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Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften | 17. Nr. | Februar 2010 |
| Sektion 8.2. | Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Society: Transformations and Challenges Sektionsleiter | Section Chairs: Adam Fiser (University of Toronto, Canada) and Philipp Budka (University of Vienna, Austria) |
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Indigenous Cyberspace:
The Maori Renaissance and its Influence on the Web Space of Aotearoa/New Zealand
Catharina Muhamad-Brandner (University of Auckland, New Zealand) [BIO]
E-Mail: cbra039@ec.auckland.ac.nz
Abstract:
The colonization of Aotearoa/New Zealand in the 19th century and assimilation process during the early decades of the 20th century saw the survival of the indigenous Maori society and its culture threatened. The Maori language, cultural practices, social organizations and tribal affiliations became less relevant in everyday life as participation in ‘mainstream’ New Zealand society required proficiency in English and the acceptance of western ways. Global liberal social movements of the 1960s and their local articulation, however, prepared the soil for a cultural revitalization. The Maori renaissance gained momentum during the 1970s first promoting a pan-tribal Maori culture. Social and political changes of the mid-1980s advocating a focus on biculturalism in Aotearoa allowed a shift to take place towards a ‘re-tribalization’ of Maori society. This paper argues that the Maori renaissance and the increased importance of tribes were both greatly influential in the shaping of New Zealand’s web space. An outline of these developments will serve as a background for this discussion. Closer attention is directed towards the development, introduction and uptake of two second-level domains – .iwi.nz and .maori.nz. The first has been instigated by government and is restricted to tribal organizations, whereas the latter was created out of the initiative of the New Zealand Maori Internet Society with the vision to provide a more inclusive domain name system catering for a bicultural society. The paper closes with an outlook on plans by the New Zealand Maori Internet Society to further indigenize Aotearoa’s cyberspace.
World-wide over 1.2 billion people have access to the internet with clear regional differences existing; a large proportion of users are located in the United States of America while Oceania only makes a small contribution to this number (2007). Overall, 61% of New Zealand households were connected to the internet in 2006 (Statistics New Zealand, 2007); and 45.4% of Maori lived in a household with internet access in the same year (Te Puni Kakiri, 2007). The internet is part of so many people’s everyday life - e-mail, the World Wide Web, online-banking, web-links at conferences – but most people are ‘only’ users of the technology and just a few individuals or organizations have an influence on its development. This paper investigates the web space of Aotearoa/New Zealand, its expansion and the contribution of the country’s indigenous population.
The online environment, specifically in the form of the Domain Name System (DNS), and how it was and continues to be influenced by Maori in meeting their cultural requirements will be the focus of this paper. The DNS is a central aspect of the internet. It allows users to locate resources easily without having to remember the IP-address (Internet Protocol-address). Pivotal as these IP-addresses are, to most people they are a strange assortment of numbers. It is more likely that the University of Auckland’s website will be remembered as www.auckland.ac.nz than by 130.216.11.202. It is argued here that the Maori renaissance, the ‘revitalization’ of cultural and social aspects of Maori life did not only affect New Zealand at large but also the country’s DNS. Two second-level domains specific to New Zealand, .iwi.nz and .maori.nz, can be related to the Maori renaissance each in a particular way. The first was implemented out of a governmental initiative, and registration is moderated and restricted to indigenous ‘tribal’ organizations. The political understanding of iwi (tribe) becomes apparent when considering the domain’s registration criteria. On the other hand, .maori.nz was introduced by Maori motivated by bicultural ideals; the Domain Name System in the past did not adequately cater for all Maori due to the strict criteria applied to .iwi.nz. The development and uptake of these indigenous domain names is discussed along with surrounding issues and problems. A brief introduction to the Maori renaissance is necessary to contextualize the development of the two domains.
