Followers

Saturday, December 21, 2013

TPK contracting out

Here's a list of TPK's contracts. Some big bikkies on offer from a department running 15% below minimum staffing levels, much of it on Whanau Ora 'Action Research'.

Nice work if you can get it...


Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Māori Endurance, Resilience, and Resistance: draft literature review

Here's an excerpt of a draft literature I'm writing for publication sometime next year. (The link is to our Lincoln 'Conservations' webpage which contains the full bibliography and a longer excerpt):


Aotearoa is geologically and meteorologically active, with massive if infrequent ‘unsettlement’ carving the land as much as the ongoing and incremental human settlement. Earthquakes, tsunami, storms, landslides and flooding impact on our individual and collective lives (Cashman & Cronin, 2008; Goff & McFadgen, 2003; Pillans & Huber, 1995; Proctor, 2010) requiring acknowledgement in our environmental planning and development strategies. Many Hawkes Bay whānau will have stories of their 1931 earthquake, the largest disaster in the country until Canterbury’s ‘seismic event’, that instigated a world-leading building code (Megget, 2006). Others will have experienced more recent events such as the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake in the Bay of Plenty, Cyclone Bola in 1998 that devastated extensive farming and forestry holdings including that held by Māori, or the Manawatu floods of 2004.

Responding and recovering from disasters such as these draws on societal and cultural skill sets that are comprised of tools and approaches that can be described, communicated, and improved upon. Now it is the residents of Ōtautahi/Christchurch who join the ranks of those with experience of disaster. The term resilience became a trope for Cantabrians’ coping with the most destructive disaster in Aotearoa/NZ’s since the 1930 Napier earthquake. The myth of Rūaumoko, the clinging ever-turning unborn child of Papa-tu-a-nuku, provides a cultural framework for Māori to appreciate a fundamental geophysical characteristic of our whenua. This wilful child will never be born, will never cease his turning, and must be accepted as a part of the extended whānau. Wira Gardner builds on this myth in a 1995 paper presented to a Wellington conference (Theme: ‘Rebuilding cities after disaster’) (Gardner, 1995), which he introduced with the words of a famous haka:

Ko Rūaumoko e ngunguru nei! Au, au, aue ha hei!

But our insights go beyond the mythical and the historical. This review gathers literature and other works related to the impacts of the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes on Māori and critique the wider literature on Māori and Indigenous resilience. The aim is twofold. First, to provide a bibliographic resource for other researchers and mitigate the risks of under-resourced Māori researchers becoming isolated in what is, somewhat tragically, a burgeoning field with a number of contributions by workers not committed to the standard academic publishing route. Second, I hope to prompt a more encompassing approach to disaster risk reduction strategies in Aotearoa to improve the ability of Māori and other communities in their response(s) to, and recover(ies) from, future disasters.



Thursday, December 12, 2013

Huihuinga Wahine: Speech by Vicky Robertson at the Maori Women Leadership Summit

A speech from Vicky Robertson, Deputy Chief Executive of Treasurey, reiterates current political-economic discourse on the NZ economy and the place of the Maori economy within NZ Inc.

Robertson (Ngai Tahu) is confident the NZ will ride on the Asian expansion in the medium term but notes our GDP is 15% lower than the OECD average. Further, she highlights the relatively poor indicators for Maori though doesn't unpack this, indeed the salvation seems to lie in greater productivity as reported by MAF a couple of years ago:

  • only 20 percent of Maori land was well developed. 
  • If the productivity of the remaining 80 percent of that land was brought up to average industry benchmarks it could generate an extra $8 billion in gross output over 10 years
  • this equals $11,600 for every Maori living in New Zealand.

The BERL report is of course mentioned - I've posted on this before - but comments that the Maori economy is 'bold, brown and on the move' makes it sound like a healthy bowel movement!

Culture, and our relationship building expertise, is elevated yet again as the advantage we possess as a people. I don't accept that our culture is a necessary and sufficient condition for our development (technically I'd accept culture as an insufficient but necessary conditions that are themselves unnecessary but sufficient, a classic INUS variable) Robertson then goes on to talk about lifting education outcomes for Maori, a necessary piece of the puzzle for individuals and whanau.

All good stuff.

But we're in the midst of a paradox where standing still is going backwards yet our traditions are what make us. Of course we're adaptable - woe betide those Indigenous Peoples who won't change! - but it seems no matter what compromises we make, poverty tracks us like a hungry beast.

And lets not fool ourselves into thinking all Maori can tap into this Maori Economy. We are split along similar lines to Pakeha, with ruling elites and proles.

