MILESTONES FOR MAPPING

Mapping Milestones for Mapping Oral Traditions & Histories

Milestone One: Obtain list of Names
Milestone Two: Set out Methodology & Workshop with Facilitators
Milestone Three: Workshops & Creation of Map Biographies
Milestone Four: Replicate & Store Raw Data
Milestone Five: Review Transcripts and Map Biographies
Milestone Six: Enter Oral Data into Database
Milestone Seven: Digitise Data & Produce Map Composites
Milestone Eight: Verify Draft Maps
Milestone Nine: Production of Final Maps



Milestone One: Obtain list of Names
Aim: Obtain a working list of custodians from the cluster to workshop with

Organise list of workshop-participants
Prioritise list
Assess length of time required (estimate) for each person
Preview area of expertise
Schedule time, date & location


Milestone Two: Methodology & Workshop with Facilitators
Aim: To introduce the Mapping of oral traditions Methodology to the facilitators
Facilitators are required to lay the groundwork between the researchers and the custodians of knowledge

Topics:
- Overview of Mapping Methodology (refer to milestones)
- NZMS 260 Topographical Maps
- Oral Information (Use & Occupation)
- Workshop Method

• Populate the NZMS 260 with the location of traditional information using labels (theme-by-theme or area-by-area)
• Enter the names with each location identified on the 260 map
• Record detail of the place/name in Minute book
• Record workshop (map of place/name) using Video
• Populate the ‘Database’ with oral information
• Convert video to DVD
• Scan the ‘final’ NZMS once all workshops concluded & Store

Milestone Three: Workshops & Creation of Map Biographies
Aim: To collect the Oral Histories & Traditions & create map biographies representing the oral information provided by each of the custodians

Resources:

• NZMS 260 (x4) copies that cover the entire claim area (x3 hardcopies & x1 digital)
• Any other supporting plans & maps of the claim area (Marine maps, Heritage maps, aerials etc)
• Lamination facilities
• Room with tables, sufficient lighting, power, wall space & storage space
• Labeller & labels (black on white, black on transparent, white on transparent)
• Minute book & other stationery (pencils, sharpies)
• Video Recorder & tapes (miniDV)& tripod
• Arc GIS

Method: Workshops
The oral information is captured in a workshop centered around a topographical map (NZMS 260 @ 1:50,000) of the ancestral territories. Workshops will focus primarily on collecting information about how the land was used and occupied. This information will be inserted directly onto the topographical map or onto a transparent overlay.

Land use activities involve harvesting traditional resources such as trapping of birds, hunting areas, taunga ika, and gathering plants, berries and other natural resources; this could also include any traveling routes to these places. We will record the location of where these activities occurred and any given names.

How the land was occupied refers to areas of continuous use, habitation, settlement, battles & sites of battles, naming of place, knowledge and control over such areas. It can also include stories and legends about places, ecological knowledge of the regions, and place names whilst habitation sites include kainga, wananga sites, battle sites, burial grounds, tauranga waka and so on.

Workshops will be conducted either: By ‘theme’, representing an area of expertise or block/region/hapu area/claim area

Themes: Battle sites, pa sites, wananga sites & other significant sites, ceremonial sites, ‘fishing’ grounds, harvesting areas, settlement areas, travelling routes, urupa, spiritual sites and so on

Summary of Workshop Methodology

• Populate the NZMS 260 with the location of traditional information using labels (theme-by-theme or area-by-area)
• Enter the names with each location identified on the 260 map
• Record detail of the place/name in Minute book
• Record workshop (map of place/name) using Video
• Populate the ‘Database’ with oral information
• [Convert video to DVD]

Milestone Four: Replicate & Store Raw Data

Aim: Backup all raw data.

How:
Scan the 260 maps that have been populated with information
Process & replicate the workshop recordings (video & minute book)


Milestone Five: Review Transcripts & Map Biographies

Aim: Review transcript and map biography data as required prior to
digitizing the raw data into an electronic format

Reason: To ensure consistency in data between the transcripts and the map biographies (260s)
Note any inconsistencies for later clarification and verification by the custodians.
All the ‘transcript’ data is coded in preparation for database entry


Milestone Six: Enter Oral Data into Database

Aim: Enter oral data from minute books & other recordings as required into database
Information:
Name, person submitting information, given English name, literal translation, meaning or story associated with place, feature type, distinctive features, activity type, primary source of information, other sources, NZMS ref, ref to oral map, CODE, layer, notes of explanation

Milestone Seven: Digitise Data & Produce Map Composites

Aim: Convert all oral data into an electronic format for inclusion into GIS

Liaise with researchers throughout the entire process & add data to map biographies as required

All the data collected from the custodians and placed on the 260s is converted via digitizing into an electronic format for manipulation using GIS software.

Once all the data from all the custodians is digitized into electronic form it is checked against the original 260s maps to ensure all the data is captured.

Data in electronic format can be stored, manipulated and combined in many ways to form a variety of maps from a composite of all the custodian information to separate maps that show the location of fishing grounds, food gathering sites, battle sites and so on.

A digital composite of all the data gathered from the custodians can be compiled.

New data can be added to GIS at any stage and combined with existing data to produce specific maps.

