Rūaumoko What Lies Beneath

Discover what Western science and traditional mātauranga (knowledge) Māori can tell us about our shaky isles in this fascinating presentation from GNS Science and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand we live on the boundary between two tectonic plates. We experience this in many ways: volcanoes, thermal activity, the uplifting of the Southern Alps, and of course, earthquakes. We are still living through geological processes that, in other parts of the world, happened hundreds of millions of years ago - we are still being born.

Mātauranga Māori unifies Māori myth, tradition, and history, from the distant past to the present, and ties them to the legendary deeds of Rūaumoko (the Māori god of earthquakes). Like Western science, this knowledge is a way of interpreting and understanding New Zealand’s geological features and volcanic areas.

This presentation of narratives and current research aims to explore commonalities between both systems of knowledge. GNS Science and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga warmly invite you to take part.