Sigh.


Anyways, yesterday I went on a tour of Ngai Tahu farms as part of Lincoln University's Whenua Kura programme. Massive scale (I'd argue it's the biggest Indigenous development in the world at the moment) with huge expectations for a) profit, b) employment for tribal members, and c) sustainability.

I'll post on this soon, with pix...

Friday, December 06, 2013

Maori Primary School rolls bounce back

But not everywhere.

A graph of tamariki school enrolments by ward in Otautahi...bounce back everywhere except Banks Peninsula.

Maori school enrolments years 1 - 5



Wednesday, December 04, 2013

More 2013 Maori census graphs: Te Reo speakers decline...

The first is total resident Maori population in Aotearoa/NZ on the night of this years census. Add 130,000 for those in Ahitareiria!

Overall Aotearoa resident Maori population

This next chart is very interesting, showing some significant increases in those earning above average salaries and some declines in those earning lower amounts but a big increase in Maori on zero incomes! WTF?

 Needs the median income data to make sense...


What will be of real concern for many is the decline in te reo speakers...

Te Reo speakers

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Maori as portrayed by the 2013 Census

A deliberate title as no census can 'capture' a people...

This is hows StatsNZ counts us:

Māori are counted in two ways in the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings: through ethnicity and through Māori descent. This publication covers both of these measures. Māori ethnicity and Māori descent are different concepts – ethnicity refers to cultural affiliation, while descent is about ancestry.
The Māori ethnic group population is made up of people who stated Māori as being their sole ethnic group, or one of several ethnic groups.
Māori descent refers to those people who are a descendent of a person of the Māori race of New Zealand. The Māori descent counts form the basis of iwi statistics.
In 2013:
  • 598,605 people identified with the Māori ethnic group
  • 668,724 people were of Māori descent. 

Which is less than I would've guessed (but of course 130,000 of us are in Ahitereiria!).

Some graphs I've just done quickly...no analysis.

Maori by region

Canterbury by ethnicity

Canterbury Maori by iwi (>500)



Thursday, November 21, 2013

Maori Sustainability Indicators

A report by John, Reid, Tremane Barr and myself, edited by Golda Varona, presents a comprehensive theoretical overview on ‘Indigenous Sustainability Indicators for Maori Farming and Fishing Enterprises.' Published by the Ngai Tahu Research Centre (at the University of Canterbury) and the Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS), the report argues "to establish a set of Indigenous sustainability indicators for Māori ... it is crucial to understand what Maori want to sustain."






We discuss the relevant literature and arrive at a series of practices that give effect to sustainability values. In sum, the sustainability of an enterprise can be assessed according to the presence or absence of practices that give effect to values.


Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Latest unemployment figures: Maori and Pasifika labour force participation way up...

Stats NZ has just released the latest Household Labour Force Survey.

Unemployment is down...


Labour participation is up, dramatically so for our Pasifika whanaunga...



This volatility reflects the transient nature of jobs for Maori and Pasifika workers.

Tuesday, November 05, 2013

Maori and Mining ... and new book from University of Otago

With the current debate on mining in Aotearoa, the publication of a new book by University of Otago researchers is timely.

The small but packed book includes chapters on He Tirohanga Whānui (Māori and Mining Overview), Te Hātepe (The Process of Mining), Ngā Uara (Values), Te Ture (Mineral Law and Māori) Te Umanga (The Economics of Mining for Māori), Te Taiao (Environmental Impacts of Mining) and concludes with He Kupu Whakatepe.


There is also a chapter on ‘Who’s Who in Mining’ with a selection of companies currently operating in Aoteaora/New Zealand.

Authors are Katharina Ruckstuhl, Lyn Carter, Luke Easterbrook, Andrew R. Gorman, Hauauru Rae, Jacinta Ruru, Diane Ruwhiu, Janet Stephenson, Abby Suszko, Michelle Thompson-Fawcett and Rachel Turner.

The book is available FREE and just a click away @ Maori and Mining


Monday, November 04, 2013

New Nat MP cheekily gives National credit for Maori economy

Claudette Hauiti is certainly starting to pay her way in her new job :)

Of course this discourse discounts disparate dissent from several generations of Maori who fought, argued, debated and ultimately demanded an acknowledgement of the injustices forced upon Maori.

MP gives National credit for Maori economy

And given the current poor state of Maori in the house of NZ Inc., the so-called Maori economy is nowhere near providing adequately for us as a people.

Ka whawhai tonu...

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Up in the morning, out on a job...

