Research Settling In

Kia ora, tatou...

At long last, another post. I wish I could give you some intricate, amazing reason, fantastical in origin, to explain my long absence from this site. Alas, I cannot. However, I can say that I have been back to the States once and headlong into fieldwork.

It is hard to believe that over 1 year has past since I and my family came to NZ. The research is well underway, with nine months officially completed. The first six of those months have been focused towards getting my feet wet in the project- helping out on a pest eradication volunteer team almost on a daily basis, with the odd plant pest removal team task, and all sorts of various tasks connected to the Maungatautari project. All along the way, I have attended Trust board meetings, getting to know the many people united by the project.

More recently, I have shifted to working more in the business office of the project, which at present, and over the last year, has been staffed primarily by volunteers. In this position, I have been able to attend more meetings and become connected to other volunteer teams in the project: planting teams, mountain guide teams, the education committee and the meet and greet team- all aspects of the project with many volunteers for me to meet and interview while working alongside them. It has been fun to meet each and every one and learn what they do- how they contribute to the project.

As for me and my family- it has been a rocky few months. My wife's mother had been very sick and recently passed away. My wife went to the US to see her before the expected descent into her final weeks to spend time with her. Then a few weeks later, we all went to the US to see her right before the end, surprising my family in the process- my family only expected my wife, and two of our children to arrive. We had them enter my parent's home, and get to talking, while I and my remaining kids arrived at the front door and waited outside- we then rang the doorbell and had their grandchildren jump at them when they opened the door. Priceless.

Having returned home, the kids got back into school- and they are doing well. Juliana is excelling at cross-country running despite being the shortest in height of her peers, and Mele has taken some awards in jump roping and reading improvement (which is significant as she went into a higher school grade coming into the NZ school year halfway). The winter weather though as been atrocious- tons more rain than last year, though not as cold. But, spring is now upon us, despite a last ditch effort by old man winter to torment us- a week-long storm hit NZ from the west, which was larger than the whole of Australia. Power went out in many places across the country, hail, tornadoes, severe storm damage, floods all took their toll- but here in the Waikato region, we were spared the brunt of it.

However, the storm was poorly timed- Canturbury/Christchurch area of the South Island was already dealing with the severe damage caused by a 7+ earthquake- many people cannot go back to their homes and jobs. Then along comes this storm. On the news it was heartening to see the by-in-large positive response most people were exhibiting to the daily challenges associated with just getting water to drink and food to eat. it reminds me that we should all be prepared - and especially with 72 hours kits.

What I am not enjoying about the research at the moment is the distraction of finding research funds. While my family and I could not be here without the scholarship I won, the cost of living here has gone up and we cannot float costs personally any more, thus I am looking for funding from within and without NZ. There are a few potential sources, but the timing of any funds, if awarded, can be far off. Keep fingers crossed. Other than this, and the research is great- I have had many informal interviews with people and been able to observe and be a part of many meetings within the Trust. On the horizon is recorded semi-formal interviews and the construction/development of a freelist questionaire.

Haere Ra,

Matt Harms

Forward Progress and Fun

Kia Ora!

With all of us out of school but soon to return, we decided to take a quick vacation or holiday as they say it here. After much deliberating about where to go, we decided on a campsite at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula. The campsite, which is up from the coast, was shrouded in trees and ferns, and even a few palm trees. It offered facilities and a token operated grill, which we needed. After two days of camping and hiking, or tramping as they call it here in NZ, we spent the last day at Whangamata beach (pronounced Faangamataa). The town and beach was only 10 minutes from our camp. The town itself seems to focus around the beach and surfing. We had fun hiking up to a waterfall and getting cool in the cold cold water. I offered Alec five dollars to go fully in and get under the falling water. he got very close, enough to feel the spray, so he earned it. he was shivering enough it seemed to send waves throughout the entire pool. The other kids got in a bit, but only for very short durations. Logan pushed Alec in off of a rock- which he was disciplined for, as Alec could have been hurt- the pool is quite shallow. The beach was perfect for swimming for the kids. They loved the waves, the clean sand, the expansive shallow waters, and the bright sunny day. Despite our efforts, we all got a little sun burned though. We finished the trip home with ice cream shakes and Subway sandwiches.

