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Biodiversity is about existence and well-being based on protecting the variety of earth's life forms. Although natural processes can cause species depletion and extinction, the prime cause in the last 100 years has been human activity. Internationally, everyone has a responsibility to sustain biodiversity and maintain the widest genetic pool of biological wealth for future generations. In New Zealand, Maori have a unique role to play in sustaining indigenous biodiversity, not only in terms of kaitiakitanga but in achieving national biodiversity goals through the provision of another cultural perspective, another knowledge system, which will help plans for the future. Traditional concepts and perspectives are summarised. A research framework is proposed to show the role biodiversity could have for Maori advancement and to underpin a bicultural approach for achieving national biodiversity outcomes.

"On 15 of October 2007, three hundred police officers dressed in full riot gear, including balaclavas and sunglasses, raided the township of Ruatoki which lies at the northern end of the Ureweras. At the same time as Ruatoki was being lockeddown, police raids were taking place in other parts of the country. By the end of the day, 17 people were reported as arrested; four from Wellington, six in Auckland, one in Palmerston North, one in Hamilton and five in the Bay of Plenty area. The 'global war on terror', launched in the US five years earlier, had finally arrived in New Zealand "

Indigenous peoples find themselves locked in power struggles with states and transnational actors who resist their claims, raising important questions in theory and practice. Edited by Marc Woons.

"Beyond Biculturalism is a critical analysis of contemporary Maori public policy. Bicultural political theory dominated Maori/Crown relationships during the 1980s and 1990s and O'Sullivan argues that biculturalism inevitably makes Maori the junior partner in a colonial relationship that obstructs Maori aspirations to self-determination. The politics of indigeneity and self-determination are discussed as alternative political ideas for thinking about Maori relationships with the state. Against this background, and by drawing on Australian and Canadian comparisons, the book examines contemporary Maori political issues such as the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004, Maori parliamentary representation, the 'one law for all' ideology, settlements of Maori grievances against the Crown, and Maori economic development."

Ngāti Rangi, an indigenous tribe of Aotearoa New Zealand, live on the southern flanks of their ancestral mountain, Ruapehu, an active volcano. Ruapehu has erupted and caused lahars within living memory, and nearby Tongariro erupted as recently as 2012. Ngāti Rangi and other tribes affiliated to these mountains are intimately connected to and familiar with the moods, signs, and language of the mountains and have valuable knowledge to contribute to decision-making and warning systems during volcanic events. To date this knowledge or mātauranga Māori has been somewhat under-utilised, and Ngāti Rangi have not always been included in decision-making processes during volcanic events. But communication is improving, and Ngāti Rangi have begun a journey of building their own monitoring, information collection, and communication systems. Past and present monitoring, warning systems, communications and tribal civil defence resources are examined to determine how Ngāti Rangi and their tribal knowledge can be better recognised, communications with governmental volcanic hazard management agencies improved to ultimately work together to improve outcomes for the tribe and local community.

"This collection of essays by 22 contributors, experts in their fields, represents the accumulated knowledge of a group of Māori scholars on a variety of contemporary issues, including Māori identity and self-determination, the environment, te reo Māori, education, social and economic issues, and governance and leadership. The collection is a result of a series of seminars organised by the MANU AO Academy, which is a national inter-university Māori Academy for academic and professional advancement."

This article will aim to determine the form and place of te ao Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. The article will analyse the maiden speeches of 12 Māori Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum and from different Parliaments since the adoption of Mixed Member Proportional Electoral System in 1996, and will investigate their commitment to te ao Māori based on deductive and inductive discourse analysis. It seeks to determine the presence of Māori identity indicators, as well as to determine themes unique to the Māori political context. The election of the 51st New Zealand Parliament was noted as having the greatest representation of Māori of any parliament in New Zealand history. Of the 121 Members of Parliament, 26 identify as Māori or as having Māori heritage. However, while the number of Māori Members of Parliament has increased, this does not provide the full picture of Māori representation in Parliament. This article will ask ‘How do Māori Members of Parliament best represent te ao Māori in the New Zealand Parliament?’. The research considers how Māori Members of Parliament ‘represent’ Māori in the debating chamber in Parliament, specifically, to what extent these Members of Parliament represent te ao Māori. This research also asks whether substantive representation of te ao Māori varies across the electorate types, Māori, general and list seats. The research seeks to provide qualitative analysis of the presence of te ao Māori in Parliament and which Members of Parliament most often represent a Māori worldview. Both descriptive and substantive representation provide the means for a minority perspective to be present within a parliament.