The line is from an old Willie Nelson song, 'Lucky Old Sun'. Work defines so much of who and what we are, for better or worse, and in a capitalist society, if you don't own something that earns you an income then you basically sell your labour.

That's what makes the Labour Force participation rate so important for an economy.

NZ Labour Force Participation Rate
What this means is that less NZers are working which can only lead to greater poverty. Next quarters figures are out in November. Will be interesting reading...


Fuss with my woman, toil for my kids
Sweat till I'm wrinkled and gray
But the lucky old sun ain't got nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Canterbury Maori Unemployment...

...is down again, slightly, tracking down with the overall Maori unemployment (still an unhealthy 12.8%). Big drop in Canterbury from September to December (2012), perhaps an indicator of the rebuild picking up speed.

Maori Unemployment in Canterbury and NZ (from Household Labour Force Survey, Statistics NZ)

I'm curious to see the figures for Christchurch migration, especially from the Eastern suburbs from where about 10,000 peeps have moved. These suburbs are home to a significant number of Maori. Whose left?

Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Whakairo te whenua, whakairo te tangata

So much of our identity, our economy, our lives is tied to the land - hell we've made a proverbially industry out of it...

Whatungarongaro te tangata toitū te whenua

David Montgomery in the New Internationalist argues we're running it all down:

We have, in effect, been ‘mining’ soil for much of human history. Indeed, the decline in fertility and loss of agricultural lands through wind and water erosion is a problem as old as agriculture itself. Civilizations from Babylon to Easter Island have proven only as durable as the fertility of their land. (See more here).


Also it seems our soil is losing its nutrients and this leads to less nutritious crops. Jo Robinson of The New York Times writes:

Studies published within the past 15 years show that much of our produce is relatively low in phytonutrients, which are the compounds with the potential to reduce the risk of four of our modern scourges: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia.

Scary, huh...



but kinda obvious if you have integrate all things but lets not point the finger.

What does this mean for kaitiakitanga? Do we have to go back to basics? Grow our own veges? (Trust me, it ain't easy getting the necessary daily calories for five mouths using 60 square metres of good soil and six bantams).

Do we buy organic? (paying the premium that the organic sector tells potential suppliers it can charge...)

Do we need more dustbowls?! (Prodding our leadership into action, like we've done with the GFC...)

As I've mentioned,we're restructuring at Lincoln 'varsity and I want to develop this theme of how we carve the land is how we carve the people. It crosses across all faculties, pulls in supportive Pakeha, focuses supportive Maori and their communities and starts the korero and the mahi we need to feed ourselves and feed the world, protect the future and live well.


Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Maori Wellbeing in Otautahi: a commentary on the CERA survey

A survey of wellbeing undertaken by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA, click here) shows an alarming pattern of Maori suffering some of the worse effects on well-being of the 2011-12 earthquakes.

For example, those saying their quality of life has decreased since the earthquakes (54% of 2,300 respondents) are more likely to be:
·         Living in temporary housing (70%)
·         Of Māori ethnicity (68%)
·         Aged 35 to 49 (60%) or 50 to 64 (62%)

There's more, like those more likely to say they have experienced stress 'always or most of the time' (23% of respondents) includes a disproportionate number of Māori respondents (36%).

This remarkable result seems to have been ignored or has simply failed to get any traction. 

Our research - updated at http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/conversation/maori-resilience/ - is saying the same thing. 

I think the biggest challenge is to assert the plight of Nga Mata Waka in the new city. Ngai Tahu at least have had their mana whenua status affirmed in the Canterbury Earthgquake Recovery Act (enacted on Apriul 18th, just 4 weeks after the most damaging 22-2 event). Tautoko! But for the rest of us - and we'll know how many remain once the full census data is made available - we seem to have no official channels for what we use to call Taha Maori! 






Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Google news alerts: 'Maori economy'

Latest pluckings from the ether...
The Maori economy was valued in 2010 at $37 billion. "Knowledge is key to our development. It's important that our Maori leaders have access to international ...
A conference on Maori industry will consider adopting an Icelandic fishing model here that could boost New Zealand's economy. It's one of several talking points ...
Waka Maori surges forward into the future Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“Our Māori economy is booming, conservatively valued at $38 billion and growing and economists have forecast an extra twelve billion dollars in GDP per ...

As a primer (and I've posted on this before), this Maori economy (as modeled by BERL) is estimated to have an asset base of in 2010 Maori of at least $NZ36.9 billion, comprising:
•     $5.4bn of assets attributable to the enterprises of nearly 12,920 Maori self- employed.
•     $20.8bn of assets attributable to the enterprises of 5,690 Maori employers.
•     $10.6bn of assets of Maori Trusts, Incorporations, Organisations, Boards, PSGEs, MIOs and Iwi/Rünanga holding companies.

