Judith Waaka, our collection librarian attended the Sixth International Indigenous Forum in Otakei on 1-4 February 2009.
On Sunday 1 February, Te Wānanga o Raukawa (TWOR) welcomed over 70 delegates from Canada, USA, Australia, Hawaii and all over Aotearoa on to Raukawa Marae in Ōtaki for the Sixth International Indigenous Librarians Forum. The theme of the forum was Maku ano e hanga toku nei whare - Determining our future.
Presenters spoke about initiatives, services and resources developed by indigenous people for indigenous people. The first example of this was Whatarangi Winiata who spoke about how mātauranga Māori principles can be used to enhance professional practice. He used TWOR as an example of how this can work, and identified the 10 guiding principles/kaupapa that influence all policy and operations at TWOR.
Ruakere Hond’s presentation was about the progress of Te Pūtē Routiriata, a digital archive that builds on the Kete Horowhenua open-source software. The archive has some really dynamic features that have been designed to suit the Taranaki people, of particular interest is the Taranaki reo online dictionary, which allows users to add words in their own dialect, with definitions and examples of use. He spoke about permission levels for the protection of cultural and intellectual property, which is something ACL may need to consider in the future for our own online databases.
Other issues discussed at the forum were:
· Intellectual and Cultural Property Rights
· IT innovations and applications
· .indigi domain name
· indigenous thesauri
· The future of IILF
· Knowledge transmission – traditional and contemporary
· Digitisation
Culture was an exciting bonus of the forum with many delegates sharing songs, dances and stories from their home nations. The grand finale, being a Māori cultural show on the final night, mixed with all the best Māori kai, such as paua, kina, eel and tītī (mutton bird)
Overall, the forum was really enjoyable and allowed me to learn from others’ experiences and connect with information professionals from all over Aotearoa and the world.
He mihi aroha, he mihi maioha ki a koutou Te Wānanga o Raukawa me te komiti whakahaere i o koutou manaaki ki a mātou. Kei runga noa atu koutou
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