Hui maua ko GLB

This sketch describes some of the significant places such as taunga ika (fishing spots),
harvesting areas for birds, permanent & temporary settlements, forestry areas.

Mauri ora koutou
I met with my supervisor earlier this afternoon

We discussed what i have coined as my 'cultural maps'

I talked about the procedure for developing the first set of cultural maps:
- identifying & defining the purpose of the maps
- selecting the oral works - i.e the narratives
- interrogating the narratives
- identifying the spatial components within the narratives
- sketching the information within the narrative in the order in which it unfolded
- developing an appropriate 'database' to store the data & metadata
- popuating the database with the narrative data

In the end, our korero identified the 3 stages of converting an oral asset into a spatial asset:
1. The Narrative
2. The Sketch of the narrative
3. The Cartographic Map of the narrative


The Narrative:
We looked at 4 moteatea with different themes & identified any reference to 'place'

Sketch
The sketch recorded any reference to place in the order in which the information unfolded from the narrative.
This 'format' would be easily understood by those who are familiar with the region & the narrative
The sketches did not record or attempt to display any spatial relationships between these places - it merely recorded the 'journey' described by the narrative


The Cartographic Map
The question that arose was: why would you need to convert the narrative into a conventional cartographic form?
If you want to communitcate with anyone outside the iwi, it would need to be in a format that they would be able to understand.
Some examples would be District or Regional Councils who are responsible for development in te area or even a Waitangi Claim over a rohe

What now?

- Design / Create a methodology for mapping oral assets

- Write the 'methodology' chapter

- Write the chapter re: translating an oral tradition into a spatial tradition - include the database

- See Charles re: fieldwork for PhD

- See Brian re: mapping of wahine

- Contract with CFRT [end of Nov]

- Re-draw the sketches to reflect the narrative

- Draw the old trails as per the taupara within MB Waiapu

- have a look for software for sketching to see if i can reproduce my original sketches in a format suitable for inclusion into the body of the cultural mapping chapter of my PhD

I am looking forward to heading to the North Island at the end of this month to look at some field work for reproducing some cultural / oral maps

- Naaku noa -
- H24 -

Te Kura Nui

-Nga mihi ki a koutou katoa -

A BONSAI called te kura nui!
Throughout the week just gone, the Otago Bonsai Society staged an exhibition at the community gallery - a BONSAI exhibition!! I went 3 times & i found the whole thing absolutely stunning! The shapes, sizes, colours, ages, arrangements were all just amazing!

From memory there were larch, spruce, maple, juniper, hornbeam?, & some native totara. I wish i had taken a camera! Ages ranged from 1949 - 2007; all shades of greens & some i have never seen before.

So, i registered for the workshop which finished just an hour or so ago.

We kicked off with a demonstration of wiring the tree by Jan - the expert in the Otago region
Then we chose our trees & went to a table to begin to make our first bonsai. I chose a totara which had no apex and tons of branches like the spokes of a wheel. Jan was the tutor at our table.

- I took off the old leaves and trimmed all the branches back by a third
- then i selected the branches to keep
- pruned all the branches that i did not need
- trimmed back the branches some more
- selected the branch for the apex and trimmed the other branches around it
- wiring: started from the bottom up - wired up all the branches & trunk with different sized branches depending on thickness of branch
- then selected the front
- bent the branches into shape
- trimmed some more
- 'created' the apex
- pulled the treee out of the plastic pot
- trimmed the root system
- selected a bonsai pot
- partly fille the pot with soil/gravel mix
- potted the tree slightly off centre & towards the back
- packed the pot with soil
- placed a rock & moss over the surface

When i got home i soaked the entire pot in water for about 15'
The i placed it outside in the shade near some trees

Thats my introduction to BONSAI
I also gave it name: te kura nui - because it is my first attempt, my first born so to speak

It is almost the end of spring here in Aotearoa - i need to water it quite frequently right through summer, give it some kai - BIOgold to help it grow!!

When i get my hands on a camera next week, i will put a picture up!!