Soooo under a third of this economy is regularly discussed, as by Minister Sharples in San Francisco this week for the Amerika's Cup. All well and good BUT the bulk of this economy is owned and operated by self-employed Maori and Maori employers who may well require different policies to the Maori Trusts et al. who are primarily within the primary sector.

Their concerns do not seem to be the concerns of Maori economic discourse.

Item 2 is interesting for the poor results Maori fisheries have netted (groan...) in the past year with the failed Argentinian JV.

As ther great Reggae singer Jimmy Cliff sang, 'I got a hard road to travel, and a long long way to go...'

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Maori and Inflation: reviewing the CPI

Haven't posted in too long, away conferencing, learning, teaching, chairing, beering observing, reading, wondering. Posted one photo, a temple pathway, a shot of sunlight through the old trees onto a small shelter near a stream that trickled downhill, a strange bird (strange to me, passe to the trees?) called unseen.

Had wanted to post on the review of the Consumer Price Index, which'll shine a little light on differences across Aotearoa/NZ. Here we focus on Maori; check the graph from a Discussion Paper...

New Zealand Expenditure weights for households classified by ethnic group (Stats NZ http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/CPI_inflation/2013-cpi-review-advisory-committee.aspx#background




SO the estimated expenditure weights for Māori households were higher than for all households for:

• housing and household utilities
• alcoholic beverages and tobacco
• food.

The estimated expenditure weights for Māori households were lower than for all households for:
• household contents and services
• transport
• recreation and culture
• miscellaneous goods and services
• health.

For Stats NZ there is 'no consistent pattern'. Hmmm, perhaps not. But given the differences, what policy improves our lot?

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Maori in Australia

New research by Tahu Kukutai (Senior Research Fellow at Waikato) shines a little more light on the living and working conditions of Maori in Australia.

Here's Tahu being interviewed on Waatea Radio.

Tahu point's out this comparatively  big economy that's just a 250 pauau JetStar squeeze away is a double-edged sword. Good money, when you get it, but life is not as secure as it was, and not as supported since 2001 through changes in Oz social security arrangements (there's a Facebook campaign going on about this now...).

1 in 2 Maori men in their prime (25-54) are labourers, machinery operators and drivers, and generally concentrated in the more volatile sectors (construction, mining) and as we see, the tide is ebbing all around the Australian shore...

Tahu reminds us to distinguish between Maori migrants and Australian born Maori - different issues and needs. And there is an in-built vulnerability in those that have moved since 2001 through their skills and employment profiles.



I don't think the migration will stop, though it is undoubtedly going to slow (as we see for Pakeha). Perhaps of wider concern is the fragility of the Chinese model - directly impacting on Oz as well.

Monday, June 10, 2013

What's the Google say...

I receive Google news updates on Maori and Indigenous 'economy' releases, a clumsy and coarse way to keep up-to-date but not without its insights...

The first item chills the blood. Morgan Godfrey posted on the debate in Parliament on this...

Sharples counting on trickle down for growth
waateanews.com
He says Dr Sharples is advocating a trickle down approach to growing the Māori economy knowing that approach has been tried and failed.
Maori Party 'has no plan for higher incomes and better jobs'
Voxy
"The Minister went as far as to support National's "trickle-down" approach to growing the economy. Maori know full-well that that approach has been tried ...
Maori Party supports Living Wage campaign
Voxy
The Maori Party has called on Government departments to support the Living ... of the strategy to turn around our economy, and to boost business and jobs.
Challenges remain for New Zealand economy: OECD
Channel News Asia
New Zealand's economy is beginning to gather momentum but "substantial" ... for the large Maori and Pacific minorities to reduce social disparities.

In many ways the various and ongoing debates on Racism in this country fail to engage in this structural flaw in Maori Party thinking. And of all countries, Aotearoa/NZ has the timeline on the last 20 years of trickle-down economics.

(oh, it doesn't work).

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Racism Down Under

I flew out of Brisbane after watching an interesting media dissection of racism...(What I found interesting was the absence of Aboriginal input. Were they not asked, or did they decline?).

...into another debate on this side of the Tasman:


No shortage of Maori commentators of course and this delineates our two countries, echoing the absence of Aboriginal input into the ANZ Disaster and Emergency management conference I was attending in Brisbane...

