms a part of…

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