Yesterday i grabbed some information from the internet and put together a PDF - great information!!

Whiringa-a-rangi FOCUS

REVISED PLANS: 14 WHIRINGA: FOCUS – CREATE MAPS + WRITE + DATABASE
1. Create a map
@Secure geographical maps / topo maps of the area
@Plot information
@Get data from NZGB & check names

- Tauparapara
@Get copies of MB information re: taupara
@Plot data
@dovetail into maps

2. Write about Cultural / Indigenous Mapping
@Framework – develop
@Process of interrogating moteatea & taupara
@Information management system
@Process of gathering oral information via interviews
@Describe what an Ancestral Landscape is
@What are the components that make up the Cultural Landscape?
@What is so different about these maps compared to conventional maps?

3. Finalise the Database
@Populate the Database with information from initial maps

4. Best practice FOR CULTURAL MAPPING


- naaku noa -
- H24 -

Cultural Mapping

He Mihi
Aku nui aku rahi, tena no koutou katoa
Ano ki a maua ko Ngarangi, ka timata te wetewete atu i nga pitopito korero e pa ana ki nga moteatea, oriori ranei i roto i nga pukapuka a Ta Apirana.

Katahi ka whakaarohia nga tauwhainga matua - ara, ka whakatu mai ra i te matu o ta maua nei tirohia whanui - ka tahi

Ka rua - ka whiriwhirihia nga momo moteatea kia tirohia rawatia - hei ta te mea tuatahi kei runga...

Ka toru - ka timata te wetewete korero!

Cultural Mapping
I headed up to Motueka a few weeks ago to meet up with Ngarangi. We began to wananga and piece together what we should do to produce some cultural maps!!

First we discussed what it was i wanted to achieve - it looked something like this:

AIM: to describe the spatial extent of CULTURAL SPACE
by translating ORAL ASSETS into SPATIAL ASSETS

How were we going to achieve our over-all AIM of describing the spatial extent of cultural space?
Quite simply, our approach was to look at the oral traditions of our forefathers & create a cultural map from the oral assets contained within Moteatea!!

In a nutshell: we identify the spatial assets with in the oral korero (traditions) & then we re-locate these into space - a bit like this below:- - - >

Initial Cultural Map depicting parts of an Ancestral Journey
as described by the moteatea

Some Definitions
What is the purpose of a cultural map?
The purpose of cultural maps is to describe the spatial extent of cultural space. Equally as important is to discover what cultural space is & how it can be described! But what about spatial extent? How important is spatial extent to a cultural map?

What is cultural space?
Cultural space can be defined as that collection of significant historical events related to place & people that leave the hint of a shadow or footprint on the landscape. This essentially defines the cultural identity of that group of people that inhabit the region.

What is spatial extent?
This is the geographical landscape and how it would look on a conventional map.
But for Indigenous peoples, spatial extent (in terms of cultural mapping) would be the shape of an 'ancestral landscape'. How would that look on a cultural map?

What is an ancestral landscape?
An ancestral landscape can be defined by the relationship which a cultural group has with the land. In other words, by how the group clothed the land with the 'fullness of their lives'. This cold be described as the footprints left by the ancestors.


So, this is how we created our cultural maps:
- First, we selected/identified moteatea (type of song) to work with (x4)

- Then we interrogate the information contained in moteatea

- From this process, we identify the 'references' to geographical place - or whenua

- these could be through whakapapa (ancestors) who inhabited a certain district

- or significant activities (such as harvesting, hunting, battles etc) related to place

- or the location/fixing of harvesting areas using the natural features of the earth

- temporary settlements or permanent settlements

- or actual significant 'markers' or 'features' of the heavens & earth- wet or dry

- and so on

In essence, we draw-out the 'references' to place, whakapapa & korero (information) related to each 'place'

- Then we create a 'map' on our A3 pad

- our task is merely to plot/fix each 'reference' to place

- our canvas is 'blank' - no grid lines, no coordinates, no roads, no cadastre, no topography

- at this stage there is no shape to the space - we plot the 'references' almost in the 'order' in which they appear in the moteatea

- we created a 'polygon' within which to fix/plot each 'reference' to place

- Hence we 'plot' each reference to place & add the name

- We then add information about each place, such as:
#Type of feature
#Description of that feature
# Main Activity in that place
# Any relevant whakapapa
# and so on

- we then add this cultural data to the database!


