The Maori view on GM

Molecular Kaitiakitanga

Splice May/June 2001 - v.7, i.4 May/June01

Because GM crops have been developed by scientists in laboratories, it is mistakenly believed that they are the people who hold the only ‘real’ understanding, and therefore that they should be the final arbiters. But as this powerful testimony from Jessica Hutchings reveals, there is a great weight of opinion and thought that is often ignored.

As a Maori woman I wear the mantle of the kaitiaki (guardian). Within tikanga Maori (Maori culture), Maori women hold unique roles in the protection of mauri (life force), tapu (sacredness) and whakapapa (genealogy). Our cultural essence and survival demand opposition to genetic modification (GM) and biotechnology. While yet struggling to rescue traditional lands, waters and culture from desecration by colonisation, the assumption of the kaitiaki cloak requires we employ the wisdom of our ancient lores to protect the greatest and creative whole of all - the genome. In biotechnology, Maori are faced with a new age, one that moves through the world of light (Te Ao Marama), the world of darkness (Te Ao Po) and interfaces with the work that is conducted in the realm of creation (Te Ao Kore). This genesis has been defined by Maori writers as Tuarua Kenehi - the second genesis. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the 21st Century Biotech corporations will unleash the Tuarua Kenehi - the Second Genesis, a recolonisation of land and people. Indigenous peoples, Maori peoples in Aotearoa - New Zealand will be severely disadvantaged by new technologies that will damage the environment and change our lineage (whakapapa).

It is impossible to separate Maori values from environmental values. They are one and the same. Pre-colonisation, Maori were entirely dependent on the environment, which in turn shaped and reaffirmed cultural ways of being, beliefs and cosmologies. Maori relationships with the environment varied from tribe to tribe according to tribal histories, herstories, protocols and geographic tribal boundaries. However, guardianship of the land and resources for secular and non-secular use was pre-dominant. Our kaitiakitanga (guardianship) role sustained and nurtured both tribal nations and our environments. This relationship creates a dynamic holism within the social, political, cultural and ethical environments, it comes with an inherited inter-generational responsibility to protect. Today there is still an urgency and deep commitment to maintain this dynamic holistic balance and to protect Maori lands from the cultural pollution of genetic modification which multi-nationals are trying to force onto us.

Iwi (tribes) inter-weave a complex cultural structure of the Maori nation. These iwi histories are a personal imprint, an identity beyond the realms of history, and are as faithfully recorded as Genesis or the Icelandic Sagas. As these iwi only now begin to cope with the immense task of post-colonial reconstruction they must also grasp the impacts of new technologies.

One of the fundamental objections Maori have towards genetic engineering is the disturbance of the mauri (life force) within organisms. This is similar to the objection of horizontal gene transfer. A general Maori view is that mauri is something which is handed down from the Atua (Gods). “anything which interferes with the mauri of a species is viewed with extreme aversion because of the possibly drastic consequences that interfering with something that has been passed down from the Atua may invoke.”

“In order to maintain the balance and protect the mauri of all things, Maori practise a holistic system of environmental management, defined as kaitiakitanga. When elements are out of balance or being degraded attempts are made to restore balance. This can sometimes take generations.

“[We] are largely responsible for protecting, maintaining, conserving and restoring the environment, of which we are all a part. Through the idea of mauri or life force, Maori are able to enunciate a sophisticated and powerful environmental philosophy. A philosophy which demands that we treat the natural world with respect, that we do this to the world as a whole and to each and every one of its constituent parts, that we acknowledge and care about the special character of every creature, and try to make sure that our interactions with the natural world leave it a better place. A Maori philosophy is about unity, while making adequate allowance for reasonable human activities.”

Kaitiakitanga objections to GM

Kaitiakitanga may be better understood by breaking the word down to look at its various components. The basic meaning of the term ‘tiaki’ is to guard, although it has other meanings depending on the context. It may also mean to preserve, to conserve, to foster, to protect, to shelter and to keep watch over. Kaitiakitanga governs the natural order and denotes an obligation to protect not control nature. The exercise of kaitiakitanga belongs to those who have mana (authority) over a tribal area. Kaitiakitanga in a practical sense is the right of tribal peoples, those having ancestral link to the land through genealogy (whakapapa) - to manage resources according to their own cultural preferences.

The concerns Maori have regarding the mixing of genetic material between species are based on customary principles including that of kaitiakitanga. Kaitiakitanga places an obligation on Maori to maintain and protect the mauri of all other species. It is another mechanism by which the mauri (lifeforce) of a resource is protected. Both those from the human and non-human world can be kaitiaki.

Aotearoa - New Zealand is Maori land, and anything therefore grown on our land we have a kaitiaki responsibility for. It is customarily sinful to allow biotechnology to degrade the state of the natural world. Not to object would be against the nature of our kaitiaki role. It would be a betrayal of past and future generations, and an insult to the authority and integrity of the kaitiaki. It is on this basis that as Maori we must strongly and clearly state that GM crops must not be allowed on our land.

The debate regarding GM raises not only the issues of protecting the mauri by the kaitiaki but also the issues of globalisation, free trade, intellectual property rights and the plundering of our global commons of which we are all kaitiaki. If we as Maori are to reject GM then we must make the connection and strongly reject globalisation and free trade on the Maori lands of New Zealand: biotechnology is a new global wave of colonisation.

The ‘golden promise’ myth of biotechnology is over before it has started. It is not only Maori who believe that GM crops are dead but also now ex-Monsanto employees such as Dr Phil Dale. Dr Dale told the new UK Agricultural and Environment Biotechnology Commission at their first meeting in December 2000 that the future of biotechnology is genomics rather than GM. It is evident that GM is an obsolete practice nowadays, moreover the health and safety risks associated with GM are great and far outweigh the benefits. At least genomics is much less risky, it is what human species have been doing for thousands of years only “with the lights on”, to quote a Monsanto scientist.

By using marker-assisted breeding, genes of interest can be tracked as they are passed on in successive generations, speeding up breeding programmes. However, new varieties must still pass all the stringent tests of genetic stability, food safety and ecological balance that are required of traditional breeding procedures, so there are limits to the accelerated selection process. Furthermore, any breeding programme must be fully compatible with the social, environmental and community practices of developing organic nations. Although this is slightly better it still does not offer the social, environmental, economic and community benefits of developing holistic and spiritual organic nations and practices.

Genetic engineering is very much a part of this globalisation debate. It is necessary that Maori first reject the adoption of a colonial and patriarchal process that does not understand the importance of gender analysis, equity of participation for all and the right to a diversity of expression of views. After making the connection between GM and globalisation the debate will then explore all aspects of society including constitutional change where we as Maori can fully participate under a truer Treaty partnership. In the meantime we agitate in this process as molecular kaitiaki activists for a GM free nation.

Jessica Hutchings

Jessica is a lecturer in Maori environmental management at Victoria University, Wellington, and is part of Nga Wahine Tiaki o Te Ao Marama (Maori women guardians of the world of light).

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Thanks for this file goes to Norfolk Genetic Information Network (ngin), http://www.ngin.org.uk

As an alternative to the cynical PR posturing of the biotech industry, there is a global appeal to help distribute India's huge surpluses of food to the hungry. http://www.biotech-info.net/global_appeal.html  Further details: dsharma@del6.vsnl.net.in