Every society experiences ‘social change’ to a varying degree; Maori society underwent far-reaching changes after the arrival of the European settlers. The signing of a treaty (Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840 between the British Crown and 500 Maori chiefs established an ongoing relationship between the two peoples. Maori were hopeful that the future would bring economic opportunities and an exchange of knowledge and practices. The possibility that they themselves would become estranged from the power they held and develop into a dependent minority in their own lands was not envisaged by the Maori leaders (Slack, 2004, p. 46). Not long after the treaty was signed, the balance of population numbers began to shift due to increased immigration of settlers coupled with a decline of the Maori population because of disease and warfare. The two main population groups of Aotearoa were living in relative separation: Pakeha (non-Maori; European New Zealanders) dwelt in the urban centres and Maori in rural areas. The loss of land by way of land sales (both legal and illegitimate) and confiscations, and a renewed growth of Maori communities, meant that what was left of the land was not able to sustain everyone. The prospect of employment in the cities’ manufacturing industries enticed Maori families in ever-greater numbers to leave their homes and communities (see Metge, 2004; Miles, 1984; Webster, 1998 for further detail). Contact with Pakeha became more common, as did encounters with discrimination, oppression and marginalization. Moving to the city for many families also meant moving away from their ethnic identity. Participants in Houkamau’s (2006) research who were brought up during these times frequently talked about their parents wanting the best chance for their children which meant for them to be able to ‘fit in’ by leaving the Maori language, values and traditions behind.
Beginning in the 1960s, but gaining considerable momentum in the following decade, Aotearoa was characterized by influential social changes. Global anti-war-, anti-apartheid- and human rights social movements prepared the ground for the Maori renaissance (Poata-Smith, 1996). Resistance to western forces began as early as 1843 when Te Rauparaha protested (first peacefully, then with force) against a land claim by the New Zealand Company (Walker, 1984, p. 269). What differentiated these movements from earlier ones can be seen in the increased understanding, acceptance and even support by Pakeha New Zealanders. This is partly attributable to the fact that they themselves began to look for an ethnic identity as New Zealanders as opposed to ‘just being British’. Increased awareness of existing inequalities, of historic and contemporary cases of land loss and other grievances encouraged growing numbers of people to articulate their opinions publicly in marches and land occupations. The 1970s led to the realization of the precarious situation of the Maori language, which boosted awareness and motivation so that practical initiatives like Te Atarangi (community Maori language courses for adults) and kahanga reo developed. Kahanga reo are early childhood centres conducted fully in Maori and based on Maori traditions and beliefs with a strong involvement of kaumatua (elders) who are in many cases native speakers. The first kahanga reo opened in Pukeatua (near Wellington) in 1982 (Te Puni Kakiri, 1999). In 2001 almost 10,000 Maori children were registered at one of the 560 kahanga reo nationwide (Te Puni Kakiri, 2001). These pre-schools are an important achievement regarding the retention of the Maori language, traditions, and values but in fact they also played a central role in the creation of .maori.nz as will be discussed in detail later.
These revitalization movements were pan-tribal in nature focusing on traditions and values shared by all Maori irrespective of their tribal affiliations. However there was also a shift taking place towards a ‘re-tribalization’ of Maori society. In 1975 the Waitangi Tribunal was established to address breaches of the treaty, which played an important role in the Maori renaissance. One claim brought before it is particularly relevant here: The Muriwhenua Fisheries Claim was concerned with the question of traditional fishing rights of the Muriwhenua tribe in the far north of Aotearoa and whether these would be extinguished by an introduced quota-system for commercial fishing. The tribunal’s finding led to the restriction of the quota-system in the far north. Soon later, the tribal confederations of Tainui and Ngai Tahu jointly achieved the extension of these restrictions for all of the country. Details of the historic developments relating to these Fisheries Claims would surpass the scope of this paper(1); suffice here to say, negotiations led to two agreements which, taken together, returned about 23% of commercial fishing rights plus a large lump sum to ‘Maori’. The agreements were formalized by government in two Acts in 1989 and 1992. A share of the assets was to be managed by Te Ohu Kai Moana (The Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission) for the benefit of all Maori but other assets were to be transferred to iwi. Neither of the Acts clearly defined what was to be understood under the term iwi (Webster, 2002).