Ponderings
Each moteatea was described or drawn spatially with its own series of 'cultural maps'. These maps really had no 'shape' what-so-ever, contrasted with conventional maps which use a grid or coordinate system to give ‘body’ to the map and to display the spatial relationships of the geographical information.

The outcome of the initial drawings or 'cultural maps' were governed (in the first instance) by ‘how’ the cultural information unfolded in the moteatea right from the beginning to the end. In other words, we plotted the cultural information ‘literally’ in the order in it came in the moteatea.

Maps of this nature can only be understood fully by those who have an intimate knowledge of the area, region, events & people. One must be able to recite the moteatea and call the landscape to their mind! To call the landscape to the mind, you must have put your feet on the ground – not only does your mind require memory of place, but so do all your other senses. Your feet must feel the ground beneath, you must smell the air and feel the wind blow through you; you must also see the footprints left behind by the ancestors & taste the food of the earth.

This concept is encapsulated by the notion of turangawaewae – literally, a ‘standing place for the feet’ which, can only be achieved by those who can claim a whakapapa alliance with the people & the region.

The ability to re-call by memory the intimate details of moteatea is merely a single component of the oral database of information of a cultural map. Other components that enrich the maps are whakapapa relevant to the moteatea which provide historical context, and historical events & stories that enrich understanding and place each event in chronological sequence.


What about the spatial relationships within Cultural Maps?
Whilst conventional maps display spatial relationships between geographical objects, cultural maps display relationships between a person/group and the land they inhabit. This type of relationship is captured by the concept of tangata-whenua or 'people of the land' - this is essentially the link between people & the land they inhabit/inherit.

What is important in cultural maps are the inherent relationships that are forged between people/groups and the very environment that sustained their existence. The ancestral landscapes are an enduring record of their korero / histories. Koina


What now?
# the next step is to plot the geographical location of each 'place' or oral asset onto a 'base map' such as a topographical map

# this will 'define' the spatial relationship between each cultural asset

# then populate the database with all the information relevant to that 'place' or asset

# then find a way to link the oral database with the oral map

Ka tika

-- Naku noa --
-- H24 --

Taupo-Moana Ka pupuke te mahara!

Mauri ora e te whanau!
i am back in Taupo having arrived on Friday 31 October. I actually came up home to catch up with my father & spend some time with him - given that he is still recovering from the effects of an AORTIC BYPASS. About that - he is doing quite well!!

My Dad is involved with land trusts around the region & he has alot of information scattered around his whare (house) - as i was browsing through some of his documents, i came across a reference to a moteatea or rather a patere. This song contains references to places in the region stretching from Pohaturoa & Mokai (the northern boundary between Tuwharetoa & Raukawa) right down to Waitetoko (Te Rangiita) which is situated on the eastern side of lake Taupo!!


The song also contains whakapapa - genealogy of the region. To sum up, this patere is a typical method our ancestors used to store and preserve knowledge. The next thing for me is to track down an original copy of the patere and examine its contents, in much the same way i did when i was in Motueka a couple weeks ago.

I am thinking of creating a cultural map of the contents of that patere to show how our ancestors clothed the land with the sounds of their language & the colour of their culture!!

hei kona

- H24 -

Wananga

Mauri ora ki a koutou!

Ra Mere 17 Whiringa-a-nuku 2008

Christchurch to Motueka!
I drove to Motueka from Christchurch today along state highway 1, the east coast of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Motueka is on the other side of Nelson, at the top of the South Island. It is an absolutely beautiful drive along the Pacific Ocean otherwise known as Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the great ocean of Kiwa the navigator / Atua

A quick pit-stop in Kaikoura - and a quick visit to the lookout - then a kai stop and then off again. I stopped in to visit my neice Chloe & her baby Asher for a brief moment in Blenheim - it was so hot up there!!

