16 April 2007 Harmonising culture and environment in a changing world

Lincoln graduate Craig Pauling is the sort of bloke to be envied. Living in Aotearoa New Zealand he’s got ancestry in both main population groups, Māori and Pakeha, and while he didn’t always know about his Māori side, now that he does he says the combination of the two is “definitely special” to him. 

Ancestral connection to the tangata whenua of the region in which he lives gives Craig an acute awareness of who he is and the ancient stake he and his people have in Canterbury.

And, with the modern Māori renaissance, typified by Ngai Tahu’s commercial, social and cultural vitality, it helps him know where he’s going.

The genealogical journey of self-discovery “came in a rush”, he says. It was in his first year at University when he was doing Māori studies papers as part of his Bachelor of Resource Studies degree. Ngai Tahu’s respected kaitiaki whakapapa (guardian of genealogy) Dr Terry Ryan provided the help and soon Craig was able to locate himself within the vast family of Ngai Tahu, Kati Mamoe and Waitaha.

“Finding out is one thing, but being able to learn from it and do something about it is another,” says Craig, and he believes he will never stop learning about what the connection means to him. “It’s a lifelong journey,” he says.

Craig is also Ngati Mutunga, with his great-grandmother being from the Chatham Islands as well as being of English and Scottish descent – and he’s proud of this genealogy too. The Pauling name has been connected with the Ashburton, Leeston and Kilinchy areas of Mid-Canterbury since the 1850s.

The former Aranui High School prefect first considered engineering as a career, then “discovered resource studies in a university brochure” and knew it was for him. 

Enthusiastically he threw himself into his Lincoln University studies and a wide range of campus activities such as the Students’ Association, the Wilderness Community and kapahaka.

“University is such a special place that I wish everyone could have the chance to experience it,” he says.

Craig graduated BRS in 2000 and was Senior Scholar in his year. The degree’s focus on inter-relationships between the ecological, social and economic aspects of the environment and its multi-disciplinary approach to policy formulation and analysis, planning and management, prepared him well for working in the post-claim settlement era of Ngai Tahu and the re-emerging role in the affairs of Otautahi, Te Waipounamu and Aotearoa.

Like many Lincoln graduates in specialist areas he was interviewed and given a job offer before he had even finished his studies.

“I started work just a week after I had completed my final exam after being interviewed while still doing my last bit of study.”

That was at the end of 1999 and Craig started as Fisheries Negotiations Officer, then becoming an environmental policy/research officer for Kaupapa Taioa, at Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu with responsibilities for developing tribal environmental policy and facilitating research that protects, enhances and allows for the sustainable use and protection of the natural resources within the South Island that are important to Ngai Tahu.

Today, after some time at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, he has returned to Ngai Tahu’s Toitu Te Whenua unit as an Environmental Advisor and is currently focused on environmental aspects of some of Ngai Tahu’s commercial activities. Right now he’s concentrating on the area previously the site of the King Edward Barracks in Central Christchurch where Ngai Tahu plan to build a new office premises for when they move out of the lease-hold Te Waipounamu House in Hereford Street.

“Specifically my job is to investigate cultural and environmental issues associated with the new site and ensure alignment and consistency with the policy, aspirations and experience of the tribe in resource management areas.

“The sourcing and use of water, for example, and the discharge of waste water and other waste materials are particularly important.

“We are also conscious of our closeness to the Otakaro or Avon River and the former pa of Puari situated near the modern day High Court, and its important role historically for Ngai Tahu in terms of mahinga kai our use of species for sustenance and trade. The river was once a rich source of eels and other native freshwater fish and we want to acknowledge and remember that and the importance of such places to our ancestors. Our cultural values don’t allow us to forget these sort of considerations. We think this is important for the whole community to know too.”

Matters of mahinga kai feature prominently in Craig’s role with Ngai Tahu. He administers a fund for the long-term restoration of species that once flourished in Te Waipounamu such as the kereru on Banks Peninsula, tuna or eels at Wairewa (Lake Forsyth), patiki (flounders) in Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere), Titi or mutton birds up and down the coast as well as the recently reintroduced weka.

“A lot of these species and the ecosystems they rely on are in a poor state and that’s not good in terms of the concept of mahinga kai. These species gave us life in the past as well as an ongoing identity – they are what our reo (language) and culture are largely based on. While today we have access to other sources of sustenance, the disappearance of these species has a significant impact on us in terms of our culture and identity and that’s one of the reasons why this restoration work is important.” 

The restoration of species will be one of the main environmental focusses of our people in this generation, he says. It’s a clear goal and Craig says he feels privileged to be going in that direction with his people. 

“I’m also working on an environmental monitoring and reporting tool for our people to help us gather data on the health of our environment and this will help us understand the impact our restoration work may have.”

Outside of work, but related to it, Craig is pursuing further academic study and is enrolled in a masters' degree at Lincoln University while balancing the responsibilities of being a new parent, with his partner Janyne, to their daughter Mihiora (2 1/2years) and their son Meihana (1 year).