The Fisheries Commission’s application of iwi was influenced by the government’s conception developed for the Rananga Iwi Act in 1989. Carter (2004, p. 117) highlights that this Act “defined for Maori” that the features of ‘traditional’ iwi should comprise a genealogical lineage to an ancestor, hapa (sub-tribe), marae (meeting places), a defined district, and “an existence traditionally acknowledged by other iwi.” The Act was only in existence for six months before being repealed on disagreement by the incoming new government but it had a continuing influence on Maori society. Government agencies only engage with iwi regarding social service provision, funding, etc. and the allocation of the above fishing assets. ‘Traditionally’ though, the extended family (whanau) was most important in the everyday life of individuals in both social and economic terms whereas on a political level hapa carried greater significance (van Meijl, 2003). Today whanau and hapa are ‘subordinated’ under iwi, which are turned into trust boards, and those organizations not meeting the government’s criteria are denied the status of iwi. Succinctly in Webster’s (Webster, 2002, p. 349) words “the role of Maori iwi had been given new prominence”.
The last 35 years have seen many positive developments for Maori; the Treaty of Waitangi was finally honoured, the Maori language valued and Maori protocols and culture included in many aspects of public life. Greenland (1984, p. 98) notes that one of the effects of the Maori movements can be seen in the development of a political consciousness which in turn led to a strengthening of Maori identity as distinct from Pakeha. However, the shift in Maori organizational structures with a focus on iwi excluded a number of urban Maori authorities and groups. The .iwi.nz and .maori.nz domains were directly influenced by these developments in the Maori renaissance.
The internet’s history is relatively brief and once it reached its ‘tipping point’ it spread like wildfire. Having been developed out of the ‘need’ to enable a more stable form of communication, which would withstand a nuclear attack, ARPANET(2) went online in 1969 connecting four computers located in the United States. The 1980s saw ARPANET being governed by the National Science Foundation (NSF). New Zealand established a connection to the NSFNET in 1989 (Moschovitis, Poole, Schuyler, & Senft, 1999). During the early years (1980s) the predominant modes of internet use were communication and data exchange mainly restricted to universities and government agencies. Aotearoa’s early computer networks did not differ in this respect: KiwiNet connected Massey University with Victoria University in 1975 (Waikato Linux User Group, 2007). Only e-mail was publicly available through the (state-owned) Telecom Starnet during this period (Watson, 2001). The 1990s were marked by two significant developments. Firstly, “[i]n 1991, the Federal Networking Council made a decision to allow new companies, now known as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), to interconnect with federally supported internets” (Roberts, 2006, p. 18). This important move in the United States allowed easier access for non-university or government- affiliated users. Commercialisation in Aotearoa began rather early, the ISP Actrix provided e-mail and news services in 1989 (Waikato Linux User Group, 2007). Secondly, hypertext, along with the necessary programming language (html), transfer protocol (http) and the World Wide Web, a Graphical User Interface browser, were developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 – 1991. This allowed information and resources stored on different computer ‘systems’ to be accessed more easily for the first time. The introduction of point-and click browsers, of which Mosaic was most influential, followed shortly after (Moschovitis et al., 1999). Increased user-friendliness and versatility made the internet more attractive to a broader audience and the number of ISPs began to increase steadily within New Zealand during the early 1990s and in 1996 two of today’s big internet service providers Ihug and Xtra started their services, with Ihug later on even providing the first residential broadband option (Waikato Linux User Group, 2007).