However, back to the task at hand. I received word of my status change from conditional to confirmed enrolment. The university approved my proposal and I now have the official green light to proceed. I put together a proposal for the MEIT (the Trust which manages the project I am to study) and I should be meeting with them soon. I have applied for a National Geographic grant and I should soon complete an application for a grant from the American Philosophical Society as well. Later, I may also apply to Wenner-Gren for funding- if this comes to fruition that would be fabulous. Wenner-Gren is a foundation focused toward anthropological research and is considered the premier organisation for the promotion of anthropology research.

Lots to do every day, so I better get to it. Cheers!

Pieces Nearly in Place

The past few weeks have flown by. Two major holidays and the kids getting out of school for a 6-week break tends to do this. The kids got out of school about two weeks into December and the University shut down on the 18th. However, with my professor's help, I was able to submit my final PhD research plan for confirmation of enrolment with the University. I had a goal to get this accomplished well before my 6 month time window expired at the end of January. In reality, I wanted to have this accomplished by mid-November but it did not work out this way. I have received ethical approval for the research, and this was done by November. My delay was my own- I was reading more material and wanting to make sure my additions and refinements to the proposal were accurate and informed. I believe I accomplished my aim in this regard.

Before my son's school let out, they did have one last field trip, for which I volunteered to again chaperon. Several classes from the elementary school took a trip up to a nearby hill/mountain/reserve called Maungakawa or Sanitarium Hill, outside Cambridge (NZ of course). The site had in times past, especially spanning the World Wars, been a rest hospital for war-wounded and before that a sanitarium for sufferers of tuberculosis. Before this it was a family's estate, built by a wife whose husband died with dreams of a mansion unrealised.

The site is quite prevalent in the region and is forested to some degree. It now is a reserve and park with hiking/tramping trails and open picnic areas. Only an old small stone decrepit building remains to attest to its former use. The reserve now seems to be aimed at maintaining and preserving what native foliage and animal life there exists. The blood thinner poison 1080 is dropped there to control pest populations. There is no pest-proof fence there as there is at Maungatautari- and of course it it minuscule in comparison anyway so there is little to preserve relatively. However, any portion can make a difference, hence the reserve status.

The trails at Maungakawa are not metalled (gravelled) like Maungatautari, and so they are muddy and slippery. Many of us slipped a bit at times- not falling, but just loosing footing. The school kids and leaders went on a short trail/track, ate lunch and played some games there. Most of the adults sat under a large tree in a field to eat lunch and talk. As an aside, in the thank you card the school kids later gave me, they suggested that in the future, I should play the games (including Cricket) with them. Perhaps I will do just that next time. However, it is important that I get to know as many people here in Cambridge as possible. One can never have too many friends and in terms of research this also applies. A few of us had a good open conversation, talking about where we grew up, how we came to be here in NZ. From these and other conversations, new articles, and news reports, there is a fair amount of relocating back and forth between OZ (Australia) and New Zealand. One family had come to NZ from the UK- Scotland to be precise- and then moved to OZ, and then back to NZ.

December at this point is nearly over. It has come and gone. Christmas was good, with good neighbors who gave gifts to my children and invited us to lake Karapiro down the road on Christmas day, many good people we have been able to visit/carol and those who visited us. Just the other day, my supervisory professor came over to my neck of the woods and brought his family for a visit to Maungatautari. The jaunt up there came to be on a humid overcast day with no breeze. It was very uncomfortable in the morning, but later things cooled down a bit- at least on the mountain. We arrived and hiked far enough in time to see a feeding for the birds at the aviary on mountain. Rata blooms were visible from the tower and free-flying birds were easily seen, including Kaka, and stitchbirds among others. The bird calls in the forest were mesmerising and prolific. The group returned back to my home, despite a less than fun incident of my doing- as I missed the correct turn off- to a fabulous lunch graciously prepared by my wife, Amanda. We were all treated to her gourmet pizzas, salad, bruchetta, and for desert, homemade pumpkin pies and chocolate lava cakes. It was good to talk with good people and eat good food.