For the record, I think Aotearoa/NZ is
1. Racist;
2. MORE racist than its was 10 years ago;
3. INCREASINGLY racist, with no end in sight.

What is so distressing is that it remains painfully difficult to BE Maori in the homeland of Maori, and that those who could ease (without solving) this (John Key, Susan Devoy) are so dreadfully clumsy and remarkably ignorant.

White privilege: be as dumb and as useless as you like, it won't lead to your dismissal. Might even lead to a promotion...

And what scares me is the lack of Pakeha leadership on the horizon, from both public and private sectors.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Te Ahuwhenua ... Maori Farmer of the Year

Interesting interview with Kingi Smiler on Te Ahuwhenua.



One issue I'd take with his korero is that the competition did not decline through a lack of industry interest (I doubt the farming sector knew or cared about Te Ahuwhenua). Rather it was a combination of financial pressures on marae to host events and Ministerial racism.

This is revealed in the archives, most of which sit in the Wellington offices although some are also in Auckland, and Te Puni Kokiri/Ministry of Maori Development also hold some.

I published some of the correspondence on this in a paper published in the MAI Review, linked here.


Bill Swinton receiving the inaugural Te Ahuwhenua Trophy


Thursday, May 09, 2013

Maori unemployment down again...

Latest Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) shows Maori unemployment down again, along with overall unemployment. Pasifika figures also improving but note both communities are still worse than mid-2011:

% unemployment, March quarter 2013 
Waiting to be sent Maori in Canterbury figures. Will post as soon as I have them...

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Ngāi Tahu partners with Lincoln University for Canterbury agricultural development


Press release from LU...

"Today Ngāi Tahu Property, Lincoln University and Te Tapuae o Rehua signed a memorandum of understanding, which marks the beginning of Whenua Kura, an initiative focussed on supporting more local Māori into agriculture.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere, Tā Mark Solomon congratulated Ngāi Tahu Property, Te Tapuae o Rehua and Lincoln University for formalising a commitment to get Māori to work on Ngāi Tahu developments.

“It has always been our wish to see our people up-skilled and employed by Ngāi Tahu. Ngāi Tahu Property, Te Tapuae o Rehua and Lincoln University are to be applauded for their vision and commitment to developing a rural Māori workforce.” A mana whenua (local Ngāi Tahu) working group worked with Ngāi Tahu Property to identify ways that they could give effect to cultural values in their rural developments. Creating pathways for Ngāi Tahu to enter the rural workforce and work on Ngāi Tahu farms was identified as one of the key ways to uphold cultural values.

Ngai Tahu Property Chief Executive, Tony Sewell, says this partnership is important to Ngāi Tahu Property’s success in the dairy industry, which will be measured not only by economic outcomes, but also cultural and environmental outcomes.

“This partnership is pivotal to our success, which will be measured on our ability to farm in a way that respects and gives effect to Ngāi Tahu values. Our aspiration for Whenua Kura is to create a workforce who have an intimate understanding of Ngāi Tahu values and have the ability to uphold those values on our proposed dairy farms.

“With the mana whenua group we decided the best way to create this workforce was to combine the teaching of Lincoln University, as New Zealand’s specialist land-based university, with the values of Ngāi Tahu.”

Lincoln University Vice-Chancellor Dr Andrew West was pleased to have this opportunity to formalise the partnership with Ngāi Tahu.
“The values around stewardship of the land while undertaking primary production are key to the teaching at Lincoln University. Food production is going to be a major driver globally and the potential impact on our natural resources will only increase. Being able to apply stewardship values to efficient and effective agriculture is essential. These values are important for Ngāi Tahu and are fundamental to Lincoln University’s position as New Zealand’s specialist land-based university.”

This partnership is an expansion of the University’s relationship with Ngāi Tahu Property and represents growth for both the University and the agricultural sector in New Zealand. The role of Tapuae o Rehua is to work with Ngāi Tahu Property and Lincoln University to operationalise the initiative, Whenua Kura."

Thursday, April 04, 2013

NZ R&D ... if we're standing still, we're going backwards

Its the Red Queen dance, despite what Minister for Everything St Joyce says.


While government called businesses bluff, our actual commitment as an economy is flat and while inflation is low, it ain't zero.

And the relevance for the Maori economy?

We're embedded within this stumbling, penny-pinching innovation ecosystem with mediocre leadership and no strategic plan for improvement.

I've searched the released docs for any mention of Maori but we're not there despite the (relatively small) Matauranga Maori fund.


Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Google erases First Nations reserves 2

Seems Google is aware of the issue of rez names in North America...this response from Mano Marks, Maps Developer Advocate


"I've run this past some folks internally who were surprised to hear that we had ever surfaced reservation names. As far as we can tell, we haven't. Turns out it is a known issue and we're working on it, hopefully will be fixed soon. You may know that last year we started sourcing our own data for the United States, we previously had relied on providers like NavTeq and Teleatlas. Now that we're getting better data, we should be able to turn these labels on.

BTW, you and anyone else can contribute to making sure that we have good data by using Google Map Maker: http://www.google.com/mapmaker "


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change

The impacts of climate change on Indigenous Peoples and the knowledge we possess on the environment are important research issues for the 21st Century.

For Maori , the range of environments occupied, from urban to remote rural districts mean widespread risk exacerbated the vulnerability of ‘life-line’ services (roads, buildings, flood-plain protection, urban storm-water systems) and the fact —many Maori land blocks are on ‘marginal’ land – close to waterways, flood-plains, coastal areas. Also, given many of our communities have negligible or no insurance adds up to a growing problem as indicated by the increased weather extremes we're experiencing.

This video (link courtesy of Dr. William James Smith, Jr. Assistant Research Professor at the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies, UNLV) gives a nice overview of some initiatives in Nevada.

http://youtu.be/3BU4xaIHJE8



An important report is by King, D., Penny, G., & Severne, C. (2010). The climate change matrix facing Maori society. In R. Nottage, D. Wratt, J. Bornman & K. Jones (Eds.), Climate Change Adaption in New Zealand: Future scenarios and some sectoral perspectives (pp. 100-111). Wellington: New Zealand Climate Change Centre/NIWA.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Google erases First Nations

Thanks to fellow Indigenous geographers Zoltan Grossman and Renee Pualani Louis for bringing this to my attention. Seems Google - company motto 'Don't be evil' have erased labels to First Nations reservations in the US and Canada.

Noted in 2011 in this blog The Case of the Missing Indian Reservations by Steven Bridenstine, it seems Google has simply taken away the labels, leaving nameless tan spaces, in contrast to Bing maps where the boundaries and names remain.

As Renee says, "These are not alternatives to the political system that is supposed to recognize tribes sovereign right to name the features on their own federally recognized lands…actually I believe regardless if tribal lands are federally recognized or not they should start recording their own names based on their historical record (oral or written)."

Zoltan has contacted Google with this message:

"Where are the names of the Indian reservations? Tribes have a political status just below the federal government, above the states, and far above municipalities and villages that are shown on Google Maps. The rules and regulations are quite different within a reservation than outside, so someone is going to get in trouble not knowing what the tan area is. That's not counting the moral and ethical issues of erasing the existence of peoples and their historical presence on the landscape. This is going to be very, very bad P.R. for Google unless the names are restored. You need someone who is educated about political geography and cartography to be making decisions about place names that are this important."

Guess any corporate that claims the moral high ground can only go down...

Monday, March 25, 2013

'Maori Economy' news grab...

Haven't done this for while but here's Google's latest catch of 'Maori economy' news items...

Young Maori science leaders acknowledged
Radio New Zealand
The summer programme was aimed at growing young Maori leaders who will help support Maor ibusiness growth and New Zealand's economy.
Chilean Minister visiting NZ this week
Voxy
Chilean Economy, Development and Tourism Minister Pablo Longueira is visiting New Zealand this week to carry out discussions on education, Maori economic ...
Maori trio complete programme
Otago Daily Times
Interns had met a range of business and political leaders, and the young science leaders exemplified ''the type of leadership and talent the Maori economy ...
Opportunities for Indigenous Research Support
Scoop.co.nz
NPM is a Centre of Research Excellence (CORE) in the field of indigenous development, with three research priorities as follows: • Optimising Māori Economic ...

The Chilean connection is interesting, with Longueira expressing an interest in developing his country's indigenous tourism sector, his visit providing an opportunity to develop relations between Maori tourism and the indigenous Chilean Mapuche people.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Where do we draw the boundary around the Maori Economy?

I've always argued the so-called Maori economy is not just here in Aotearoa but wherever whanau seek to satisfy their needs and wants. Therefore the recent announcement that the Australian government will subsidise 170,000 new homes in Sydney can only further entice Maori offshore. This is no bad thing - lets face it, whoever goes will earn more and be able to do more with whatever discretionary paua they have left after rent, food, transport, hokey pokey icecream and a buzz bar.

After my Marae DIY experience up at Waimako, I can see more of our rangatahi departing our land for elsewhere.

Sigh.

Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Earthquake research on Te Karere

Bit late on posting this but here's Melanie Shadbolt and Amanda Black talking about their personal experiences and our research on the impacts of the disaster on Maori.

Te Karere interview



Thursday, February 07, 2013

Latest Maori unemployment data: is this good news?

December quarter Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) is out. Headlines will read a drop in unemployment, lead funnily enough, by Maori...

Unemployment rate by ethnicity, Dec Q, 2012

But this reduction comes from a decline in those looking for work, as shown by the data for employment rates...

Employment rate by ethnicity, Dec Q 2012

So, where are people going? Or what are they doing?

Difficult to see how NZ economy can grow from these figures.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Waitangi Day, Messines Street, Leeston, 2013...

I try and quit news on days like this. For me it's now a lazy day which lets me do lots of work in the garden which - if i do say so myself - is looking a picture...

Onions, spring onions, lettuces of several descriptions, bok choi, dwarf beans, cauliflower, tomatoes (5 or 6 varieties), kamo kamo, taewa (tutaekuri), silverbeet, sweetcorn, purple runner beans, pumpkin, beetroot, parsley, coriander, sorrel, strawberries and truck loads of rhubarb.

Rhubarb shopped and bagged up for the freezer.

Followed a pickle recipe out of the Edmond's Cook Book for excess cauliflower, purple beans, onion and courgette...


Now about to watch a spot of cricket and down a new beer for me. Grand Pale Ale by Hancock & Co.

Takin' it easy...


Wednesday, January 30, 2013

DCD and the 'Sleeping giant' that is/was the Maori economy

But are the dogs running or sleeping?

Me and dogs.

I don't mind dogs. We got a Dalmatian last year, Lila, lovely dog, killed a massive rat in our lounge once.

And I use to fish the Tutaekuri River which ran a few minutes walk from our whare in Kauri Street, Taradale. Dogs can be kai.
looking upstream of Tutaekuri, towards the Otatara pa .

I expect to see at least two guard dogs in every truck yard I pass, like the yard on the corner of Vickerys and Washbourne Roads, back of Sockburn by the old airbase. One of the dogs there - they used Dobermans, Rottweilers, the occasional Alsatian- was three-legged. Dangerous work, if you can get it.

sunrise through the HotDip galvanising plant
the old burger bunker, a wreck before the quake...










Nice.
In Capitalist korero there is the term running dogs of capitalism...which Wikipedia tells me is a "literal translation into English of the Chinese/Korean communist pejorative zǒu gǒu 走狗, meaning lackey or lapdog, an unprincipled person who helps or flatters other, more powerful and often evil people. It is derived from the eagerness with which a dog will respond when called by its owner, even for mere scraps.


I also know to Let sleeping dogs lie, remember the film? I was somewhat stunned by the synopsis:

 Following the break-up of his marriage caused by his wife's affair with another man named Bullen (Mune), "Smith" (Neill) arranges to live on the Coromandel peninsula on an island owned by a Maori tribe. Meanwhile, political tensions escalate as an oil embargo leaves the country in an energy crisis. Tensions boil over into a civil war and guerrilla activity. However, Smith enjoys his peaceful island life and has little interaction with the rest of society.



Well, we all know what happens to Smith. (Actually, I forgot, so I had to look it up.)

What we don't know is what's happening to the 'Sleeping giant' of NZ Inc that is the Maori Economy?

With so much riding on the dairy sector, it poaka-fisted attempts to control korero on its soil management strategies must. give. one. pause. to. think.

I recall Ingrid Collins, chair of Parae Whangara B5 which took out Te Ahuwhenua, saying we/they had reached the limits of intensification, and they're mainly sheep and beef.

Pity the lowlands.

i think this water is looking for the Heathcote...near Tower Junction...

Without wanting to oversimplify, the reason I'm posting on what was an obscure chemical (albeit one developed on the very campus from which this is posted...) is that Rod Oram touches on the risk to our Maori economy, or at least that chunk still on the land. DairyNZ and Fonterra, through supporting/contracting research on technological solutions to the environmental (and hence social and market contexts), are reaching those limits, both limits to the land, the water, their ecosystems, and to people, the hours they can work, the injuries they can carry.

We've seen the invisible hand reaching to the Pacific all those years ago. Now its is grasping, pummeling, clenching, all too desperate, and all too visible if you know where to look.

I think we are seeing the extremities of the logic of accumulating capital. Maori have seen the land squeezed from our hands, the blood wrung out of us as workers but still. it. goes. on.

