🌙 Mātauranga Māori — Traditional Knowledge
Mātauranga Māori is a comprehensive, relational knowledge system developed by Māori over centuries in Aotearoa. It is not "folklore" or "myth" — it is a sophisticated body of knowledge encompassing astronomy, ecology, medicine, agriculture, navigation, and governance. This lesson positions mātauranga Māori as a valid and vital knowledge system alongside Western science.
Pātai Matua — Central Questions
- What makes a knowledge system valid?
- How does mātauranga Māori approach the natural world differently from Western science?
- Why does it matter that we recognise multiple ways of knowing?
🙏 Karakia Tīmatanga
🎥 Media Anchor
Video: Mātauranga Māori and Knowledge Systems
- What makes mātauranga Māori a complete knowledge system?
- How can different knowledge systems complement each other?
Whakataka te hau ki uta,
Whakataka te hau ki tai.
Kia mākinakina ki uta,
Kia mātaratara ki tai.
E hī ake ana te atakura.
He tio, he huka, he hau hū.
Tūturu o whiti whakamaua kia tīna. Tīna!
Hui e! Tāiki e!
Ngā Mahi — Lesson Activities (60 minutes)
1. Stimulus — Mātauranga Māori in Action (15 min)
⭐ Matariki & Star Navigation
Matariki (the Pleiades star cluster) marks the Māori New Year and signals key agricultural and fishing seasons. Māori navigators crossed Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa using deep knowledge of star paths, ocean swells, wind patterns, and bird behaviour — with no instruments, across thousands of kilometres. This is astronomy and oceanography in practice.
🌱 Maramataka — Lunar Calendar
The maramataka is a lunar calendar used to time planting, harvesting, fishing, and gathering. Each phase of the moon was observed and named — ākonga discovered which nights fish bite, which days soil is ready, which tides are safe. This is not superstition: it is systematic empirical knowledge refined over generations.
🌿 Soil Testing by Kaimahi
Māori kaimahi (workers) tested soil quality by touch, smell, and even taste — determining pH, moisture, composition, and suitability for kūmara cultivation. Modern soil science validates these methods. The rākau (wooden planting sticks) and mound-building techniques maximised drainage and warmth for kūmara in a cool climate.
Class Discussion (5 min):
- What evidence do you see that these are knowledge systems, not just customs?
- What would make you trust a knowledge system — written records, testing, repetition, passed-down observation?
- Introduce the term epistemology: the study of how we know what we know. Every culture has an epistemology.
2. Station Rotation — Three Domains of Mātauranga (20 min)
Divide class into three groups. Each group spends approximately 6–7 minutes at each station. Provide printed station cards or display on screens around the room.
Station 1 — Maramataka: The Living Calendar
The maramataka names each night of the lunar month. Some nights are pai (good) for fishing, others for planting, others for rest. Different iwi had regional variations based on their local environment.
Key phases include: Whiro (dark moon, rest), Ōtāne (good for planting), Rakaunui (full moon, strong energy, good for fishing), Tangaroa-ā-mua & Tangaroa-ā-roto (excellent fishing, named for the atua of the sea).
Station Task:
- Look at the maramataka chart provided. Identify 3 named moon phases.
- For each: what activity is recommended, and why might that make ecological sense?
- How is this similar to how farmers today use seasons, weather apps, and soil data?
Station 2 — Rongoā Māori: Medicinal Plant Knowledge
Rongoā Māori is a holistic healing system using native plants, karakia (prayer), and mirimiri (massage). It was suppressed by colonial laws (the 1907 Tohunga Suppression Act) but has survived and is now recognised alongside Western medicine.
Key plants:
- Harakeke (flax): Leaves used for binding wounds, seeds and roots for various treatments.
- Kawakawa: Analgesic, anti-inflammatory — now scientifically validated. Used in rongoā, tā moko, and as a symbol of mourning.
- Mānuka: Antibacterial properties now globally recognised (UMF honey). Used for wounds, fevers, steam treatments.
Station Task:
- For each plant: what was the traditional use, and what has modern science found?