Well, Christmas vacation is nearly over, and back to work for me. This January I should start volunteer work on the mount and some Maori te reo and tikanga (language and custom) classes here in the community. Plus, I now have to gear up, outfit myself, and begin the real fieldwork. The pieces are nearly in place. I need to formally connect/commence with the Trust and area Hapu (subtribes) as ethical approval has been received and final full enrolment all but official, and I need to finish applications for additional funding from various sources including National Geographic. Lastly, I need to begin augmenting connections to people. All part of a happy new year!

Forward Momentum

The past few weeks have been productive and enjoyable, with a focus on brushing up on methods and ethical conduct of anthropological fieldwork. Part of this is because the last few weeks have been somewhat devoted to completing and obtaining ethical approval for my research with a certain University research ethics committee. With the guidance of my supervisor and one of the committee members, both professors, I wrote a discussion of the ways I will ethically conduct my fieldwork. Just a few days ago, I received some good feedback and met with the committee member again. We discussed three issues that were raised and all three were easily addressed. With a final information sheet for participants to be sent to the committee member, I think the ethics approval process should be completed.

The Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust has recently received a good amount of funding, that will be distributed over three year's time. In return, the Trust is contractually obligated to continue their work, specifically maintaining the pest-proof fence and keeping pests off the mountain. The promised funding has been contentious for some in the larger region. One person in particular, described as an American by the newspapers, has been critical about closed-door decision making processes concerning large amounts of taxpayer revenue. Thus, MEIT funding closed-door decisions have been a bone of contention. In a recent move, also hotly debated, the Trust's only four paid salaried staff members, including its Chief Executive, were let go. The stated goal is to move the Trust more toward what it is- a community project. I think they are hoping to get volunteers to take up the slack. The move does free up, or technically reduce operational overhead by over NZ$500,00 per year.

I am aiming to have my final proposal for the research completed soon and approved. Thus, very soon, official fieldwork can commence. In the meantime, I am enjoying my occasional trips up to the Waikato University's campus- it is quite picturesque in most spots. It has a number of small lakes around it, with plenty of gardens which include some very tall old growth native trees, I believe Pohutukawa or Kauri threes, fern gardens, and lots of native undergrowth plants, many of which are flowering varieties. I have included a picture or two of the campus, so enjoy. I hope to soon have a 'thank you' brunch out at my home, in the rear garden, for those persons who have helped me get here (at least those in NZ that is) and take my supervising professor up the Eco-Island project, as he as not yet been there. This is not an oversight on his part, nor any sign of disinterest. I would venture that he is the busiest professor in the anthro programme there. Thus, free time and breaks are not often had. A good deal of his time is spent helping students, teach, or trying to write material. One day I suppose, I will be lucky enough to be in the same predicament at some university as well.

Tomorrow I get to help out on a fieldtrip for the local elementary school. My son's class will be visiting another local environmental site of interest, and I will be driving my people-mover to take him and four of his classmates from the school to the site. This is yet again a perfect unofficial fieldwork opportunity. Calculations to live in Cambridge have come to fruition. These experiences in the past have allowed me to help the community, get to know teachers and local residents here, and talk with them. In these conversations on other fieldtrips I have helped volunteered with, I have been able gather various viewpoints local residents have concerning environmental conservation and learn of both the school's and their own contributory efforts in such projects. Perhaps on the next entry I will be able to post some pictures from this and past fieldtrip excursions. In fact, count on it. I can feel the momentum...can you?

Kia Ora. Well, work is progressing- that is things are coming together well for the commencement of official research. This past week I worked on the ethical issues consideration, a proposal of sorts that identifies ethical issues in regards to the proposed research, as it is human research. I hope to garner a full approval of it by early Nov.