The Domain Name SystemThe Domain Name System (DNS) facilitates navigation on the internet with greater ease allowing the use of familiar names instead of numbers (IP-address) for web addresses. “The system of DNS servers distributed across the Internet invisibly converts the names–serving as signposts in cyberspace–into the numerical addresses required by network routers to reach the signposted locations” (National Research Council, 2005, p. vii). When surfing to a website one needs to know the IP-address, which is requested from the DNS server. This then allows the user to request and transfer the website from the host with the provided IP-address. This system was first implemented in 1984 but was not fully operational until 1987 (National Research Council, 2005, p. 47). Web addresses are hierarchical in nature, which is illustrated in Figure 1. The top-level can either be generic (gTLD), examples would be .com, .org or .info, or country-specific (ccTLD). Within country-specific domains second-levels can be implemented by the overseeing organization. In New Zealand InternetNZ (then ISOCNZ) was founded in 1995 to take over responsibility for the domain space. In 2002 the Domain Name Commissioner (DNC) and NZ Registry Services (NZRS) were established by InternetNZ (InternetNZ, n.d.). NZRS manages actual registrations of domain names whereas the DNC oversees the registration market, disputes or complaints regarding names, and is responsible for the development of new policies. Ten(3) second-level domains (2LD) were available in Aotearoa’s web space when InternetNZ became responsible for it. The first addition was .maori.nz in 2001 (details discussed later), .geek.nz was implemented the following year, and the most recent newcomer is .parliament.nz (available since 2006). The implementation of .bank is currently under consideration (DNC, 2007a). The third-level (3LD) would be the actual name the registrant chooses.
Figure 1: Illustration of Domain Name elements
Indigenous Domain Names
Aotearoa’s first indigenous domain was included as part of the country’s name space on the initiative of Te Puni Kakiri (Ministry of Maori Development) without consulting with Maori regarding its purpose or target clientele. This second-level domain has been moderated from its beginnings, which means that a registrant is assessed regarding certain requirements before being allowed to proceed with the registration. The original criteria were set by Te Puni Kakiri and InternetNZ which resonate with the political understanding of iwi as being very exclusive; only ‘traditional’ Maori tribes with a trust board were eligible for an .iwi.nz domain name. This excluded many tribes as the current moderator Karaitiana Taiuru highlights: “A lot of Maori want to apply for a .iwi.nz domain, and we have to turn them down unless they’re a legal organisation representing a genuine iwi that existed before 1840” (cited in Gifford, 2001). Moderation of the domain first lay with a member of InternetNZ, was handed over to Te Puni Kakiri and then transferred to Taiuru who is still responsible for safeguarding the space. The current criteria are more inclusive, allowing not only iwi but also hapa and taura here iwi groups (semi-formal group of one iwi in the territory of another) to register if they are a legal body. Urban Maori authorities, too, are eligible to apply for a name in the .iwi.nz domain but are additionally required to have been in existence for at least one year, to have records of their constituency, and they must stand for a “reasonable proportion of urban Maori in [their] area”. Any name (3LD) in this domain space must be a “genuine Maori name” (register.iwi.nz, n.d.). A request to further amend the criteria regarding what names would be allowed as 3LDs to meet the changing needs of iwi was submitted by Taiuru (2004). The bid was unsuccessful and the current criteria state clearly that names of iwi owned businesses and service providers may not be registered in this domain space. Currently a submission to change the policy to also include “non-commercial iwi group coalitions” awaits consideration (DNC, 2006).
The first registration under this domain was a mail-only connection in April 1995 (Jackson, 1995) and uptake continued to be slow in the following years. The registrations ‘jumped’ to three in 1997 and numbers continued to grow steadily from then on with a spike in growth in the years 2001 and 2003 (DNC, 2007c). The discussions concerning the introduction of .maori.nz and the easing of the domain’s moderation criteria are likely to have contributed to this increase along with a general upsurge of the numbers of hosts and users alike. The most current figures available for September 2007 show 59 registrations in the .iwi.nz domain (DNC, 2007d).
