Expressing the Unseen: Representing Māori heritage in Wellington

Abstract

The New Zealand Company purchase of Māori land in 1839 and the subsequent settlement of Wellington saw a radical change in the landscape. Parallel to the alienation of Māori land was the removal of landscape features such as the series of streams that ran from the surrounding hills to the harbour. The culverting of the waterways meant both a loss of a vital resource for Māori as well as a loss of cultural and spiritual connection to the land. The current representation of Māori heritage in Wellington acts as a continuation of the colonisation of Wellington. It extends the removal of Māori culture and understanding of the landscape by imposing a European tradition of standing and looking to read the heritage of the sites. In contrast to this, engaging with a Māori understanding of the landscape can allow landscape architecture to revive these lost waterways in the urban landscape and cause the city to recognise the significance of the land to Māori. This proposition not only challenges the current state of the representation of Māori heritage, but also the understanding that stormwater infrastructure needs to quickly and efficiently remove water from the city. With reference to a series of proposed design interventions in Wellington, this thesis will explore how engaging Māori perceptions of water can begin to shift the current dominance in the city of Pākehā modes of viewing and experiencing the landscape. The design proposes a reprioritisation of the city and creation of a modern kaitiakitanga that strengthens Māori identity and investigates the place of natural systems and Māori heritage in urban Wellington.