Then i took a slow drive along the coastline to Nelson & then on to Motueka - absolutely stunning features clothe the land and seascaspe!

I arrived in Motueka just after 6:30pm & met with Ngarangi at the local marae down the end of Pah Street

He was with his nephew & a couple others.

We grabbed a mattress & headed out to Riwaka (Riuwaka) to his whare about 10 minutes out of town

Nice litte whare!!

He korero, he korero ano
I learnt a new arapa:

Tenei hoki te manawa ka ue, Tenei hoki te manawa ka pore
Ko taku manawa ka hoake mohou, te manawanui-o-Rangi
Ko Houtina, Ko Houtaiki, te ripia
rei ana, whaka-hotu-nuku, whaka-hotu-rangi
He roki, he roki taketake, te manu huru, te moana i rohia i
Hoatu to kauhau taniwha ki uta!
hiki kakau, hiki kakau, ro, ti, takotako, te uranga mai ki uta e!
Ka mau turuturu te rangi e Rongo, ka mau ko Tama
Ka whakaputa ki te whai ao ki te ao marama, he ora!!


That was the second leg of my hikoi (journey)

- naaku noa -
- H24 -

Hikoi ki runga i te mata o te whenua

Dunedin

Mauri ora ki a koutou

Ra Apa 15 Whiringa-a-nuku 2008
I left Dunedin on Wednesday morning at around 5am and headed up to Christchurch to meet up with Huia at TRONT. Awesome drive from Dunedin to Christchurch (South Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand) - around 300-400 odd kms along some stunning coastlines!!

Christchurch Square

The idea was to catch up with her about her mahi with GIS and their capturing place-names project. So when i arrived at the outskirts of Christchurch i decided to park my car there and head into town via the local bus.

I found the bus within 10' of parking and arrived into town at the exchange with around 10' to spare before my meeting started!. I was only 2 blocks away from Te Waipounamu House where Huia works - short walk along busy streets packed with tons of people!!

We jumped straight into our meeting after we grabbed a couple of glasses of water - long korero until around 1pm, then we grabbed lunch at a local eatery. It was then that i got to meet Takarei - the enthusiastic driver of the South Island-Place-names-program!!

Great korero - he invited me to stay for a couple of days and observe them in practice. They had a hui with local kaumatua on Thursday & mapping on Friday - unfortunately i was tied up!

The day was long starting at around 4:30am and finishing around midnight - i stayed in town with my Aunty and caught up with some much needed sleep before heading up to Nelson / Motueka!!
Huia @ work
Her advice:

- Set up the database first before you embark on capturing information
- Get a hold of the NZGB data of registered names
- Obtain the topo 260 series for the rohe: hardcopy & digital
- Get a hold of the TUMONZ or LINZ topo data
- Aerials - these would be quite useful
- Plot the data from NZGB
- Match / Check those with local knowledge
- Interview locals & plot their knowledge of place

Set out a budget for the following:
- Video camera & incidentals
- Digital recorder
- People to operate those items
- 10 hours of tapes for each person
- koha
- kai
- Hardcopy & Digital plans/maps 260s
- coloured dots
- Label maker
- a scribe
- people (2.5)

Set out procedures & protocols for "Managing the Information" including:
- Access to the online data
- Layers of information
- Restrictions to data/information
- Maintenance of the information system
- Initial & on-going training (GIS)
- Security
- Backup procedures
- Information system protocols & management

Procedure
- Design & build database
- Gather all the resources together in preparation for capturing data
- One person interview or one area/block/rohe at a time
- identify type of feature
- add a description
- place dot at that point on the map
- add place-name label
- record using: video, digital recorder & scribe
- add feature & information to database
- Digitise feature into GIS/Mapping system

Other:
- 4Gb RAM to run ARC-GIS well


- naaku noa -
- H24 -

October GOALS

Received some very good news today - unexpected good news that will help me progress towards my October GOALS!!

