Maori Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change

The Maori, the native population of New Zealand, are gradually becoming an imperative part of understanding climate and environmental events and changes in New Zealand. Maori Environmental Knowledge (MEK) has been recognized as a useful source of knowledge about climate change that cannot be accessed from standard “westernized” scientific data. Many Maori strive to live at one with nature and view it as an extension of themselves. Their stories, songs and narratives provide mechanisms to inform people of danger, as well as provide details that lead up to catastrophic events and the falling out of such happenings. The Maori are a minority in their own land; however, the reemergence of their culture coincides with the acknowledgement of the usefulness of MEK toward climate change, and is furthering their revival in New Zealand. MEK is context-dependent, making it difficult for scientists to easily incorporate it into reports. However, despite its challenges, MEK is a unique and valuable source of information that can greatly contribute toward the understanding of and response to climate change by expanding the limits of westernized science.