This domain went online on September 5th 2002 after a lengthy process and the personal initiative of a few influential individuals. Generally, anyone can apply for the creation of a new domain name. In New Zealand an application for the creation of a new second level domain has to be directed to the Domain Name Commission and has to meet set criteria and an explanation of why the creation of this new space is necessary. The New Zealand Maori Internet Society (NZMIS) stated in their application:
New Zealand is a bicultural country […] As with any bicultural country, allowances should be made to accommodate both cultures. Presently the New Zealand Internet domain name system has not addressed the bicultural needs of New Zealand nor it’s growing Mäori Internet users […] A small effort was made in the past with the creation of .iwi.nz but this only caters to 30-40 groups in New Zealand, many of which are either not on the web or are not structured enough to apply […] (NZMIS, 2001)
Maori individuals and organizations not meeting the criteria of the .iwi.nz domain have to register elsewhere within the DNS. In 1997, Te Kahanga Reo National Trust, represented by Ross Himona for this purpose, wanted to register a third-level domain, but clearly does not meet the iwi criteria. It also was denied registration under both the .school and the .ac domain (Computerworld, 1997). Neither the trust nor the individual kahanga it represents are considered schools or universities. Universities in New Zealand are also referred to as whare wananga – Te Whare Wananga o Tamaki Makaurau stands for Auckland University - meaning ‘school of learning’. The term does apply to all kahanga reo and is in no case restricted to tertiary institutions. The trust was nonetheless denied the .ac.nz name space. The application for a specific Maori domain space was lodged but not granted because the trust is a non-commercial organization and would therefore be accommodated by the .org.nz domain. An additional reason the proposal was declined lies in the nature of DNS governance – InternetNZ or any other organization does not have the mandate to make a decision on such matters but rather support from the wider internet community is required. The 1997 application did not have this backing. Nonetheless, this ‘defeat’ had a positive side effect – Ross Himona together with Karaitiana Taiuru and others formed the aforementioned New Zealand Maori Internet Society (NZMIS, 2006).
Between the first attempt to implement .maori.nz and the 2001 application NZMIS was able to increase membership numbers, become more influential and considerable time was spent on consultation with the Maori community at large (NZMIS, 2006). The proposal was accepted by the Domain Name Commission and advertised for discussion. In March 2002 a vote saw not only a record number of voters partake but also a high level of support: 91.7% of the 1623 votes were for the creation of .maori.nz. This poll was followed by an official call for comments. All submissions were supportive which led the DNC to announce their interim decision regarding the date and planned procedure of the domain’s implementation. A final call for comments regarding the launch preceded the domain’s introduction in September 2002 (InternetNZ, 2001).
Adam Gifford (2002) reported the initial success: “More than 200 names were registered in the .maori.nz space in the first 24 hours of operation, with many people taking the opportunity to buy their family name.” Registrations reached over 400 in the first year of its existence. After a substantial decrease in its second year, the number of .maori.nz domains registered continues to be on the rise (DNC, 2007c). The uptake though did not meet NZMIS’ expectations, which they reasoned might be because many Maori organizations had already settled within other New Zealand domain spaces or even within top level domains. A good example of this is www.maori.org.nz, the “Main Maori Site on the Net” as their homepage states.
Domain names similar to personal and place names are attached with value, both cultural and economic. In an economic sense, domain name trading is a booming profession with high returns possible. Domain spaces, if not moderated, are vulnerable to certain risks. ‘Cyber-squatting’ and inappropriate or even racist 3LDs are two major problems that the .maori.nz domain faces. One prominent case of cyber-squatting featured in The New Zealand Herald just two days after the domain went online. Two business-men registered 58 3LDs including several iwi and hapa names. ngapuhi.maori.nz was initially offered for NZ$ 1000 plus tax but inclusive of transfer costs (Gifford, 2002). When registering a domain most registrars charge between NZ$ 40 and 60 (€ 21 - 31) for a 12 month subscription. The ‘squatters’ agreed to return tribal names to their rightful owners upon request without making any profit. The cultural value of domain names in this case triumphed over economic interests.
A second problem related to .maori.nz is the fact that 3LDs are used to create derogatory statements like the currently active domain http://dumb.maori.nz which was registered in July 2007 but does not provide any content as of yet. The Aotearoa Maori Internet Organization’s (AMIO) forum has posts informing the community regarding such issues. One post states:
We have been sucessful [sic] in stopping several inappropriate uses of .maori.nz addresses that degraded Maori […] Our latest success story is a racist .maori.nz name [which] was pointed at a government web site making it look as though the government department was racist. (AMIO, 2004)
The reason leading up to the removal of these domains though does not lie in their derogatory nature but rather in a breach of regulations by the registrants who used false names for the registration (Taiuru, 2006). Unfortunately, there are no restrictions or regulations regarding these aspects when it comes to 3LDs. Second-level domains on the other hand are not allowed “to bring the .nz domain name space into disrepute” (DNC, 2005).