1. I found the GIS software - from the Surveying Department
2. Ngarangi answered my email requesting some time with him to develop a Cultural Mapping Series!!
3. My mate Quenten from Melbourne gave me the heads up about the possibility of developing software for Indigenous GIS!!
4. Met with Boua yesterday who talked to me about the rich heritage they have embedded in the cultural landscape. He spoke of the myriad of unique sounds that clothe the landscape & reflects the uniqueness of their language!!
   

Now all i need to do is:

1. organise a meeting with Huia for some in-house Indigenous GIS training
   
2. & organise a meeting with CFRT regarding the possibility of participating in a cultural mapping project

Nice
H24

kei te kimi noa!

Brother, i need some assistance and guidance for part of my PhD - this particular part is to do with Converting an Oral Tradition into a Spatial Tradition. In essence, i want to look at the components that make up moteatea and convert those components into spatial assets, thus providing me with a means of being able to represent that information onto a map/GIS! This will then allow me to see how the ancestral landscape was clothed using moteatea! I will then develop a series of MAPS - CULTURAL MAPS.

This part is the actual ngako of the entire thesis!

I will look towards creating a TEMPLATE for developing a series of LAYERS that will make up a series of CULTURAL MAPS:- as part of the Maps i will need to:

1. Develop or design a set of unique cultural icons, symbols or lines & shapes to represent these components
2. Look at ways of representing boundaries of "culturally significant areas" - [perhaps unique shapes, polygons]
   
3. Identify the significant layers of information & develop templates for each layer
4. Design a map legend that is appropriate to the information
   
5. Create a series of 'map biographies' that represent the korero in the moteatea
   
6. Find a way to represent/store the metaphors used in moteatea
7. Design a Map that appropriately represents the oral traditions that clothed the ancestral landscape
   

Naaku noa
H24

Mauheretia au ki te whenua!!

E aku rangatira, koutou e noho tonu nei ki runga i te whenua o to koutou tipuna!!

Kei te whiwhia mai au
Kei te rapa mai au
Kei te kimi mai au
ki te ara tauwhaiti, ki te ara kei waho
hei putanga ariki ki te whai ao ki te ao marama
tuturu, kia ruku, rurukutia
hei mauheretia au ki te whenua ki te mauri

mauri tu!

Addition to my PLAN

• I am going to track down my good mate Ngarangi and have a 2 or 3 day wananga with him about "how moteatea shapes & informs the ancestral landscape!!" In essence, create a Cultural Map based on the oral traditions contained within moteatea
  

• Look at specific examples of moteatea & create a database of cultural information
  

• Create Cultural icons, symbols, lines & so on to represent that information

• Create a Cultural Map

Ka tika

H24

Leap off the EDGE!

Mauri ora ki a koutou katoa!

I had a hui (meeting) with Steph Rotarangi this morning from 10-11:15am odd to discuss some aspects of her PhD - you remember her from a couple of posts ago --- anyway, i bumped into one of her supervisors last week on Monday who suggested (with some insistence from Lorraine) that i become her (Steph's) cultural supervisor - loosely of course

So, we sat and had a korero (talk)with our bottles of water. Just to regurgitate: the idea is to get her ready to leap off the edge:- it was Ray Bradbury that said -

"First you jump
& you build your wings
on the way down"

• Start a BLOG - create a profile for you - one which we can get out to the community
• Your supervisors can check in on your progress whilst they are in the field
• I can pop in and check up on you (i will subscribe to your blog)
• You can get your "profile" out to the community
  
• Your First Post: should cover you & your family & perhaps your journey to the point where you took a leap into the abyss known as the PhD
• Your Second Post: Your background, your CV, your professional development, your academic journey
  
• Your Third Post: Talk about why you are doing your PhD - the korero you & i had this morning about how the timing & circumstances just fell into place for you -
  
• look at your proposal - & the burning questions that urged you towards applying for a PhD (take a look at your proposal for FoRST)
  

• Your Fourth Post: how about some background to your thoughts on the Forestry industry? Lets develop your thinking around a framework?
  

