Embedded in place
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Brian Murton
Abstract
This paper explores the understanding that Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand, have of “landscape”. I argue that although Māori in the past did “gaze” at their surroundings, and did have visual forms of representation, the concept of “landscape” as it is commonly used in Western scholarly and popular representation is inappropriate. What replaces the profound visuality of the West for Māori is language, especially sound and speech. Māori represent the world primarily through the act of naming, in which naming places becomes an integral way of actively engaging perceptually with the animate and inanimate world. Māori “imagine” named places as “simultaneous landscapes” reflecting cosmology, ancestors, history and everyday life.
Abstract
This paper explores the understanding that Māori, the indigenous people of Aotearoa/New Zealand, have of “landscape”. I argue that although Māori in the past did “gaze” at their surroundings, and did have visual forms of representation, the concept of “landscape” as it is commonly used in Western scholarly and popular representation is inappropriate. What replaces the profound visuality of the West for Māori is language, especially sound and speech. Māori represent the world primarily through the act of naming, in which naming places becomes an integral way of actively engaging perceptually with the animate and inanimate world. Māori “imagine” named places as “simultaneous landscapes” reflecting cosmology, ancestors, history and everyday life.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword ix
- Preface xi
- Landscape in language 1
- Ethnophysiography 25
- Exploring philosophy of place 47
- Embedded in place 73
- Philosophical issues in ethnophysiography 101
- ‘Land’ and life 121
- Landscape in Western Pantar, a Papuan outlier of southern Indonesia 143
- Hawaiian storied place names 167
- Between the trees and the tides 187
- Differing conceptualizations of the same landscape 225
- A case study in Ahtna Athabascan geographic knowledge 239
- Revitalizing place names through stories and songs 261
- Language and landscape among the Tlingit 275
- Language, landscape and ethnoecology, reflections from northwestern Canada 291
- Landscape embedded in language 327
- Navajo landscape and its contexts 343
- Navigating regional landscapes with Jicarilla personal narrative 353
- Ontology of landscape in language 369
- The role of geospatial technologies for integrating landscape in language 381
- Classifying landscape character 395
- Perspectives on the ethical conduct of landscape in language research 411
- Notes on contributors 435
- Index 443
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword ix
- Preface xi
- Landscape in language 1
- Ethnophysiography 25
- Exploring philosophy of place 47
- Embedded in place 73
- Philosophical issues in ethnophysiography 101
- ‘Land’ and life 121
- Landscape in Western Pantar, a Papuan outlier of southern Indonesia 143
- Hawaiian storied place names 167
- Between the trees and the tides 187
- Differing conceptualizations of the same landscape 225
- A case study in Ahtna Athabascan geographic knowledge 239
- Revitalizing place names through stories and songs 261
- Language and landscape among the Tlingit 275
- Language, landscape and ethnoecology, reflections from northwestern Canada 291
- Landscape embedded in language 327
- Navajo landscape and its contexts 343
- Navigating regional landscapes with Jicarilla personal narrative 353
- Ontology of landscape in language 369
- The role of geospatial technologies for integrating landscape in language 381
- Classifying landscape character 395
- Perspectives on the ethical conduct of landscape in language research 411
- Notes on contributors 435
- Index 443
