Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Tamariki in the Otago region are seeing Aotearoa’s night creatures through Māori eyes, thanks to a new project connecting kura with the mātauranga Māori (traditional knowledge) and science of moths.
“The project is called Ahi Pepe which means ‘fire moth’,” says Barbara Anderson, Ecologist at Landcare Research. “This represents us lighting a fire to draw in the moths.”
Ahi Pepe is linked to last year’s MothNet project, but Barbara and her team intentionally threw out the English field guides used before and started from scratch with a Māori focus.
Ahi Pepe was launched by getting schools across the Otago region to each send a handful of students to Orokonui Ecosanctury in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) to learn skills they can go back and pass on to their classmates.
The tauira learnt how to trap, identify and pin moths as well as how to set up an experiment where they would compare the types and number of moths caught in bushland, newly changed land and a control site.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
“I liked making the traps and seeing what kind of moths were going in the traps. My favourite moths are the green ones,” says 11-year-old Maia.
“The best part for me was pinning the moths – that was pretty cool. But I got stabbed a lot!” jokes Moka, 10. “I think looking at moths is really cool and I think other people would probably like doing it too.”
They also had fun setting up little 'tracking' experiments where peanut butter was put at the centre of a patch of ink on white card, so that they could see the footprints of animals that had eaten the peanut butter.
Most of the footprints were from mice but one group had a 'moth murder' crime scene, where a half-eaten moth was found amongst the footprints.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
A core component of the project – a collaboration between Landcare Research, The University of Otago, Orokonui Ecosanctuary and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu – is a series of booklets written in Te Reo Māori that focus on five whakataukī (proverbs) about moths and their life cycles.
“These are not translations,” Barbara points out. “It has been hard to get people to grasp that point. We’re doing it this way because we realised that there are extremely few science resources in Te Reo Māori in kura and those that do exist tend to be translations of English materials, which offer little context or connection to everyday life.”
Victoria Campbell (Kāi Tahu) tells us that she and her team at Kotahi Mano Kāika of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu provided quality Te Reo Māori and mātauranga for the learning resources as well as local cultural guidance for the project.
“My two sons attend Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti, which took part in the MothNet project and was supported by Kotahi Mano Kāika. This led to conversations about having Kāi Tahu input on developing the Ahi Pepe project,” she says.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with the project partners to produce these resources for our community.”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Tangiwai Rewi (Ngāti Tipā, Ngāti Amaru, Ngāti Tahinga) at Te Tumu, the University of Otago’s School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Students, is from the Waikato area and she tells us the highlight for her was hearing the Kāi Tahu stories about moths.
“Megan and Tahu Potiki (Kāi Tahu) told me that the big native moths that come out around the campfire are called ‘takata wairua’. This name refers to capturing the souls of those who have departed and return in moth forms and also to the sound these moths make.”
As well as mātauranga Māori, the students also learn about the science behind why these moths are important.
Despite there being 2000 species of moths in New Zealand, very little is known about them. But what we do know is that these moths are important in keeping our food sustainable: by pollinating the plants that produce it.
Barbara says that the more they explored how to do the project, they more they found they could weave the science, culture and language together, and how this made it more obvious why they were doing the science.
“The idea was that rather than introducing science as an alien concept, we would turn it around and tell the stories of the Moth first: the whakapapa of the moth, the connection of the moths to everyone and their place in the stars and their role in the ecosystem,” she explains.
“The idea is first to connect to the children and help them see the significance of moths, with the ultimate goal being to better understand, appreciate and take care of our native moths.”
Follow MothNet on Facebook and Twitter.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
About the project
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Ahi Pepe MothNet is supported by the Unlocking Curious Minds contestable fund.
You can find out about other projects funded through the Unlocking Curious Minds contestable fund here.
| Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  | Unlocking Curious Minds contestable fundUnlocking Curious Minds supports innovative projects nationwide that excite and engage New Zealanders. It has a focus on young people who have fewer opportunities to be involved with science and technology. Read more |