Social changes over the last 35 years have had a great impact on Maori society. Social policy focusing on the substantial socio-economic differences between Maori and the rest of New Zealand led to ‘improvements’ in many areas but equality has yet to be achieved. The same can be said regarding internet access. The digital divide between Maori and Pakeha continues to exist but is becoming weaker not least because of tribal activities. One such initiative focuses on the connection difficulties faced by rural communities. Ngai Tahoe, an iwi of the central North Island, operates an Internet Service Provider offering dial-up subscriptions for businesses and private individuals. Further, plans were announced in August 2007 to expand the existing broadband network, which already connects four schools and 40 households. An additional wireless network will allow around 2000 homes to access the internet in the future (Greenwood, 2007).
Maori initiative has also shaped Aotearoa’s web space. The Maori renaissance influenced the government’s relationship with the Maori world and the implementation of .iwi.nz took place at a time when bicultural considerations were prominent in public discourse. The governmental view of iwi, or rather their trust boards, being their ‘partners’ for various purposes directly influenced the domain’s early registration criteria. But the government’s fixed understanding of iwi, with little room for social changes, did not fare well with Maori individuals and organizations. Amendments to the criteria reflect a continuance of the Maori renaissance; Maori, strengthened in their self-confidence and awareness of who they are and where they see themselves in the future, voiced their concerns regarding the existing structures. Not only did Maori influence what was instigated and provided by government (.iwi.nz) to better meet the needs of Maori tribal organizations in their many modern forms but they became active to create a whole new space. The early New Zealand web space might have been more bicultural than other countries’ name space but it did not allow for all Maori to find their place. Change did not come about because of Pakeha or the government but because of the persistence of Maori individuals following the Maori way of consulting and discussing with concerned communities. This led to an indigenous web space carrying the name and identity of its people.
Both of these indigenous 2LDs are in the Maori language. With language being such an important aspect of identity one central concern of the Maori renaissance was the retention of the Maori language. Since becoming the country’s first official language in 1987 it held “a legally privileged, albeit delicate, status in New Zealand” (Starks, Harlow, & Bell, 2005, p. 13). The absolute number of Maori speakers continues to be on the rise and therefore calls for a bilingual web space and to facilitate the use of macrons (like the a in Maori to indicate a stretched vowel) become more frequent. Non-roman language scripts, in this context referred to as Internationalised Domain Names, are supported in a number of ccTLDs and gTLDs, but not in Aotearoa. The Domain Name Commission (2007b) called for submissions on whether the currently available character set for domain names should be extended to include a, a, a, a, and a. Further, NZMIS recently opened the discussion concerning the possibility of a truly bilingual domain name space in New Zealand by making 2LDs available equally in Maori and English. For example, a website could be reached under .co.nz as well as .mahi.nz. The bilingual 2LDs would exist simultaneously and a 3LD would be registered in both domain spaces by default. InternetNZ has announced it will take the suggestion under consideration (Dominion Post, 2007).
Maori navigated their ocean canoes from their homelands over thousands of kilometres with great skill and perseverance. Upon their arrival in Aotearoa, no less determination was required for survival. Social and cultural aspects of Maori life were under pressure because of a variety of external forces but increased awareness and initiative from within Maori society allowed a change in direction. Maori are self-aware and proud of who they are more than ever and are resolute that this country is indeed becoming a bicultural one. Maori traditions and values influence many aspects of public life because Maori individuals and organizations focus on the needs of their own people and of future generations. Technological developments are not necessarily seen as a threat but rather as opportunities to further influence the New Zealand web space, in this case, to become truly bicultural.
I am indebted to my supervisors Dr. Steve Matthewman and Dr. Lane West-Newman as well as my advisor Dr. Tracey McIntosh for their suggestions and support. My research is generously funded by the International Doctoral Scholarship and Graduate Research Fund from the University of Auckland.
5. References
Notes:
8.2. Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Society: Transformations and Challenges
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