I’ve mentioned before that at the University of Auckland – New Zealand’s most prestigious university – every student has to take a compulsory course related to indigenous knowledge, a course supposedly related to their field of study. In reality, these courses are exercises in propaganda, designed to indoctrinate students into the sacralization of indigenous “ways of knowing.” As an example, I gave this course, which is required for all science majors. Click to access the course description, which I went through a while ago (see link above).
Now I’ll be on a radio show in New Zealand next week (stay tuned!), talking about the ideological distortion of science in that country, and it’s a great chance for me to share my thoughts with Kiwis without the fear of being punished. To prepare for the show, I have a pile of things to read and review, and, apart from the whalebone/kauri gas meat I described earlier, I managed to catch the syllabus for this course. (Of course it came from an anonymous New Zealander; they are too afraid to reveal personal information on this site.) You can listen to this podcast on related issues and this 140-page report on the “culture of fear” among New Zealand academics Re is necessary to explain why all my correspondents insist on remaining anonymous. In that country you will lose your job if you even raise your voice to contest the academic Zeitgeist.
The curriculum is actually frightening in its “progressive” authoritarianism and neglect of real science in favor of ideology. I can’t find the tutorial online (I got it from someone who wishes to remain anonymous), but I’d be happy to send a pdf to those who request it. Here is the syllabus title:
If you read the course description, you will see that it is primarily designed to embed students in the Treaty of Waitangi (1840) (Maori: “Te Tiriti o Waitangi”) as a way of showing that Maori ways of knowing, or Mātauranga Māori (MM), should be considered equal to modern science. This, in turn, is part of a push to insinuate indigenous ways of knowing into New Zealand science, as well as to give Maori greater power over what science is done and how it is done. (For my criticisms of this approach, see the many pieces I have written about it.) The general view of the indigenous people of New Zealand is that Maori have sole the power to use and control how indigenous knowledge is used. This is in contrast to modern science, in which no ethnic group has control over the projects that are made or funded.
I will just give some highlighted extracts from the syllabus. Remember, of course Wanted for all science majors at Auckland Uni. I’ll have to provide screenshots as copy-paste doesn’t work well. Look for the 15 page pdf if you want to see it.
Here we go:
The rest of the parts below are from the course schedule. A whole week, the second, is devoted to the Treaty of Waitangi. “What does this have to do with science?” you ask. Good question! See below. “Aotearoa” is the Maori term for New Zealand, and woe to anyone who forgets to use it when referring to their country. Note the emphasis on the importance of “place,” which we will discuss shortly.
like Wikipedia notes, about a term below, “Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei or Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei is a hapū (sub-tribe) Māori based in Auckland in New Zealand.” Again, the relationship to science eludes me, but the relationship to ideology is clear. The emphasis on “place” for science is very skewed, since science should be pretty much the same no matter where it’s done. But the reason is clear: science (eg MM) done in New Zealand is thought to be critically different from science done elsewhere. In reality, the place where science is done, unless the object of study is in a particular place, is irrelevant. And the place where the science is done has no effect HOW science is practiced, even if you are doing fieldwork in a particular place, say, Alaska.
Ah, my favorite topic, “knowledge systems” pops up:
Note that MM is characterized as a “knowledge system”. This is untrue. There is some empirical “knowledge” out there, but it is mostly based on trial and error, is specific to New Zealand (where and when to gather berries or catch eels), and is fueled and guided by myth, as in the kauri tree/research of whales. In that case, based on Maori mythology, people are trying to play whale songs and say Maori prayers to dying kauri trees. in mass of an oomycete infection, and rubbing sperm whale oil and crushed bone on the logs. This is based on a mythological belief about the relationship between whales and kauri trees so ridiculous it defies belief (see here and here).
And, as I’ve discussed endlessly, MM is more than just “knowledge”: it includes superstition, mythology, religion, guidelines for behavior, morality, and oral traditions. If you consider such things “knowledge,” then there are a large number of competing and conflicting “knowledge systems” in the world, each corresponding to the views of indigenous people in a different area. But of course there is only one form of modern science. Chemistry, for example, is understood and practiced in the same way by chemists around the world.
Another book appears in Week 7: the weaknesses of modern science:
This needs no comment; I’ve discussed it before and it’s mostly science-discussion.
