Tag: Poster C6

Maori Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change

Presenter: Kylie Loutit

Environmental Science

Poster Presentation

C6

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.

The Correlation of Prehistoric Wells, Groundwater Resources, and Statues on Easter Island Imply Greater Understanding of Natural Landscape by Prehistoric Rapanui People

Presenter: Sadie Trush

Mentors: Terry Hunt, Honors College Anthropology; Nick Dreher, Environmental Studies

Poster: C6

Major: Environmental Science

Commonly overlooked in the numerous narratives of Easter Island’s mystery, is the most critical resource to human beings: freshwater. Recent field research on the Island has focused on puna (archaeological well features) that may have allowed the prehistoric Rapanui people to obtain this essential element. An RC quadcopter, high resolution camera, and trimble unit were used on this research project to create 3-dimensional reconstructions of the puna, while the coastline was manually surveyed to find traces of freshwater at the marine interface. These two data sets were geographically compared with previously mapped locations of moai and ahu (great stone statues and platforms), since puna are always found within 50 meters of an ahu presentation. Additionally, in these areas notable amounts of fresh, potable, groundwater seeps into the sea. This correlation of puna, potable water, and
ahu with moai suggests a connection between resource use and moai placement, and challenges previous beliefs that moai were merely 70-ton manifestations of ancestor worship. In fact, the correlation may reflect the Rapanui’s connection to the natural landscape and understanding of limited resources. Given current freshwater shortages, these findings not only lend themselves to further knowledge of water resources on Easter Island in the context of Rapanui prehistory, but may also assist modern Rapanui people to utilize local water resources instead of shipping it thousands of kilometers from Chile.