While my kids were on a two week break from school- a spring break in reality, we took our recently arrived vehicle, which can fit them all, and went up onto Mount Maungatautari. We spent the better part of the afternoon, at least 3 hours hiking various trails/tracks in the southern enclosure. The dense and lush greenery of the mountain sub-tropical forest is stunning. We saw a various birds there enjoying their home, and a few new and endangered arrivals at the aviary. The kids had fun swing on the vines, just like Tarzan. These vines were thick, strong and most went all the way to the top of the tall forest canopy.

While we were eating our lunch and getting ready to go into the enclosure/bush/forest, we met two Trust volunteers who regularly check on traps or other devices there that indicate what if any unwanted critters are or might have gotten into the enclosure. We talked about the project itself and my own intentions to volunteer there and research the project. They seemed to like the idea of this.

I recently participated in a symposium, wherein graduates students presented their thesis or research in three minutes using only one PowerPoint slide. I went first- luck of the draw. The winner after a number of heats and a final and very public second presentation can win NZ$5,000 toward research costs. This could really help me out, and likely many of the other 60 participants, but I will not have a chance. Since, I went first, and we did not get a chance to get into the presentation hall early to really set things up, and since I was a little nervous at going first, and I failed to notice that my presentation/slide had not been opened up. I have been spoiled in the past at such functions when the moderator did this, and supplied a remote to advance slides with. Thus, I started talking and more than a minute into it, when I needed to show further information via an animation, I found that my slide had not been up, and thus the crowd had not seen anything yet- I ended up with some moments of dead silence in the middle of talking and time a wasting in the slim three minutes, opened it up, and continued on. It was terrible in the end- I ended up going over and not covering everything well. Oh, well, win some, lose some. I have always done well on presentations to date, so this was disappointing especially as so much was at stake- with my experience and topic, I otherwise would have really had a chance to win or win second, which is still 2500.

A Good Day on the Mountain

It has been far too long since I have updated this blog- and there a number of good reasons for this, but one primary and amusing reason for this. We have been without Internet access for a while- quite debilitating in fact. As we have been sleeping on floor futons, and as our baby daughter has not had a crib to sleep in, her midnight antics of playing around all over us and in the room resulted in a water glass being spilled over the modem. Now that access is restored, normal communication, bill paying, and of course, blogging, can resume.

Community Service and a Good Day
On the third of September, I again volunteered at my oldest daughter's school as the entire student body left for a field trip up to Maungatautari. Now, if you are unsure as to how this word is to be pronounced, then do not fret. I have heard numerous ways to say it, and most of the time, depending on who is around when I say the name, I have a 50 per cent chance of being 'corrected' albeit in a tacit manner. It seems though that more often than not I am corrected after a moment of non-recognition by the other party as to what I said. My American accent, and the quite different way some pronounce it, quite different than any Polynesian language speaker would, brings this about. When I was first here, hearing the various ways to pronounce it was amusing and I dabbled in these various pronunciations when I said the word from time to time- but I invariably came across some who still corrected me. Usually it occurs with a moment of non-recognition and then the person registers what I have said, says it in their particular fashion, and usually smile in a Cheshire-cat manner. A woman in town the other day did this and looked over at her colleague in a bemused fashion- both seemed to be having a little fun at my expense. No harm done however. I just smile back confident that there is no one right way, it is rather subjective, and if there was to be a right way it would likely come from Polynesian or Maori than not.

I digress. Yes, the field trip. The entire class body travelled to the Mountain, past Lake Karapiro and arrived at Maungatautari Marae. The student body, with its teachers and staff, and the parent helpers, were welcomed onto the Marae via a powhiri, an official welcome. After much speaking between the group's appointed speakers, the kids were educated as to area's long inhabitants and history. A portion of the older students, those who participate in the school's kapahaka performance group, performed some dances, song and chants for the Marae members, to their visible delight.

Afterwards, we were all treated to morning tea, or in other words a mid-morning snack of fruit, cakes, puddings, and some beverages in an amble eating hall. While we all were finishing up, a Marae member related more of his memories of growing up on the mountain and used a large wall-size mural he painted depicting the area in previous times to illustrate the mountain community's former configuration in relation to his stories/memories. It was within this presentation that he mentioned something quite interesting in relation to the mountain and their (as tangata whenua- people of the land or people indigenous to that particular area) use of it for cultural-orientated resources and pleasure.

