Kaitiakitanga, place and the urban restoration agenda

Ko te oranga o te tangata kei roto i tōna tūhono ki tōna taiao. Mo te hunga Māori o Aotearoa, ko te whakapapa ki a Ranginui raua ko Papatūānuku te ara whakaū i to tātou hononga ki ngā atua Māori me ō rātou tini tamariki. Ko ngā atua ngā pou o te ao tūroa e kaha whāngai, e kaha manāki ana i te hunga Māori me tōna ahurea. Koia nei ko te orokohanga mai o te kaitiakitanga. Mā ngā mahi ā-rēhia, ngā tikanga nō tuawhakarere, ka ora ai te hononga o te tangata ki tōna taiao. Heoi nō ngā tau hou, kua ūhia tēnei momo mana kaitiaki ki runga i te hunga tangata, hei tiaki hei manāki i ngā mokopuna o te taiao. I roto hoki i ēnei tau hou kua hipa, kua nui ake te hunga Māori kua hūnuku ki ngā taone o Aotearoa. Ko te nuinga nō iwi kē, e noho ana i raro i te korowai manāki o ngā hunga mana whenua o ērā taone. Ka mutu, kua muia hoki te taone i ngā kino hauropi, ā, kua mōtū te hiranga o te taiao ki te oranga o te tangata noho taone. Nā te nui o ngā pēhitanga ki te taiao o te taone, kua whakaoho ake ngā mahi haumanu hauropi e te hunga putaiao. Heoi, tē whakaū i ngā uara Māori ki ēnei mahi whakahaumanu. Ko te whāinga matua o tēnei tuhinga, he arohaehae i te awenga o te kaitiakitanga ki te taone. Ko tā matou he whakawā i te huanga o te kaitiakitanga ki ngā mahi whakahaumanu hauropi i te taiao o te taone. Mā te tātari i ngā momo tauira o te kaitiakitanga ka kite i ōna aho me te hiranga o ēnei aho ki te whāinga matua o te manaaki i te taiao. Me te aha, ko te mātauranga taketake, te matauranga a te Māori pea te rongoa hei whakarauora i te ao tūroa.

Indigenous relationships with the environment are embedded in narratives and cultural practices. In New Zealand, Maori have maintained their relationship to the environment through a practical philosophy of environmental guardianship known as kaitiakitanga. Place and practice are inextricably linked in traditional Maori narratives; a connection constructed through Maori creation stories and the concept of whakapapa. However, the speed and scale of urbanisation of Maori communities has changed societal structures and narratives, as well as connections with nature. Urban spaces present new challenges in maintaining processes of connections with the natural world in a kaitiakitanga framework. We explore key components of kaitiakitanga such as place, whakapapa, intergenerational knowledge, resource engagement and spirituality. We discuss why kaitiakitanga should be included as a key value within urban spaces and how kaitiakitanga principles encourage the well-being of people and taiao. The contribution of kaitiakitanga to the urban matrix must also explore the relationships of both mana whenua and mātāwaka. Including indigenous perspectives from both groups when considering urban ecology is a key gap in understanding the impacts of urbanisation on Maori. More importantly, the inclusion of indigenous values such as kaitiakitanga into the urban agenda provides an opportunity to improve environmental outcomes.