11-19, 09:30–10:00 (Pacific/Auckland), WG403
Over five years, and more than twenty thousand kilometres, our small team visited almost every ancestral Māori community of New Zealand to create the first ever map of ancestral marae. Our mission is to reconnect descendants with marae through our web platform – Maorimaps.com.
Over five years, and more than twenty thousand kilometres, our small team visited almost every ancestral Māori community of New Zealand to create the first ever map of ancestral marae. Our mission is to reconnect descendants with marae through our web platform – Maorimaps.com. Now 16 years in existence, Māori Maps now guides the 30 thousand (and growing) monthly visitors to the virtual gateway of 780-plus ancestral marae of Aotearoa.
Hirini’s keynote reflects on the genesis of Māori Maps and the founding ethic of “to the gate” that guided its creation. Grounded in the ritual of encounter (pōwhiri), “to the gate” embodies both a philosophical stance and a practical approach to protecting indigenous data sovereignty and intellectual belonging. This talk will examine how this principle shaped the project’s framework and continues to inform its responsibilities to marae communities. It will also consider the pathways in managing restricted and non-restricted knowledge—tapu and noa, public and private—in the context of digital platforms and “free and open source” environments.
Hirini grew up in the small marae community of Oromahoe in the Bay of Islands, Northland. He completed a doctorate at the University of Otago, Dunedin, exploring the past-present and future of his village. The general theme of his research interests is understanding something of the relationship between people, land and water.
Hirini has been involved with Te Potiki National Trust, and the website www.maorimaps.com since 2010. He co-founded the Māori community focused company Takarangi Research. He now supports Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki (Lincoln University) as its Māori Strategic Capability Lead.