So this latest corporate fuck up (and perhaps more in the arrogance of the political arm rather than the technocratic) is merely the latest incarnation of capital's logic. More people are aware, more focused questions can be asked, more scrutiny of the answers is possible.

Ain't the end. Ain't even the beginning of the end. But it might be the end of the beginning.


Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Eco-N comment from Rod Oram

The straight-faced Rod Oram gives an interesting comment on the Eco-N event. Ol' Rodders is quite dismissive of Fonterras role...



Monday, January 28, 2013

Google news alerts: Maori Economy

As I mentioned a year or so ago, I set up a Google news alert for 'Maori economy'. Some months there's only 1 or 2 items, like this month. Other times - Hui taumata follow-ons, political push, major conference etc. - there will be 7, 8, or more.

Sweet f.a. this month...



...one outta Hone Ki's ruma, another the NBR.

Great. No really! Just great...


Sunday, January 27, 2013

DCP, Eco-N, and milk supply chain management...

As scandals go, it'll probably never reach great heights but for lil' ol' Lincoln campus it is a foot on the ladder.

The product - Eco-N - was developed by Lincoln researchers (led by Prof's Hong Di and Keith Cameron) has been withdrawn by Ravensdown after concerns were raised by foreign markets that the compound around which the IP was wrapped - Dicyandiamide (DCP) - was finding its way into the milk supply.

Staff received an email from the VC's office and links to a couple of press releases, one from Ravensdown (part-owner of the rights to Eco-N) and another from MPI. For MPI, the 'crux' of the issue is the lack of internationally set standards for DCD residues in the food chain: "This is because DCD has not been considered to have any impact on food safety."

Perception, of course, is everything in the premium food stakes we're NZ Inc. has staked its claim. The Wall Street Journal asks 'Is New Zealand milk safe to drink?'...



Talk in the LU staff club was around the products up-take by farmers (500 are claimed, only about 5% of the total NZ dairy estate), and efficacy. One wag said it was less effective the further you got from Lincoln campus...Researcher commissioned by Ravensdown, undertaken by Doug Edmeades, found it had 'little effect' on pasture production. And while a 'positive effect on reducing soil nitrates' was found 'but by how much is still is unknown.'

There was talk of 'commercial sensitivity' and dodgy oversight. Fonterra has known for sometime and sat on the knowledge until they floated their wee shareholder scheme. Lincoln also lost out on a major collaborative strategy with Dairy NZ to Auckland. Small country, everyone knows someone.
Oh well.



As a social scientist, and one with a hankering for more Actor-Network Theory ops, this is a great case study. They need some extra arrows...

As an employee of Lincoln University, I see a hit to our credibility that may ripple on for sometime yet.



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Geo-environmental review on impacts of Christchurch earthquakes...

Dr Amanda Black has reviewed the research on impacts on the environment from the 2010-11 earthquakes.

While our research focuses on the affects of the disaster on Maori communities, Amanda’s report serves as a reminder of the tremendous changes wrought on our landscape with 580,000 tonnes of silt and sand brought to the surface – the liquefaction we all noticed - and substantial damage to infrastructure (above and below ground), ruptured land surfaces and changes in hydrological patterns.

Our urban waterways were inundated with sediment and sewerage (20,000 m3 of sewage per day entering the Heathcote River), resulting in dramatic impacts on water quality and biological communities (i.e. fish, macroinvertebrates, and algae).

Amanda cites research by Lincoln PhD candidate Naomi Wells who found that the hydrological changes and mass sewage discharge had a catastrophic initial impact but 6 months after the February event, and following repairs to the wastewater system, there were no significant differences detected in water chemistry or nutrient (primarily nitrogen) cycling between those severely impacted reaches (Opawa and further east) and minimally impacted sites (west).
Within Christchurch city the Heathcote River/ Ōpawaho study area spanned an impact gradient from minimally affected headwaters in the west through severely affected reaches in the east (minimally, moderately, and severely affected from both sewage and liquefaction zones indicated with shading). The river drains into the Avon-Heathcote Estuary/ Ihutai to the east, where the Bromley Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is also located.

While the recovery of benthic invertebrate populations has lagged behind that of organisms at lower trophic levels, this is a typical response in the recovery of streams and rivers and demonstrates their reliance on a specific range of water chemistry values and the presence of a food source.


This observation reinforces the importance of having relatively un-impacted areas (i.e., conservation areas) to re-seed ecosystems that are abruptly disturbed by natural disasters.

The report can be read in full through the following link:

A review of the environmental impacts from the Ōtautahi/Canterbury Earthquakes (Dr. Amanda Black)








Simon Lambert

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