- Why was this knowledge nearly lost? What does the Tohunga Suppression Act tell us about colonial attitudes to Māori knowledge?
- How might rongoā practitioners work alongside doctors today?
Station 3 — Kaitiakitanga: Sustainable Guardianship
Kaitiakitanga means guardianship and stewardship of the natural world, rooted in the belief that humans are not owners of the environment but its caregivers. It is now embedded in the Resource Management Act 1991.
Practical examples:
- Rāhui: A temporary ban on harvesting (fishing, gathering) to allow stocks to recover — equivalent to modern marine reserves, but practised centuries earlier.
- Tapu: Sacred restrictions on areas, preventing over-harvesting and protecting breeding grounds.
- Āhuru mōwai: Sheltered nurturing environments — rotational use of land and sea.
Station Task:
- What Western conservation concepts match rāhui, tapu, and āhuru mōwai?
- Why might kaitiakitanga be more effective than a Western regulatory approach?
- Find one example of kaitiakitanga being used in modern NZ environmental law or practice.
3. Venn Diagram — Two Ways of Knowing (15 min)
Whole class returns together. Ākonga create a Venn diagram comparing mātauranga Māori and Western science as knowledge systems. This is not about deciding which is "better" — it is about understanding how each works.
Mātauranga Māori
- Relational — knowledge lives in connection to land, whakapapa, and community
- Passed through oral tradition, waiata, whakataukī, and practice
- Inseparable from tikanga (values) and spirituality
- Holistic — body, environment, and cosmos are interconnected
- Developed in Aotearoa over 800+ years of observation
Both
- Based on observation over time
- Tested and refined across generations
- Concerned with prediction and outcome
- Seeks to explain natural phenomena
- Has specialised practitioners and experts
Western Science
- Seeks objectivity — separating the observer from the observed
- Written, peer-reviewed, and replicable
- Compartmentalised — specialist disciplines
- Values measurability and quantification
- Claims universal application
Discussion Prompt:
"If both systems observe, test, and refine knowledge over generations — what has made Western science seen as more 'legitimate'? What does that tell us about power, colonisation, and whose knowledge gets valued?"
4. Whakaaro — Reflection (10 min)
Reflection Prompt:
"How does recognising mātauranga Māori as a valid knowledge system change how you see 'expertise'? Who gets to be an expert — and who decides?"
Ākonga write 3–5 sentences in response. Alternatively, use a think-pair-share structure. Collect as exit ticket.
Extension Question (for fast finishers):
"The Tohunga Suppression Act 1907 banned Māori traditional healers. What would be the equivalent in Western medicine? What would be lost? This Act was not repealed until 1962 — only 64 years ago. How does that shape our world today?"
📊 Formative Assessment & Differentiation
Evidence to Gather
- Station notes — what did ākonga record at each station?
- Venn diagram — quality of comparison and specificity of examples.
- Exit ticket reflection — does ākonga connect knowledge systems to questions of power and validity?
Differentiation
- Scaffold: Provide completed Venn diagram with some items pre-filled; use visual glossary for key terms (mātauranga, epistemology, kaitiakitanga, rāhui).
- Extend: Research the NZ Science Curriculum's recent addition of mātauranga Māori alongside Western science. What debate did this cause, and why?
- Cross-curricular: Science kaiako connection — explore how kawakawa's active compounds (myristicin, etc.) are now being studied in pharmacology.
Resources Needed
- Maramataka chart (print or digital — Te Ara encyclopedia has good visuals).
- Images of harakeke, kawakawa, mānuka with traditional use labels.
- Station cards printed and laminated.
- Venn diagram template (A3 or digital).
- Optional: samples of kawakawa or mānuka leaves (with care around allergies).
🙏 Karakia Whakamutunga
Unuhia, unuhia, unuhia ki uta rā.
Kia wātea, kia māmā.
Āe rā. Āe rā. Āe!
Ākonga leave this lesson understanding that mātauranga Māori is not the past — it is a living, evolving knowledge system that has shaped Aotearoa and continues to offer solutions to present challenges. Knowing multiple knowledge systems makes us all more capable of navigating a complex world.
"He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata." — What is the greatest thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.