Taxacom: =?utf-8?q?PUTTING_COLLECTIONS_BACK_ON_THE_GROUND=3A_MANA?= =?utf-8?q?_TAONGA=2C_M=C4=80TAURANGA_M=C4=80ORI_AND_NATHIST_MUSEUM?= =?utf-8?q?_COLLECTION?=

[John Grehan]

For those interested in the theory and practice of collection management,
curation etc. the following title concerns aspects of collection management
in New Zealand with respect to scientific and cultural issues. Anyone
interested in a copy can contact the author at kmahlfeld at gmail.com

  PUTTING COLLECTIONS BACK ON THE GROUND: MANA TAONGA, M?TAURANGA M?ORI AND
NATHIST MUSEUM COLLECTIONS BY KARIN MAHLFELD MA Thesis Museum and Heritage
Studies Te Herenga Waka ? Victoria University of Wellington 2025

 ABSTRACT Technological, cultural and climatic changes are shifting natural
history collection management (NATHIST CM) more and more into a post-normal
science environment, in which the pressures are more diverse, solutions
less clear and straightforward, outcomes less predictable and impacts
potentially greater than anticipated. This thesis explores how Te Papa?s
core philosophy mana taonga, m?tauranga M?ori and the new biology as
studied, for example, in Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES), Third Way
of Evolution and panbiogeography, have created new contexts for the
management of biological specimen collections that can help NATHIST CM to
adjust better to the dynamic and complex post normal science environment.

 In the 1980s Te Papa?s collection management (CM) of cultural collections
began transforming from using traditional museum practices of curation to
co-management with source communities under mana taonga. CM of biological
specimen collections has remained more or less unchanged in this respect.
The beneficial impact mana taonga had on CM of cultural heritage
collections, on source and user communities and other aspects of CM are
hardly ever discussed among NATHIST CM professionals, who have mainly
science but no museological backgrounds. Consequently, a dearth of
publications exists that cover mana taonga and m?tauranga M?ori from a
natural history museum viewpoint. My thesis is closing this gap by
examining the space where mana taonga, m?tauranga M?ori and CM of
biological collections meet.

 As a researcher of New Zealand (NZ) land snails and biogeography, I
explore from my perspective and experience starting points for future
efforts to revitalise collections by enhancing their ties with communities,
but also through management of biological collections in a manner that
advances epistemic justice, overcomes miscommunication and a lack of shared
concepts, counterbalances CM operated purely with instrumental rationality
and provides room for interaction with m?tauranga M?ori. To achieve this, I
gauge the understanding of and commitment to mana taonga and m?tauranga
M?ori in the NATHIST sector and investigate how both can enrich NATHIST CM
and how standard CM practice could interact in meaningful ways with mana
taonga and m?tauranga M?ori to put collections back on the ground and help
advance testimonial and hermeneutical justice.

In this thesis I am employing a combination of literature review,
autoethnography and action research. The literature review covers aspects
of museological literature, evolution, conservation and philosophy of
science that are relevant to CM but cannot obviously be exhaustive. Through
the literature review I connect my own experiences and observations of CM
to broader cultural, political, and social concepts and debates. I use my
experiences with collection management of NZ micro land snails at Te Papa
and as a former member of the panel of the Department of Conservation?s New
Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS), NZ?s equivalent to the IUCN
Red List of endangered species, to make recommendations. I use my insider
knowledge to test theoretical claims in ways outsider knowledge is unable
to do. The cases (exhibits) used in this thesis were selected for their
suitability to describe the problems with interweaving two knowledge
systems in Te Papa?s permanent Te Taiao?Nature exhibition, potential
conflicts arising for NATHIST CM while juggling local and global interests,
trends in conservation and data networks with regard to mana taonga,
tikanga, m?tauranga M?ori and issues of epistemic injustice arising through
operating CM from a purely technical perspective and adherence to concepts
rooted in Neo Darwinism.

 My thesis establishes that the application of mana taonga varies highly
between the cultural and taxonomic collections at Te Papa. Cross-cultural
and cross-disciplinary openings appear sparse and professional development
opportunities for NATHIST staff are limited and underdeveloped. I
demonstrate how mana taonga, m?tauranga M?ori, EES, Third Way,
panbiogeography and the Anthropocene provide the necessary tensions and
contradictions for NATHIST professionals as means to step outside the
knowledge and wisdom bubbles of their usual ?peer? groups to reassess
concepts, opinions, arguments, means and ends of actions in order to stay
and become more relevant to communities and society. As a result of my
examinations, I propose strategies for putting collections back on the
ground and better alignment with mana taonga in a post-normal science
environment and for NATHIST CM to usher in postcolonial and post-Modern
Synthesis NATHIST CM. Putting collections back on the ground involves a
range of actions that contribute to the process: adopt rational pluralism,
have an understanding for different ways of knowledge production, foster
diverse documentation and complex system thinking, facilitate data
repatriation and reinterpretation, employ thematic collecting, use local
tikanga to inform CM, develop a nuanced understanding of differences.

 Keywords: mana taonga, m?tauranga M?ori, natural history, collection
management, epistemic justice, resonance, mediopassivity, STATS NZ data
assessment tool kit, panbiogeography, Third Way of Evolution, ancestor,
ancestry

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