Our Research | Māra Tautāne
Revitalising a hapū practice connected to te taiao
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Key Research Aims
This research aimed to:
explore a cultural practice that is deeply connected to the ngahere
communicate understanding of how biosecurity impacts (e.g. the impending threat of myrtle rust) may influence cultural practices
elevate the voice of wāhine in the preservation and maintenance of cultural practices.
Funded Years: 2020/21 2021/22
Research Brief
The purpose of this project was to observe and record the deep cultural and spiritual significance that cultural practices connected with the natural world hold for tāngata Māori. Specifically, the project involved recording the revitalisation of the Māra Tautāne in a hapū of Tūhoe, located in Ruātoki, in the northern Te Urewera.
The Māra Tautāne, the first to be established in the Ruātoki Valley for over 300 years, is a garden that represents the hapū connection to their ancestors, ancestral lands and practices as well as ngā atua Māori and star constellations. The project also elevated the importance of the role of wāhine in the preservation and maintenance of cultural practices associated with māra (gardens).
The Māra Tautāne, as a cultural practice is deeply connected to the ngahere. It acts as a symbol to remind people of the importance of the natural environment for the sustenance of all living things.
The Māra Tautāne acts as a symbolic icon to enable a connection between the spiritual world and the physical world. It is a symbol of Māori connectedness and inseparability from the natural world. As Whaea Teina said “The Māra Tautāne is just one of many iconic symbols and rituals that permit our heart, our mind and our wairua to remember that.”
The project revealed how threats to the ngahere, such as impending biosecurity incursions like myrtle rust, that already exists in areas surrounding Te Urewera, would have devastating impacts on cultural and social practices that are connected to that ngahere. Such practices are central to whakapapa and the connection of tāngata Māori to the whenua.
Research Outcomes
A story map and E-Book have been produced about the Māra Tautāne and these can be viewed in the Project Resources section below.
A video documentary has also been produced about the Māra Tautāne. This records the kōrero of key people in the hapū about the significance of revitalising the Māra Tautāne as a cultural practice that shows Māori connectedness and inseparability from the natural world. It overlays this narrative with segments from the unveiling ceremony of the Māra Tautāne in Nov 2020, a ceremony that has not previously been recorded.
The documentary has now been completed and was presented to Ngai Tūhoe in 2022. It is now publicly available and can be viewed in the Project Resources section below either separately or as part of the story map.
A number of peer reviewed scientific papers have also been published in international science research journals and these are listed in the Project Resources section below. Additionally, the Māra Tautāne project has been presented as a case study in oral presentations at two separate peer reviewed international Science Communication conferences.
Project Resources
Te Māra Tautāne Story Map
A story map featuring Te Māra Tautāne has been compiled to tell the story of the revitalisation of this customary practice in the Ruātoki Valley of Te Urewera. View the story map by clicking the button.
Video Documentary
Watch the 23 minute documentary about Te Māra Tautāne o Te Māhurehure.
E-book
Learn more out about the Māra Tautāne through this e-book that was created for the unveiling ceremony.
Peer Reviewed Publications
Tassell-Matamua, N., Boasa-Dean, T., and McEntee, M. (2023). Indigenous Knowledge Revitalisation: Indigenous Māori Gardening and its Wider Implications for the People of Tūhoe. Knowledge Cultures, 11(1), 98–114. https://doi.org/10.22381/kc11120236
McEntee, M., Harvey, M. and Medvecky, F. (2024). Clashing epistemologies and contrasting injustice: an Aotearoa/ New Zealand case Journal of Science Communication 23(04), Y01. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.23040401
Harvey M, McEntee M, Mullen M. (2025) Te Waka Houora o te Ngahere: Mobilising for Action for Forest Health in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Australian Journal of Environmental Education. Published online 2025:1-15. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-environmental-education/article/te-waka-houora-o-te-ngahere-mobilising-for-action-for-forest-health-in-aotearoa-new-zealand/7CDB838B7299F53568040C2A23DC0B71
Harvey, M., & McEntee, M. (2026). Mahitahi me te Taiao: co-designing in Māori, te Tiriti, transdisciplinary and Aotearoa native forest contexts. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/11771801251413241.
Oral Presentations At International Conferences
Mobilising for Action: Creating common ground through reflexive mindsets (Linked paper session).
2023 Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference
Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Responding to epistemic and social injustice through trusting relationships: A case study from Aotearoa New Zealand.
2023 Inclusive Science Communication.
Metcalfe Institute, Rhode Island University
Kingston, Rhode Island, USA