• Then we can take it from there - but lets find your voice & develop that so that our people get a sense of who you are as a person first, before they get an idea of who your are as an academic

Apart from that:

• Go for a hikoi across Tongariro with your whanau
  
• Pick yourself up a rock and bring it home for you
• Get yourself a Rewana bug
• learn to keep it alive during the duration of you PhD
• Get yourself a Native Tree and look after it

ps: i will get an email off to Tia

Hei kona
H24

FORWARD PLANNING for the next QUARTER!

First things FIRST

• I need to arrange for some deferral - still waiting for a reply from Graeme
• Set out my COMPLETION STRATEGY for previous chapters
• Set in place my plan for the next QUARTER
  

OCTOBER 2008: Focus on preparation for Cultural Mapping Model

o Meet with researchers regarding a mapping project

o Discuss the overall plan of approach

o Set milestones in place

o Set Out research & mapping schedule

o Meet with GIS consultants for mapping training [ARC-GIS]

o Develop cultural icons, symbol, and shapes to represent each layer of information

o Determine layer information & representation

o Discuss how to link with base-maps

o Determine best practice skills & procedures

o Develop the framework for a Cultural Practice Guideline

o Discuss presentation of Cultural Information

o Acquire GIS Software [see Department]

November 2008: Develop Cultural Mapping Series & Appropriate Guidelines

o Draw up a Cultural Map Series illustrating Cultural Assets

o Develop Cultural Icons for illustrating Cultural Assets

o Develop “Cultural Base-Maps” at appropriate scales

§ Layers of Cultural Information

§ Examples of how to represent information

o Write up Cultural Mapping Guideline – “how to” - Map Cultural Assets

o Compile Report detailing Procedures for Best Practice (see Chief Kerry Moose)

o This is the “how to” – Research Approach

Write up CHAPTER on CULTURAL MAPPING

December 2008: Focus on Completing Previous Chapters
Still thinking about what this looks like but...

• Set aside 20% of my time during the quarter to focus on completion strategy for previous chapters
• Allocate 80% of time during the first two months to completing the Cultural Mapping Chapter & Model based on the Case Study
• Complete planning and post here

Naaku noa

H24

Me nekeneke, me nukunuku

A couple of things i want to share:

I just received an email from Huia who is a cartographer with a local firm - she uses Arc-GIS as part of her tools and skill sets. She has just invited me up to have a look at what she does, and how she does it - the skills that set her apart are the fact that she is Maori & is interested in Maori Cartography and the whole gamut & range of knowledge that is part and parcel of her world view.

Second: Otago University was host to an interesting young lady from Alaska, a FullBright Scholar, PhD Student, who is in New Zealand at Auckland University for a year. I went to her seminar on Monday afternoon - great talk on Worldview and how it informs & influences our approaches to applying Indigenous ways of being and what that means in our areas of interests. She also gave me a book by Oscar Kawagley - Yupiaq Worldviews




# so, my plan will be to head up to see Huia and get some tips to help me with my Cultural Mapping section of my PhD
# Browse through the book that Malia gave me - Yupiaq Worldview by Oscar Kawagley

Naaku noa
H24

- - B A C K on T R A C K - -

Teenei taaku ki a koutou - nga mihi!!

I have been feeling a little bit 'lost' or rather 'distracted' - my father had an AORTIC BYPASS about 6 odd weeks ago. My family gathered at Waikato Hospital whilst he was in Intensive Care (ICU) (about 3 weeks) and took turns watching over him until he was released into the vascular ward (about 1 week). From there he went down to Rotorua for about a week then to Taupo where he is currently.

He is doing well or rather - he is doing much better!!

My mind has been on family matters since the end of July!!

However, i am back in Dunedin and looking to get myself back on TRACK with the PhD!!

First things first:
@ review my overall plan for the balance of the year
@ Focus on completing 3-4 chapters (say 80%) for my supervisor to look at by the end of the year
@ Get a copy of ARC-GIS and look at drawing up some 'cultural maps' which reflect aspects of moteatea
@ Set the framework in place for the Case Study: Cultural Mapping

This will cover the last quarter for the year!!

