Māori carvings taken to Antarctica's Scott Base for NIWA research programme

Sunday, 24 February 2019

(From left) James York and Poutama Hetaraka flew to Antarctica to install the traditional carvings at Scott Base, Antarctica.

Two Māori carvers have installed traditional carvings at Antarctica's Scott Base as part of a programme incorporating Māori knowledge into scientific research.

Each carving, around two metres tall, was installed around the inside of the door to the New Zealand headquarters in Antarctica.

James York working on the pare (door lintel) for Scott Base at the Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka carving shed in Aparima-Riverton.

Carvers Poutama Hetaraka, from Whāngarei, and James York, from Colac Bay, Southland, flew on Waitangi Day to install the final design.

The carvings offer a Mātauranga Māori - Maori knowledge - perspective to NIWA's scientific monitoring research being conducted in the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area, which was established just over a year ago.

The carvings were installed around the New Zealand's headquarters on Antarctica at Scott Base.

Poutama Hetaraka completing the two whakawae (door frames) that now frame a door at Scott Base.

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The carvings were installed at Scott Base, New Zealand's headquaters in Antarctica.

The two carvers worked closely throughout the project, despite living at almost direct opposite ends of the country.

Hetaraka was responsible for the side frames of the doorway called whakawae, which were carved at the Hihiaua Cultural Centre in Whangārei.

York carved the piece that crosses the top of the doorway, called a pare, in Southland.

Hetaraka said the carvings symbolised not just Maori knowledge but indigenous knowledge in general.

Antarctica is governed by a treaty and is shared with lots of other countries, with lots of other indigenous people, he said.

He hoped Mātauranga Māori would become more embedded in conversations about environmental management of the Earth and Antarctica, in particular.

'Each and every one of us individuals need to pay attention to and listen to our environment,' he said.

The two carvings are the first traditional Māori carvings on the continent and were created as part of the Antarctica New Zealand Community Engagement Programme.

Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research ecologist Priscilla Wehi, who is leading the Mātauranga Māori part of the research, said Antarctica's ecosystems were key indicators of climate change so monitoring and protecting them was critical.

'In the Mātauranga programme, we observe what's happening with two eyes – one eye using the strength of indigenous knowledge and world views, and the other eye with the acute sight of scientific research,' she added.

The carvings will kept indoors because the environment is so dry and cold, it would split the wood.