Thereafter, we all went out to the open area of the marae to hear another short speech by one of the hapu's members. In this speech, or oratory, she discussed the importance of the mountain to her people, both in the past and in the present. In this context she related that it was a recent revelation that a title to the mountain now existed and that it was not in their hands but a certain district council. This will be something I will need to independently confirm and investigate. I hope to not step on any toes as I do so.

As the kids ate lunch, I did as well, though I did so while talking with a gentlemen whose brother lived in the area and was a marae member. This gentleman in fact lived in Auckland, but remained very much informed and connected to his brother and the area. We talked about the alarm and concern some in the area felt about the title and who or what seemed to possess it. Additionally, he informed me that a road was being built over the mountain by the Trust. This was a topic that sparked much discussion. The mountain/ecological island reserve does have quite a few good hiking/tramping tracks over and through its lush verdure. It seems that some seem unconvinced over the necessity of such road.

The day ended with a good walk up to the the enclosure. The hike up did not take too long, though it was slow going as it was frequented with pit stops for the kids (and some adults ;-) ) as the hike did ascend steeply. We all walked around a short track, enjoying the shade, a chance to see wetas (an indigenous cricket larger than mice and occupying the same niche) the native flora and streams. A guide from the Marae briefly related some indigenous uses of various plants, including medicine, cooking and flavouring.

I hope to have some pictures soon form this trip- as my spouse's camera is not working well, they will come from the class's communal camera. All else is going okay. We have most of our effects now. I picked them up with help from a local, who drove the manual transmission moving truck for me. Last weekend was like Christmas for my children and wife as they opened boxes of stuff they had not laid eyes on in nearly a year. Most all of it is setup in the home and we have only final few things to buy or pickup to be all set. A few items, even some crucial baby crib parts and a bike seat, remain in our vehicle that is being complied for New Zealand. What can you do? Hopefully soon we can get our hands on them when we can get our car. Bye for now.

Getting to Know Cambridge

On Thursday the 20th of August I was able to provide some community service in a manner- my oldest daughter's school class was taking a walking field trip around the town to learn more of its recent history and sites. I was already a bit under the weather, and the day was a bit cold, wet and windy, so I ended up quite sick the following day. Nonetheless, it was quite worth the effort. We walked from Leamington into town and helped the kids in groups find and complete worksheets about various topics. It ranged from the area's horse racing prowess commemorated in mosaics on the main walk, to historic buildings and the old Anglican church and its historical depictions in its stained glass windows. Lastly, the tour included the town's history museum in the old courthouse.

Along the way I was able to converse with my daughter's teacher about various topics. Knowing why we came to New Zealand, as my daughter had informed him, we discussed my research aims and questions. As a a pakeha New Zealander (that is a New Zealander with a European background as opposed to Maori Polynesian one), he was aware of and related the quandary of the Kereru bird- how they are prized for their taste, and yet are endangered. He was aware of the history behind its current status and the role of Maori tapu (sacred restriction) behind its survival up through and to pakeha mismanagement or abuse. Additionally, he related his knowledge of the Huia bird, now extinct, who's fall is attributable to the nearly insatiable demands of European fashion after centuries of more or less effective management by Maori. This is no way is to say that all of NZ's ecological troubles stem from non-indigenous people's involvement in NZ, but that in some areas, in some respects, Maori had in place a system that tried to maintain valued resources, and that he was aware of such culturally-fixed mechanisms.

His class will be visiting the Maungatautari Ecological island in early September, and he has cordially invited me to come along again. I look forward to the occasion- it has been a little over two years since I have been within the enclosure and the forested canopy. For months I have been relating to my children, especially this particular daughter, the wonder of the project and mountain (in an effort to help her get a little more okay with leaving friends and family behind to come here). I suspect it will not disappoint. To see what it is, go to www.maungatrust.org.