Ko Aotearoa Inaianei

Jayden Houghton, David V Williams

• Publisher: Auckland University Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Law
• eBook ISBN:
  9781776712434
• Subtopic: Civil Law
• Index: Law

Sixteen leading legal scholars ask who guards and protects Indigenous knowledge now, and in the future. From manuka honey to haka, and across patents, trade marks, copyright and geographical indications, the protection of traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and genetic resources is one of the most complex legal and political challenges of our time. On the fifteenth anniversary of Ko Aotearoa Tenei, the Waitangi Tribunal' s landmark report on the Wai 262 claim, sixteen leading legal scholars offer new perspectives on how authority over and guardianship of traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and genetic resources might be recognised and protected in contemporary legal systems. Ko Aotearoa Inaianei takes up the wero laid down by the original Wai 262 claimants and extends their kaupapa into the present. The chapters confront pressing and unresolved questions. How should offensive or derogatory uses of taonga be remedied? Could legal personhood be applied to intangible Maori taonga such as waiata, and what would that recognition require? What might knowledge governance grounded in tikanga Maori involve, and how might it challenge or reshape Western intellectual property frameworks? Through wide-ranging essays engaging with law, policy, theory, science and culture, the authors advance aspirational visions of cultural ownership, control, inheritance and identity, grounded in the shared whakapapa of people, land and knowledge. Ko Aotearoa Inaianei contributes to global debates on Indigenous authority and knowledge protection.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword—Justice Joe Williams
• Introduction—Jayden Houghton and David V Williams
• 1. Te Whare Mātauranga: A Te Ao Māori Framework for Protecting Mātauranga Māori—Tipene Merritt
• 2. UNDRIP, te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the Protection of Māori Rights to Culture, Identity and Traditional Knowledge—Carwyn Jones
• 3. Aotearoa New Zealand and the WIPO Disclosure of Genetic Resources Treaty—Susy Frankel
• 4. Legal Personhood for Protecting Intangible Māori Taonga: Friend, Foe or Strategic Ally?—Kiri Toki
• 5. Found Taonga Tūturu Under the Protected Objects Act 1975—William Heywood
• 6. Co-Governance for Taonga in Museums—Raniera Ross
• 7. The Patents Act 2013 and Mātauranga Māori: A Reflection Vis-à-Vis Wai 262 and Beyond—Jessica C Lai
• 8. Plant Variety Rights Reform and Kaitiaki Relationships with Taonga: Evidence from Māori-Led Native Plant Nurseries—David Jefferson
• 9. Putting Mānuka Honey on the Map: Protecting Mātauranga Māori and Taonga Through Geographical Indication Reform—Desmond Yong
• 10. Trade Mark Law After Ko Aotearoa Tēnei: Giving Weight to te Tiriti in Trade Mark Law Beyond Protecting Against Offence—Rob Batty
• 11. Incorporating Tikanga Māori in State Law: A Register of Kaitiaki Relationships with Taonga Works—Zoe Tinkler
• 12. Orders for the Destruction of Works That Are Offensive or Derogatory Towards Taonga—Emily James
• 13. Retroactive Laws for the Protection Against Offensive and Derogatory Public Uses of Mātauranga Māori and Taonga—Jaeden Simeti
• 14. A Spheres Model to Facilitate the Exercise of Rangatiratanga Before Constitutional Transformation—Jayden Houghton
• 15. The Crown’s Authority and Resourcing Obligations in Matike Mai-Based Spheres Models—Charlie Matthews
• Conclusion—Jayden Houghton and David V Williams
• Bibliography
• Index