Eliminate any redundant data
(Several sources of information for the same feature)
Eliminate redundant information from the composite rather than the custodian layer


Milestone Eight: Verify Draft Maps

Aim: To verify the overall quality, presentation and completeness of the mapped information before final printing

How:
Conduct a workshop to verify the draft maps
Print off draft hardcopies for the custodians to verify
Verify the quality & completeness of each map
Ensure cluster is completely satisfied with the way the information is presented
Keep a record of all comments, and any data added to the maps


Milestone Nine: Production of Final Maps

Aim: Produce final maps as directed to support the final report



NOTES:
The Mapping Budget
The mapping budget is largely constrained by two factors:

1. The number of workshop-participants required to cover all aspects of the oral mapping
   
2. The number of final maps
   

The original mapping budget suggested a fund for the workshops to be video-recorded. This would have served several purposes:

• It would provide another level of quality control over the raw data during the checking process;
• It would streamline the workshop process by allowing the workshop-participants to proceed without being interrupted by the mapping specialist who would need to record, in writing, the detail of each item of information;
• It would then allow me to enter the information into a database directly from the video recording
• It would also provide an electronic copy of the raw mapping data; this is effectively a another means for ensuring the protection of the raw data besides the maps themselves
• Finally, it would provide valuable information that could form the basis of a cultural information database

Mapping budget should include:

• A separate up-to-date list of workshop-participants for the mapping part of the project
• An estimate of how 'long' they would require to workshop their information/knowledge/ korero
• An idea of their area of expertise whether by theme or region/area/block/claim etc
• Where they are located for logistical purposes
  
• The time-estimate will more than likely be based on the amount of information they have to share; this in turn may have a bearing on how we present their information once we have gathered the bulk of the information & hence the number of potential 'final' maps required to support the report

This above information will help me to finalise certain key budgetary aspects of the mapping project in the following way:

• Provide a dollar estimate on the time required to cover all workshop participants
• Provide an estimate of the time required to process the initial raw data provided by each workshop-participant
• Provide an estimate of the number of potential maps required for the final report (I stress estimate - the actual number of maps required will unfold as we gather the information and determine the best way to present the information. Density & volume of information will be the key components in determining this)
• Provide an estimate of the time required to convert the raw data for inclusion into GIS & for initial draft maps required for checking
• Other estimates can then be made on travel arrangements, accommodation, food, rental, space requirements, timing required for processing information and other relevant expenses

- Naaku noa -

T U R A N G A W A E W A E

Ka hui maua ko Steph

We spoke extensively about her trip to Taupo last month in Kohitatea (January). We both met up with Uncle Jim and Aunty Nola. She followed that up with a meeting with George Asher, Rangi Downs, Te Kanawa & Uncle Jim

What did we learn from Uncle?

Whakapapa: it boils down to whakapapa and how we connect to those who have passed on, those who are yet to come, those in the here and now AND it is about how we connect to our whenua, our land, our environment. It is how we draw from the environment, & how we reciprocate by looking after the mauri (the life force) of that entity – after all, to us it is Papatuanuku – SHE is Papatuanuku, the mother of all living!!

By way of explanation, whakapapa is what connects us all together. Whakapapa is about relationships with all living things & it is about frameworks for understanding the world we live in, the world we have inhabited, the world we will leave behind when we pass on!

But for today:

She is heading up to the Taupo region in mid-April where she will stay with her kids for three months odd; she will be staying in Motuoapa just north of Turangi.

The idea is to collect the narratives from kuia/koroua as well as the younger generation & canvass their ideas about indigenous values, making decisions based on those values, & align all that with the LTFT and how they drive their decisions.

She has set out her goals for what she wants to achieve from her Taupo-Hikoi – of course Hikoi is a word that has many connotations – in this respect it will be a journey wherein she is part of the waka (canoe) – in the middle not at the taurapa end. She will be ok

She has structure her approach quite well and her writing will probably take a similar approach. I refer to her use of the current trends in the literature, her analysis of that literature, the narratives and her analysis of those narratives.

Steph is also on her way to Darwin for a conference on Cultural Resilience! That should be good – you just need to relax, position yourself and where you come from, and weave the theme in with your own narrative!

Just to get back to those narratives: they, the narratives will represent a persons life experience with the land, their living memories; in this respect she is capturing something special, she is capturing not only their thoughts and korero, but also their feelings, their living memories and those that have been passed down from their ancestors. With this type of narrative (if there is such a thing as type of narrative) she will be collecting mauri or rather recording mauri or the life force imbued into the landscape from many generations of those who have occupied and used the region and its resources! Thus it has mana or a power-in-and-of-itself; these narratives or korero has mana; it has tapu or sacredness; it has wehi or respect; it is the well-spring of everything that makes us who we are! We are Tuwharetoa (24retoa),we are the people of the land, of that land of Taupo!

In saying this, she will need to interpret the narratives or korero in a way that will give the korero as it will be transcribed the mana and tapu it deserves.

She will need to position herself in the beginning of her PhD. What do I mean by that? She will need to describe her turangawaewae – where she stands, what her perspective. This will inform those who follow in her waewae or footsteps a sense for how she understood and presented her findings.

If you read her thesis, you will get out of it what you will

- Naaku noa -