Proposals to incorporate traditional knowledge in science curricula need ¡°a lot more reflection¡±, with nobody excluded from the conversation, according to a New Zealand chemist.

Paul Kilmartin, a professor at the University of Auckland, said educators needed to proceed ¡°much more carefully¡± in introducing concepts?like?mauri, a M¨¡ori term meaning ¡°vital essence¡± or ¡°life force¡±, into disciplines such as chemistry.

He cited a proposal to embed the concept in the?. ¡°All particles have their own mauri and presence as part of a larger whole,¡± a Ministry of Education guidance document explains. ¡°When a substance is burnt or dissolved the particles remain, with their own mauri.¡±

Professor Kilmartin, who has M¨¡ori ancestry, supported the concept of mauri as a reflection of ecosystem health or the ¡°life-supporting capacity¡± of rivers. But he believed any interpretation that equated mauri with chemical properties, or as ¡°the binding force between the physical and the spiritual¡±, had no place in the chemistry curriculum.

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¡°I would want to ask who discovered this binding force,¡± he told an Auckland School of Chemical Sciences seminar. ¡°What evidence was involved in its discovery? If this binding force is real, then¡­it needs to be in the chemistry syllabus of every country, not just in New Zealand.¡±

Professor Kilmartin studied theology and spent 11 years in the Marist order before undertaking a PhD in analytical chemistry in the 1990s. He does not consider himself M¨¡ori, because he was not raised in a M¨¡ori environment, but identifies as Ng¨¡i Tahu ¨C the principal tribe of the South Island ¨C and has considerable knowledge of its history, culture and land claims.

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He said?m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori, or M¨¡ori knowledge, had much to offer science. ¡°There¡¯s some very interesting examples to include in chemistry lectures such as M¨¡ori dyes, foods and chemicals from medicinal plants and sea creatures, both for illustrative purposes and maybe for in-depth consideration in some courses.¡±

But he questioned whether?m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori?should be given ¡°equal status¡± in university courses,?as proposed in high schools, or whether New Zealand¡¯s seminal Treaty of Waitangi required academics to spend 50 per cent of chemistry lectures teaching indigenous knowledge.

And he rejected any suggestion that M¨¡ori alone had ¡°the right to speak on these issues¡±, saying that non-indigenous and overseas-born New Zealanders were all ¡°worth hearing from¡±. Outsiders can bring ¡°a wealth of experience and insights¡­and some international benchmarking¡±, he said. ¡°We should all be able to join in the conversation.¡±

The webinar heard that this was not necessarily the case. ¡°A lot of us don¡¯t feel high authority to speak and we are very nervous about putting forward objections to things that scientifically seem extremely challenging,¡± a fellow academic said. ¡°If¡­only people with certain backgrounds are allowed to speak on something, you will get objections suppressed.¡±

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But a colleague said the group seemed resolved to oppose the incorporation of indigenous knowledge without having ¡°any real knowledge¡± about it, focusing on a spiritual aspect of?m¨¡tauranga M¨¡ori?while overlooking its scientific approach to animal husbandry, navigation, pesticides and medicine. People with expertise in these things could have helped turn the seminar into an ¡°actual conversation¡±.

The university has pledged to thrash out such matters in a?symposium?early this year. A spokeswoman said a date would be set after Auckland¡¯s current Covid-19 outbreak had receded.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com