Indigenous Knowledge and Transdisciplinary Science: Some Remarks by Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal
Thank you for the invitation to speak today and to share with you some of my thoughts regarding indigenous knowledge and transdisciplinary science. I would like to begin by stating that I am not a scientist, in the conventional sense, and I do not claim standing in science. Rather, I am a researcher of traditional indigenous knowledge in New Zealand - what we call mātauranga Māori. I have been a researcher of this knowledge since the late 1980s motivated by both a desire for a greater understanding of my Māori identity and also by the creative possibilities I see in this body of knowledge. I have held formal roles in the academy, however, today I work as an independent researcher located within my tribal community. This is for a number of reasons. First, I was taught by a number of my tribal elders who asked me to take care of their treasures and to pass those treasures on in due course to other, usually younger, members of our community. These treasures include our traditional stories