Pacific Genes and Life Patents

Book Launch; Rutherford House, Victoria University, Wellington

Pacific indigenous experiences and analysis of the commodification and ownership of life

Tariana Turia; Co-leader, Maori Party

Tuesday 20 March 2007

This time, yesterday, our whanau of Ngā Wairiki and Ngāti Apa were gathered in the valley of Whangaehu; awaiting the lahar as it descended from the sacred lake, Te Wai-ā-moe, on our ancestral mountain, Ruapehu.

Within their korero, the emphasis was different to that offered by other communities, who focused on the preparation for a civil defence disaster; the relief of an ‘emergency averted’.

The people from home referred to the event, as the sweat from the brow of Matua te Mana having fallen. They talked of the mana of their ancestor in making its connections through to our tribal relatives of Te Awaiti and Ngati Rangi; the lahar travelling its path from Te Wai-a-Moe, the Crater Lake; out to the sea.

It was a moment of awesome power, in which the Call of the Earth was never more profound.

It was also a moment in which the Minister of Conservation, the Minister of Civil Defence, local government authorities were speaking proudly about the success of their planning in operation.

But I was thinking also the legacy left by former Conservation Minister Sandra Lee, who had taken the step some six years ago, of installing a state of the art alarm and warning system, rather than the more invasive engineering earthworks and trench that had been originally proposed by officials.

The former Minister had considered the importance of the area in connection with the World Heritage Convention. But significantly, she had also taken time to listen to the indigenous knowledge.

Ngati Tuwharetoa, whose paramount chief Te Heuheu Tukino IV had gifted the central plateau peaks to the country in 1887, opposed the trench. So too, had Ngati Rangi, who regarded any artificial alteration of the mountain landscape as a cultural affront.

It was a very strong signal to me, that our indigenous values and norms, our intellectual property, our tribal knowledge is a powerful source of instruction in understanding the earth-call.

And I was interested to learn that a group of researchers from Hawai’i are here, right at this time. While they are here to study Ruapehu, we know they come with the knowledge and the blessing of Pele, their Goddess of the Volcano.

It seemed to me, therefore, a very profound way in which to launch this new anthology of indigenous intelligence - Pacific genes and Life Patents: Pacific Indigenous experiences and analysis of the commodification and ownership of life.

It is an immense privilege to be here today, to celebrate the vibrant dialogue and challenge that emerges from this new publication.

The call of indigenous initiatives in protecting the cultural and intellectual property of their communities has never been more apparent.

As the final copy was going to print, the final Crown evidence on the WAI 262 flora, fauna and cultural intellectual property claim was being heard by the Waitangi Tribunal.

The WAI 262 claim seeks to protect and recognise Maori cultural and intellectual heritage rights - our kaitiakitanga - in relation to indigenous flora and fauna; and our Matauranga, or traditional knowledge, practices and customs related to that flora and fauna. A strong statement from the Waitangi Tribunal to this effect is needed to provide even basic protections around rongoa, kai and sustainability systems.

What the publication before us today does, through the experiences and encounters brought to life by the sixteen indigenous Pacific writers recorded in this book, is to show us the vital connections between what happened in the Tribunal hearings in January this year, and the foundations of work laid by:

 the Mataatua Declaration on Cultural and intellectual property rights in Whakatane in 1993;
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 the outcomes of a meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Intellectual property rights in Fiji in 1995;
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 the Statement of Bioethics consultation undertaken in Nukuoalofa, Tonga in 2001;
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 the Paoakalani Declaration held in 2003 to express native Hawaiian intellectual property rights.
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And in doing so, it reminds us of the flourishing and thriving life-force that we share with our whanaunga across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.

Statisticians will tell us today, that there are now more Cook Islanders and Niuean people living in Aotearoa than at home.

Tamaki Makaurau is branded as the world’s largest Polynesian country; and Pasifika peoples make up almost 7% of the New Zealand population.

Whether it’s the Pasifika Festival – which last year attracted more than 200,000 visitors from all over the Pacific; or this weekend’s Polyfest - or the celebrity status of Pasifika players in the All Blacks, the Warriors, the small screen and the large – our connections to Pacific power are very evident.

But our connections also go back, far before No 2 and Bro’ Town; the links we have extend beyond the popularity of King Kapisi, Che fu and Nesian Mystic; to a whakapapa which we can trace back to time immemorial.