The evolution of contemporary indigenous protest in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Whānau Ora is a new state-led, cross sectoral policy approach introduced in 2010. It places whānau outcomes at the very heart of social service delivery, and, in doing so represents a shift away from traditional approaches that delivered services to individuals. Furthermore, by focussing on collective outcomes, the approach is one that is intimately connected to Māori values and practices. This thesis traces the evolution of the Whānau Ora approach to social service delivery. In doing so, it explores the relationship between a philosophy of whānau ora, and the policy of Whānau Ora as it is enacted by various government institutions. Drawing upon data collected from interviews with key informants, the thesis argues that Whānau Ora presents opportunities for a new way of thinking about social service provision but a number of barriers may limit the potential of this approach to achieve wellbeing for Māori. First there is a danger that Māori language and culture are simply co-opted by the state in ways that transform their original meaning, and that Whānau Ora may in fact serve as a vehicle to shift responsibility for core service provision from government to Māori. Second, the differential treatment of Māori service providers by funding bodies illustrates the way in which institutional racism continues to impact on Māori. Finally, Whānau Ora is vulnerable to a political environment in which discourses of Māori privilege can impact on the longevity of policies that are seen to target Māori. As such, Whānau Ora’s contribution to greater self-determination for Māori is limited. The thesis ends by identifying key constitutional and institutional changes that are more likely to provide an environment in which self-determination can be achieved.

Social media are used increasingly worldwide to connect people and points of view. This thesis explores the role social media can play in enhancing Maori development via political engagement. It investigates the efficacy of using social media to increase Maori political awareness and participation using the Mana Party Facebook pages as a case study. It also examines the opportunities and implications of social media for indigenous development in general. Themes in the literature on social media and indigenous development include: identity politics; language revitalisation and cultural preservation; activism; knowledge management; networking and collaboration; and business and marketing. This qualitative study was informed by Kaupapa Maori and empowerment theories. It involves interviews with the Mana Party president, Mana Party Facebook page moderators, and users of the Mana Party Facebook pages. The interviews explored the objectives and outcomes of using social media to raise political awareness of Maori, finding that Mana Party objectives were met to varying degrees. It also found that social media has both positive and negative implications for indigenous development. Social media aligns with tikanga Maori through Tino Rangatiratanga and whanaungatanga. However, it can conflict with tikanga Maori due to lack of respect, cultural misappropriation, sharing sacred information, subversion of traditional hierarchy and absence of a ‘seen face’. There are thus tensions in the use of social media for political engagement among indigenous peoples. Finally, the thesis offers a framework of how to use social media with indigenous groups that emphasises the positive and mitigates the negative aspects of the platform.

The primary focus of this thesis is to explore the reasons for Ngati Porou participation in the wars in New Zealand during the 1860s. Early writers sunnised that the alliances between tribes like Ngati Porou, Te Arawa and the lower Whanganui iwi and the settler governnent were due primarily to a sense of loyalty to the crown. Repetition by later historians has reinforced this notion in New Zealand folklore and historiography. While recent retrospective histories reveal a growing awareness that the motivation behind the alliances was more complex, no analysis of tribal motives worthy of the confidence of Maori has yet been recorded. This thesis initially sets out to detennine whether the historical orthodoxy is founded at least for Ngati Porou. It presents evidence showing that significant aspects of the Ngati Porou story have been misunderstood and misrepresented by writers who have been unable to source or who have felt it unnecessary to properly canvass Ngati Porou views and records. To date, tribal historians have on the whole refrained from presenting a tribal perspective, not because the infonllation does not exist, but from a desire to keep such knowledge in the tIibal arena where it is most relevant. Continued irritation, however, caused by historical publications that fall short when trying to comprehend the nature of Maori participation, has resulted in a freeing up of infonnation by those who jealously guard their family 's manuscripts, and others who retain the oral testimonies within the tribe, so that a re examination is made possible. This thesis also generally seeks to link Ngati Porou 's involvement in war with leadership pattems that emerged within the tribe during the period 1865 - 1872, though this dimension of Ngati Porou history is not canvassed exhaustively here. In times of crisis existing leadership patterns were challenged and as often as not new leaders emerged to lead the tribe. Perhaps the finest military leader produced by Ngati Porou during the Hauhau encounters was Major Rapata Wahawaha. His role in shaping Ngati Porou's modern identity is a major theme running throughout this thesis. It is argued that his leadership and philosophy characterised the contribution by Ngari Porou to theatres of war that followed the 1860s. It is proposed that such a contribution was both strategic and calculated to achieve gains for Ngati Porou. Moreover, the wider question is raised: why, since the 1860s, has Ngati Porou been so ready to join the battlefront and to stand alongside the Crown? The thesis contends that far from being motivated solely by loyalty to the Crown, Ngati Porou entered into an alliance with the Crown in order to protect and to advance tribal interests.

That Maori are more often criminalised for cannabis use is often used as another good argument for decriminalisation. But Hirini Kaa argues things are more complex and that, as many Maori probably know, decriminalisation won't be the panacea proposed so often by privileged pakeha.