Plants of place and identity – in conversation with mana whenua
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How can landscape architects support decolonisation or Indigenisation of urban public space?
Are there benefits for mana whenua of prioritising particular plants in urban spaces?
These questions are the focus of the timely research of Maria Rodgers, a PhD candidate at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. Rodgers has had conversations with iwi from Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika a Maui, mana whenua of inner-city Wellington Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Mana whenua signalled that there is value for them in particular plants being planted in urban public spaces.
Maria Rodgers is keen to hear from landscape architects currently practising in Aotearoa New Zealand as part of this research. There is a link to a survey here and at the end of the article (along with the opportunity to go into a prize draw).
The New Zealand Parliamentary Library with hybrid tea rose bed, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. (All photographs by Maria Rodgers)
Well into the 1900s, Pākehā settlers, in their desire to feel ‘at home’ in a new country, planted plants from ‘home’, often Britain or Europe. This led to the current situation where urban public spaces typically have a high proportion of non-native plants.
An example of this is the inner city of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Here, according to the Wellington City Council (WCC) GIS Tree Data 2022, 43% of street trees are non-native or exotic and these continue to be planted. Only 20% of the street trees are plants that naturally occurred in the area in the past, termed by Rodgers ‘plants of place’. In the inner-city areas, the percentage is slightly more, at 26%.
Exotic street trees, Victoria Street, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Past and ongoing injustices have disconnected Māori from their land. Māori see themselves reflected in the landscape and te taiao (the natural world); “land is not merely a resource, but a fundamental and intrinsic aspect of one’s being”. This is lived out in many ways, including through te reo Māori (the Māori language).
Māori are tangata whenua (people of the land) and the word for land and placenta is the same - whenua. Te taiao being part of Māori identity is expressed in pepeha (formal personal introductions), which link “land and people into a whole in such a way as to make them inseparable”. Pepeha include elements of the landscape, such as mountains and forests, that the individual in kinship relationships connects to. In conversation, Liz Mellish (Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui) explained that the Māori view of te taiao, the environment, is different from the Western view, stating that, “for us it includes us”.
The process of colonisation has mostly erased te taiao, intrinsic to Māori identity, from urban areas where 85% of Māori live. Many plants growing in the urban public realm in Aotearoa New Zealand continue to be representative of our colonial history. Mana whenua spoken with identified with the words of Hirini Matunga (Kāti Māmoe, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu and Rongowhakaata), that a critical issue for Māori in cities “has been finding a space to belong, and a place to be at home, in a place that was originally your home, but which is now foreign territory”. The pursuit by settlers to feel at home through surrounding themselves with familiar plants may now mean that tangata whenua don’t feel ‘at home’.
Waitangi Park with ‘plants of place’ growing in lower level, Wraight Athfield Landscape + Architecture, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Embracing te taiao through nature-based solutions is becoming a more common response to climate change.
Increasing vegetation is part of this because plants can reduce the urban heat island effect through shading, and cooling streets and façades by up to 3.5◦C. Vegetation can increase permeable soil surface, direct interception and water infiltration, which slows stormwater flows, reducing flooding, and altering or removing pollutants. Plants sequester and store carbon. Trees used as windbreaks protect buildings from cold winds which reduces energy consumption used for heating. Research shows the benefits of planting in our urban spaces can go beyond the well-known climate and ecological benefits and build on links between environmental and human wellbeing, however. The key question is which plants should they be?
What does the importance to Māori identity of te taiao mean when thinking about which plants should be prioritised in our urban public spaces in Aotearoa? Perhaps the benefits of this planting could go beyond ecological, climate and wellbeing benefits and contribute to social justice? Can these choices contribute to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi for example? Native vegetation is valued and treasured by tangata whenua. Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi requires that taonga are protected so they can be passed on from generation to generation.
Michelle Thompson Fawcett (Ngāti Whatua) and Callum Riddle write that, for Māori, “being able to recognise your identity in the city is critical”. As stated above, Matunga considers that a critical issue for Māori in cities is having “a place to be at home”. Kara Puketapu-Dentice (Te Āti Awa, Ngāi Tuhoe) has spoken of the importance of reflecting the whakapapa of a place and of ensuring that mana is enhanced in our urban areas.
Mana whenua Rodgers spoke with talked of how plants, as well as other elements in public space, help them be at home and recognise their identity, and also reflect whakapapa and enhance mana. Kura Moeahu (Ngā Ruahine, Te Āti Awa, Taranaki –Tuturu, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Toa) agreed that plants, “do give a sense of belonging, they do give a sense of identity”. For Holden Hohaia (Ngāti Maruwharanui, Ngāti Haumia - Ngāti Tūpaia ki Te Aro, Te Atiawa-Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika), particular plants help him be at home and recognise his identity. They are, “plants that have been confirmed as being locally prevalent at the time my ancestors were thriving. Or shall I say, prior to colonisation”.