Through our lines of genealogy, we are linked in culture and language to the Cook Islands, the Maohi of Te Ao Maohi, the people of Rapanui; the Kanaka Maoli of Hawai'i and in turn to the people of the Western Polynesian region - Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Tokelau, Fiji and the wider Pacific.

In our journey from Hawaiiki, we have never forgotten the expression of unity that binds us as Pasifika peoples.

And so it was only natural, that when, in May 2004, a Ngai Tahu delegation told the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that the Government had shown "flagrant disregard" for indigenous people's rights; it was the people of the Pacific region who expressed support.

Ngai Tahu and the Treaty Tribes Coalition had addressed over 700 representatives at the Forum, inviting them to consider the Foreshore and Seabed Bill at the United Nations Economic and Social Council on indigenous issues.

The Pacific caucus on the forum, which included representatives of about twenty Pacific nations, agreed to back the submission; once again illustrating the power of the movement to articulate indigenous rights in the Pacific.

The commonalities that we have as peoples of the Pacific are illustrated in the intertwining projects and themes of this book, elaborating the implications of genetic, bio and nano technology on indigenous Pacific identity.

We learn of the proposal, agreed to by the Cook Islands government in 2002, for xeno-transplantation to be introduced without the informed consent of the people.

Steven Ratuva and Joeli Vakabua analyse the impact of bio-prospecting in Fiji, articulating a call for the recognition of the rights and ownership of stakeholders in respecting indigenous knowledge.

The ultimate offence – the invasive intrusion of human genetic research is discussed by Lea’ Malia Kanehe of Hawaii – critiquing the National Geographic sponsored Genographic Project which sought to target indigenous peoples as comprising the unique research interest factor.

The threat of using indigenous populations as subjects of curiosity is probably most vividly brought to life in the case of the Hagahai patent case of Papua New Guinea.

The patenting of genes of the Hagahai tribesmen demonstrated the lack of communication amongst stakeholders; the lack of understanding and informed consent of the peoples as subjects of research; leading to observations which Alphonse Kambu refers to as “modern day slavery that treats human beings as property or mere objects without any value of life”.

It reminds me of a title in an issue of The New York Times Magazine I heard about a few years back: “The high tech future of medicine is encrypted in the blood of remote peoples. For the new intrepid gene hunters, there is treasure buried in those veins”.

The ethics of human genetic research, the danger of biopiracy within our midst, the impact of globalisation emerges in our geographic, historic and political links throughout the Pacific. Jessica Hutchings argues that the way in which modern development theories are being promoted could, in fact, if not managed responsibly, lead to ‘intellectual cultural piracy’.

The editors bring together the shared stories of resistance and struggle within the Turaga Nation; in Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea; the Cook Islands, Hawaii; Samoa and of course Aotearoa.

But it is not just a publication presenting the pitfalls and problems associated with unethical research or the risks of genetic modification and cultural commodification.

It is also a very powerful statement of a way forward for empowerment, which Linda Tuhiwai Smith presents as ‘decolonising methodologies’.

We see also the impact of resistance that Paul Reynolds brings focus to, through the opposition of Ngati Wairere to the planned experiment of placing human genes into cows to produce a human cow hybrid.

And finally, Aroha Te Pareake Mead makes all our connections explicit, through her overview which concentrates on the relationship between Pasifika ways; the Pacific responses to the commodification of culture; and the ever-virulent threat of colonisation, globalisation and ownership over the sacred values of life.

I am constantly reminded of the courage and the adventurous spirit of our tupuna, who lived life to the very edge, striving to pursue wellbeing; venturing far across the Pacific waters, in search of survival.

Their explorations; their entrepreneurial nerve tempered through tikanga; their endurance resonate throughout this publication.

As we wander through the stories and precedents established in this important book, we can hear these ancestors still there, calling us to follow their lead; in the vigorous pursuit of our cultural expression.

The Maori Party is extremely proud to commend all of the authors – both here today and across the Pacific; and to congratulate in particular, the editors, Aroha Te Pareake Mead and Steven Ratuva.

You have created a legacy for us all, which in its very substance, celebrates the power of cultural and intellectual property at its very best. The Call of the Earth is honoured – and in doing so – we honour you all for your commitment to our future.

ENDS

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