Identification and Use of Plant Material for the Manufacture of New Zealand Indigenous Woven Objects

McCallum, Rua; Carr, Debra J.

doi:10.17348/era.10.0.185-198

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Typha spp. (Raupō) had a broad range of uses by Māori (McCallum & Carr, 2012), and it is possible that it was introduced into the catchment as a product of crop cultivation (Lyver et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Short

Tibby

Vandergoes

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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Lakes are becoming degraded at an accelerating rate owing to human activity, and understanding their past ecology is necessary for lake management and rehabilitation. Palaeolimnology provides numerous methods that enable the historical state of lakes to be determined. New Zealand provides an ideal setting in which to do this as human modification of the landscape occurred later here than in most regions of the world (approx. 1300 CE). Lake Oporoa is a shallow lake that is highly significant to the local indigenous Māori community. This study used multiple proxy palaeolimnology to explore how lake ecology shifted following Māori and European settlement in the catchment, and how palaeolimnological data can be used to inform lake rehabilitation and conservation measures, alongside the desires of the indigenous community. Sedimentary pollen, diatoms, bacterial communities, and elemental and hyperspectral imaging scanning were used to infer ecological changes in the lake and catchment from pre‐human times to present. Following Māori settlement (approx. 1620 CE) there was gradual vegetation change and a rapid shift in diatom and bacterial assemblages, but not in phytoplankton pigments or sediment geochemistry. An increasing abundance of diatom taxa Discostella stelligera and Staurosirella cf. ovata indicates early nutrient enrichment. European pastoralism from approximately 1840 CE resulted in further deforestation, and all proxies show evidence for enhanced primary productivity driven by a combination of nutrient enrichment and changing lake levels, particularly since the 1960s. This has caused degradation in water quality and is likely to have contributed to the decline in populations of tuna (eel, Anguilla spp.). Conversations with local Māori, together with the palaeolimnological results, indicate that a culturally acceptable and realistic rehabilitation target for Lake Oporoa aligns with ecological conditions in the 1950s. The palaeoecological data provide information to guide catchment and lake revegetation and other methods of nutrient abatement, with the eventual aim of restoring culturally important tuna and native fish populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Short

Tibby

Vandergoes

et al. 2022

Aquatic Conservation

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“…However, the adoption of mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) in mainstream conservation ventures is often limited and mainly focused on the customary harvest of species for food, such as the kereru (New Zealand Wood Pigeon, Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae ) and titi (Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus ) (Moller et al 2009;Lyver et al 2008Lyver et al , 2009, and the customary harvest of flax (harakeke in Māori, Phormium tenax ) and seaweed, karengo (Bangiaceae spp.) (McCallum and Carr 2012;O'Connell-Milne and Hepburn 2015). The use of Māori knowledge in New Zealand forest conservation is not particularly visible in research and policy (Walker et al 2013), and discourse around the use and interpretation of Māori knowledge is often limited to scattered Māori representation in governance roles.…”

Section: The Adoption Of Māori Knowledge For Forest Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous Biosecurity: Māori Responses to Kauri Dieback and Myrtle Rust in Aotearoa New Zealand

Lambert

Waipara

Black

et al. 2018

The Human Dimensions of Forest and Tree Health

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“…This incorrectly suggests that a high degree of precision, and therefore discriminatory function, can be achieved from assessment of refractive index (although the need to sample adequately, condition fibres, control temperature and relative humidity and develop considerable skill with the technique has been described in earlier literature; Preston 1947) Whilst the present study examined the characteristics of fibre cells of plant species considered to be the major textile species used in New Zealand, it remains possible that other plant species may have been used historically, albeit less frequently. Previous studies by Goulding (1971), Pendergrast (1996) and McCallum and Carr (2012) Harris et al 2001). Although neither species has been previously mentioned in literature pertaining to Māori textiles, it is possible that "tī kōuka" textiles from these regions may be composed from these locally abundant Cordyline species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Polarized Light Microscopy: An Old Technique Casts New Light on Māori Textile Plants

et al. 2017

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Understanding the composition of an artefact has ramifications for advancing human history and behaviour knowledge, providing cultural information about trade, agricultural practices and adaptation to new environments. However, accurate plant identification from artefacts is problematic, since textile production, age, dirt and/or conservation treatments obscure morphological features, and specimen size and/or ethical considerations hamper modern analytical methods. This study tested the efficacy of polarised light microscopy (PLM) in the identification of New Zealand plant species commonly used in Māori textiles, and demonstrates that morphological and birefringent features observed using PLM have the potential to distinguish between-and within-plant genera.

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Identification and Use of Plant Material for the Manufacture of New Zealand Indigenous Woven Objects

Cited by 5 publications

References 6 publications

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand

Indigenous Biosecurity: Māori Responses to Kauri Dieback and Myrtle Rust in Aotearoa New Zealand

Polarized Light Microscopy: An Old Technique Casts New Light on Māori Textile Plants

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