Driving out the devil – A history of mākutu in Aotearoa / New Zealand
Date: Monday, 10 February, 2020
Time: 5pm to 7pm. Public talk from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. Refreshments from 6:30pm to 7pm
Cost: Free event.
Location: National Library, corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Thorndon
Lecture by Judith Binney Fellow, Dr Nepia Mahuika
A free public lecture by 2019 Judith Binney Fellow, Dr Nepia Mahuika.
A discussion about the Māori practice mākutu
Through a Western lens the Māori practice mākutu has too often been presented as witchcraft, being described by some as the ‘black arts’, ‘black magic, and ‘curses.’
Drawing on work for a forthcoming book on the history of mākutu in Aotearoa New Zealand, Dr Mahuika overturns simplistic perceptions of mākutu as ‘Māori witchcraft’.
Exploring connections that mākutu has to other indigenous peoples in the Pacific and abroad, the lecture challenges all New Zealanders to reimagine the way we see mākutu, bringing a deeper understanding to a topic that has often been misunderstood and sensationalised in novels, films and media reports.
The event will be followed by light refreshments.
About the speaker
Dr Mahuika was the inaugural Judith Binney Fellow in 2019 and is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Waikato, where he teaches courses in New Zealand History, specialising in Māori and Indigenous History. His Judith Binney Fellowship has supported the completion of a research project on the history of mākutu in Aotearoa / New Zealand.
Dr Mahuika is also president of Te Pouhere Kōrero, a broad collective of Māori colleagues interested in Māori history.
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
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