In Addition:
# Look at an income for this period of time & into the new year
# Set out my goals for the first semester of 2009
# Complete and hand-in my PhD by end of first semester 2009

Mauri ora, mauri tipu
H24

- - - Define my T A R G E T S - - -

"The greater danger for most of us
is not that our aim is to high & we miss it
but that it is to low and we reach it"
- - - Michelangelo

The next thing to do is to - - - Define my Targets - - -
I like to know what I am aiming at - relate this point to my thesis or overall argument
I am a very visual person and need to see my target clearly - this helps me to be focused
If i can articulate what I am trying to achieve (i.e my thesis or argument) - then i can create my road-map to reach my targets

For me it is about asking the right questions

Quality of the questions create a quality outcome

So, for the current chapter:

Translate an oral tradition into a spatial tradition

Mauri ora
H24

- - - the F I R S T S T E P - - -

A few days ago i received an email from a PhD student asking me if we could meet. So, we met on Wednesday when i got back into town. I found out that she was fresh - first year - so we talked about how to approach some aspects of her preparation. In the end i shared this with her:

• Organise a kaumatua committee to keep her culturally safe
• Get involved in the community, particularly with the kohanga her children attend
  
• Start a journal - perhaps even an on-line journal in the form of a BLOG. I could then pop in on her from time-2-time
• Develop significant relationships (cultural, academic, peer etc) to help her on her journey

Then i gave her some names to follow up with
After a couple days of reviewing what i told her, i decided to start my own BLOG

The idea for this BLOG is to track my journey. - - - - How do i do that? - - - -

• set my goals out and track my progress - ON-LINE
  
• hold myself accountable by reviewing my progress - ON-LINE
• clear my thinking and record my thoughts - ON-LINE
• help me to write by committing to this journal
  

Charles Kettering sums it up nicely when he said:

"Believe & Act
as if it were impossible to fail"

H24

- - - Keep a journal or a BLOG - - -

- - Journey of a thousand miles - -

Mauri Ora ! !
A journey of a thousand miles . . .






Well, my first post - and i am going to begin with a quote that encapsulates the objective of my BLOG from the legendary underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau:

"If a man for whatever reason
has an opportunity to lead an extraordinary life
he has no right to keep it to himself"


Aotearoa-New Zealand

ko au, ME!!
I am in my final year of my PhD, at Otago University, Dunedin, Aotearoa-New Zealand

Clock Tower, Otago University

Of course you might have heard of our country as 'Rugby' mad - the ALL BLACKS !!

The All Blacks in full flight!!

OR more recently you may have heard of Valerie Vili who won the GOLD medal for the women's shot put at the recent OLYMPIC GAMES in Beijing China


Well, thats my country!!

My Long Journey
My PhD has been a very long journey consisting of many 'ups-&-downs' - the sort that defines who you are, and tests the mettle of your character - but hey, who hasn't had that? Its called "so what!!"

But just to bring you up-2-speed
I am primarily in the INFORMATION SCIENCE department with one foot in the MAORI department at Otago University

So, about my PhD
Well, my PhD is concerned with how 'oral traditions' may/can be represented on or in GIS - Geographical Information Systems. GIS is simply a very powerful database with the capacity for representing that information in a graphical fashion - it can draw some very interesting MAPS that represent the database of information - and then some!

What does that mean?
The final chapters will take the oral information of an oral society - namely Maori - and create a cultural map of that information - thus mapping the cultural extent of their cultural space

The epic poem, the illiad written by Homer the blind - represents his recollection of the Battle of Troy. There are some 'discussions' about where that battle took place - was in Greece/Turkey or was it somewhere else? If we interrogate the poem, we should be able to locate its lands of origin.

Likewise, if i took an epic poem known to Maori as a moteatea, i should be able to trace its origins and create a link between the people and the land of origin.


So, that is what i am working on!!

H24

- - - begins with a single step - - -