But wait! Course not completed yet! They have not yet moved past the value of narrative and storytelling in science communication. Remember, this course is taking up time that could be used to learn the science itself. “Pūrākao” is “story” in Māori:
Finally, in the penultimate week, science majors should learn more about the Treaty of Waitangi:
Now what is the importance of “Te Tiriti” with science? There isn’t one, really, since the treaty was signed in 1840 and its main goals are outlined in place History of New Zealand (excerpt below). Note that not all Maori tribes signed this treaty and its interpretation is still a matter of dispute:
The treaty is a broad statement of principles on which the British and Maori made a political compact to establish a nation state and build a government in New Zealand. The document has three articles. In the English version, Maori cedes sovereignty of New Zealand to Britain; Maori give the Crown an exclusive right to buy the lands they wish to sell and, in return, are guaranteed full ownership rights to lands, forests, fisheries and other possessions; and Maori are given the rights and privileges of British subjects.
The Maori treatise was thought to convey the meaning of the English version, but there are important differences. Most importantly, the word ‘sovereignty’ was translated as ‘kawanatanga’ (governance). Some Maori believed they were relinquishing government over their lands but retaining the right to manage their own affairs. The English version guaranteed ‘undisturbed possession’ of all their ‘property’, but the Maori version guaranteed ‘tino rangatiratanga’ (full authority) over ‘taonga’ (treasures, which may be inviolable). The Māori understanding was at odds with the understanding of those negotiating the Crown Treaty, and while Māori society valued the spoken word, the explanations given at the time were perhaps as important as the wording of the document.
Different meanings of the Treaty have long been the subject of debate. Especially since the 1970s, many Maori have demanded that the terms of the Treaty be respected. Some have protested – marching on Parliament and occupying land. There have been studies of the Treaty and a growing awareness of its meaning in modern New Zealand.
Why, then science graduates are being force-fed a heavy dose of the Treatise, which seems to belong in an Aotearoa New Zealand history course? It is not absolutely clear, but making science majors teach this rigor is clearly part of the effort, promoted by both Māori and non-Māori activists, to ensure that MM is taught alongside regular science in the classroom. But again, what does this have to do with the Treaty? My best guess is that because the treaty was an exchange of privileges between Maori and Europeans (called “the Crown”), Māori “ways of knowing” should have equal representation in the classroom. That is, MM, which is seen as indigenous science, should be taught as if it were as useful as modern science.
This of course comes from postmodernism, which denies the existence of objective knowledge and sees “knowledge” as the result of competing and difficult viewpoints, with the more powerful group whose viewpoint is more widely disseminated. Thus, MM is in a power struggle with modern science. The Treaty is the rationale that supposedly gives the MOE power, although of course there is nothing about education systems, much less about “ways of knowing” in the Treaty.
Many feel that postmodernism is also a major source of DEI initiatives, and while I will not weigh in on this, it is clear that this course is designed to inculcate scholars with the ideology that not only are Māori victims of colonization (and yes, historically they were oppressed), but they are STILL victims of colonization and must assert their presence by teaching their way of knowing in the classroom. And it is taught not only as sociology, anthropology or history, but as true continuous science,
The whale/cow story illustrates everything that is wrong with this initiative and everything that is wrong with this course. It grounds empirical inquiry partly in mythology, diverts scientific inquiry into dead ends, and, above all, takes away time that students could be using to learn. true science, not mythology or country-specific information about when berries should ripen. Many of New Zealand’s universities are primarily funded by the high tuition fees charged to foreign students, particularly those from Asia. If you were a parent who wanted to give a child a good science education, could you honestly look at the curriculum above (again, this is a required science course) and want to send your child to the University of Auckland?
Needless to say, the indigenization of the science curriculum is happening not only at the University of Auckland, but across the country of New Zealand/Aortearoa. It’s a shame, because the long-term results of this misguided policy are predictable. Anyone who wants to study science seriously will leave the country, and those who remain will be confused about what science really is.
Oh, and I’ll add, as a coda, that these things are already very much underway in Canada, and have been felt in the US as well. Of course, the “ways of knowing” that are pushed in these countries are different from those in New Zealand. But the drive for indigeneity is much the same everywhere.