Sarah Coleman, the University of Florida’s Sustainability in New Zealand student blogger, writes:
The indigenous heritage of New Zealand is highly regarded and important in everyday life and culture — something that is, sadly, not common in America. The Maori people have influence in many areas of life here, including in the environment. There is even an act in government requiring that Maori values of protecting the land, water, and natural resources be upheld, called The Resource Management Act. The people of New Zealand truly respect the Maori culture, and we have been learning and seeing a great deal of it during our travels.
The Maori people have an understanding that human beings belong to the land, not that the land belongs to human beings. Traditional Maori names for different landscapes are being incorporated back into the language, and The Department of Conservation even has a position reserved for a Maori to teach, manage, and ensure that Maori environmental values are being upheld.
Matariki, the Maori new year celebration and the beginning of their harvest, was held this past week; luckily for us, we had the opportunity to experience it first hand. We learned from Maori people how to weave using flax, and we listened to traditional Maori instruments. The musical knowledge would have been lost had it not been for Maori scholars and musicians bringing them to life again.
The Maori people believe that all living organisms have a life-force, known in Maori as mana. Take a lake, for example. A pure, natural lake has a strong life-force, but when something impure enters it, the mana of that lake weakens. So when human beings pollute their environment, its life-force weakens as well. That is why the conservation of nature is absolutely imperative.
The Maori people have strong ties to the land that positively impact the way they treat environmental conservation. We have learned so much from them and their values, and it is something that I believe could influence many others if they took the time to learn about it, too.
