Traditional Knowledge and the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership

Last Monday (3 Dec 2012), thanks to Prof Jane Kelsey, I had the opportunity to present some ideas on mātauranga Māori/indigenous knowledge to negotiators who were meeting all this week in Auckland to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. It was a very brief opportunity which took place at Waipapa Marae, University of Auckland. Here are some of the things I said:

  • Our vision is for the indigenous dimension of New Zealand society to be positive, dynamic, creative force in our nation’s life, economy and culture, something that all New Zealand can be proud of. We seek to turn colonisation and its deleterious effects on its head. 
  • The contribution of indigenous peoples is not merely to gain participation in existing arrangements in New Zealand society, but also to bring distinctive aspects and creativity to our nation, to improve it according to indigenous vision, experience and action
  • We remain concerned with matters of social justice – we are alert to ways in which indigenous peoples were and are marginalised
  • We remain concerned with cultural revitalisation - to uplift our language, our knowledge, our customary lifestyles
  • We are also inspired by our own ‘creative potential’ - to be inspired by what we have rather than what we have lost
  • Traditional Knowledge is a critically important dimension within the creative potential of indigenous communities
  • This knowledge belongs to our communities and it is deeply important to the ongoing realisation of our potential
  • We do not regard it as ‘museum pieces’ but rather a dynamic living tradition of memory, experience, an understanding of life.
  • We wish to repatriate this knowledge to our people and enable it to be utilised by our people in new and creative ways and for their benefit.
  • If we are strengthened in our own knowledge, we are more likely to be open, to share, to engage in positive relationships. Conversely, if we feel our rights to our own knowledge are compromised, we are less likely to engage, to be open.
Carwyn Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu) from Victoria University of Wellington also spoke on the Wai262 Flora and Fauna claim brought before the Waitangi Tribunal. 

Information on the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership can be found at these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Strategic_Economic_Partnership

http://tppinfo.org/

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