Other preliminary findings of the research indicate that designing with ‘plants of place’ is in line with the values and wishes of mana whenua. Hohaia said, “if you want to re-establish the ahi kā of Ngāti Haumia and Ngāti Tupaia, you'd re-establish the plant and ecosystems that were here when we were prevalent on the whenua”.
The Karaka Grove, a cultural keystone species, Wraight + Associates, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Planting cultural keystone species is also in line with Taranaki Whānui values and wishes.
Cultural keystone species is a term that refers to species which have exceptional significance to a group of people and are a key feature of a community’s identity. For Māori, there are plants that are so significant they were taken to areas where they were not endemic and planted. Karaka are prized because they are a food source and are an example of a cultural keystone species. Liz Mellish said that karaka groves, “are immediately markers that it's a place of significance to Māori”. Morrie Love (Te Atiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui and Ngāti Tama iwi of Taranaki) said old karaka are, “practically footsteps”; old karaka groves around the coast of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, for example, at Karaka Bay on the Miramar peninsula, are signs of kāinga and pā.
Whairepo Lagoon, with ‘plants of place’, Wraight + Associates, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Love considers that plants are part of being able to read a cultural landscape and that reinserting original plants back into the landscape, such as kahikatea to the floor of the Hutt Valley, would help people understand their own history. Being able to harvest and use the plants in public spaces would also be a good thing.
Love gave the example of pīngao which is used for raranga (weaving); “its heritage value is being able to use it”. Regarding ‘plants of place’ in our urban areas, Love and Mellish both consider that a wider variety of ‘plants of place’ should be used in our urban spaces. Hohaia considers that, “Plants that were prevalent locally ... would be more mana enhancing”. Regarding exotic trees in our cities Puketapu-Dentice stated: For me, an ideal world would be, as those trees start to fall away, that we start to actively replace these trees, with our own native trees. And we start speaking more to Aotearoa, to this place, to who we are. And then, with those trees comes the fauna, and all those other bits, that rely on this interconnected ecosystem that's tied together.
Mana whenua were asked how non-Māori landscape architects could contribute to decolonisation or Indigenisation. Two common themes emerged: having conversations with mana whenua and working in partnership. When asked if ‘plants of place’ would be a part of Indigenised urban public space, Terese McLeod (Taranaki Whānui), said “I don't know how they could not be”.
There has recently been a welcome shift in landscape architecture in Aotearoa towards working with mana whenua in the design of public space, rather than for them, and to ‘plants of place’ being increasingly specified. However, exotic species are still widely used. In Te Whanganui-a-Tara for example, Lomandra species are planted instead of locally native grasses, and there are newly planted exotic street trees.
Recent planting including alders and Lomandra species, Cuba Street, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Making cultural keystone species and ‘plants 0f place’ part of urban public spaces can contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, to decolonisation efforts, to spatial justice, and to environmental justice. It can also build on the well documented links between ecological and human wellbeing and increase place identity. Puketapu-Dentice stated that, “plants play a critical role in reaffirming that connection to place”.
For me, an ideal world would be, as those trees start to fall away, that we start to actively replace these trees, with our own native trees. And we start speaking more to Aotearoa, to this place, to who we are. And then, with those trees comes the fauna, and all those other bits, that rely on this interconnected ecosystem that's tied together.
Hohaia considers that, “what we plant moving forward should be native, should be endemic, should be unique to this place”. ‘Plants of place’ can help us all, Māori, Pākehā and Tauiwi, feel ‘at home’ and rooted in this place.
Ngā Mokopuna, Tennent Brown Architects and Wraight + Associates, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Celebrating te taiao through prioritising plants of place and cultural keystone species may contribute in some part to righting injustices of the past and helping prepare for a changing future, while giving landscape architects and all those who choose plants for our shared urban spaces a chance to actively practice allyship.
What do you think? Rodgers is keen to hear your views, as a landscape architect currently practising in Aotearoa New Zealand. She has prepared a survey and invites you to participate. There is the opportunity to go into a prize draw at the end of the survey. The prize is one of 10 tea towels featuring a drawing by Rodgers of some of the 'plants of place' of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
The survey should take you about 15 minutes and is anonymous. It will be open until 4th August. Participation implies consent and the research has VUW Human Ethics approval 0000030263. The key results from this survey will be shared in Landscape Architecture Aotearoa.
If you are a practising landscape architect please use this link to participate in the survey.
Maria Rodgers’ supervisors are Ocean Ripeka Mercier (Ngāti Porou), Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, and Maibritt Pedersen Zari, Te Wānanga Aronui O Tāmaki Makau Rau - Auckland University of Technology. As well as being the focus of her research, plants are also the focus of Rodgers’ teaching at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. For seven years she has taught a design studio for landscape architecture students which focuses on designing with plants. It gives her enormous pleasure to see students’ knowledge of what plants can do in our urban public spaces develop and their love of plants grow. To find out more about the research and Rodgers’ positionality, please follow this link to Positionality and research - Maria Rodgers.
All photographs by Maria Rodgers