Māori graduates span multiple fields of study

Māori graduates span multiple fields of study

Combining the science of insects, or entomology, with culture and art in her doctoral thesis led Dr Liz Grant to create a new word – ento-articulture.

Dr Grant (Ngāti Raukawa) was one of 50 honoured at a special Massey University ceremony for Māori graduates on Thursday.

She researched the world of insects in New Zealand around the time of European colonisation in her fine arts thesis, exploring the different meanings and significance of insects to Māori and Pakeha. Titled Bronze as a non-customary intervention in the interpretation of insects from the natural world of Maori, her thesis compares the ways the two cultures interacted with insects.

While Māori perceived insects as ancestors, visual representations of gods, omens or spirits, seasonal indicators, pests and as harvestable food, Europeans captured, pinned and displayed them for scientific classification and cataloguing. Her project incorporated the creation of nine collector’s cabinets and drawers in bronze to present a Māori narrative in a unique and compelling way.

Her artwork, she says, “combines the science of entomology, with culture, and impelled me to formulate a new word to describe the outcome: ento-articulture.”

From business, sciences, sport and exercise, and social work to Māori visual arts, design, fine arts and teaching, Māori graduates gained qualifications in diverse subjects at this year’s ceremonies.

Whanau, friends and academic staff celebrated their achievements at a special ceremony at Palmerston North’s Regent Theatre.

They included two PhDs, four Master’s and eight Bachelor of Māori Visual Arts graduates. Others gained qualifications in museum studies, resource and environmental planning and whānau development, as well as accountancy and education.

Dr Areta Wilkinson (Ngāi Tahu) investigated the links between contemporary jewellery as a form of knowledge and practice of Māori philosophies in her fine arts doctoral thesis.

Guest speaker Dr Shiloh Groot (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Uenukukopako) told the gathering she was delighted to attend the Māori graduation ceremony and cherished its great sense of occasion with “haunting waiata and fiery haka” performed by families of each graduate as they take to the stage.

Too often Māori were presented on the basis of deficiency, rather than “the success, joy and integrity” evident in graduation ceremonies, she said.

Dr Groot has held research and teaching appointments at Massey University and Waikato University. She is an interdisciplinary and Māori social scientist working in the fields of indigenous worldviews and communities, resilience, human rights, homelessness and urban poverty. Her research is collaborative and involves working with service providers and various professional groups to better conceptualize and address socio-cultural and economic concerns, such as her role as co-chair of the Māori Caucus for the New Zealand Coalition to End Homelessness.

ENDS

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