#tewaihou

[danielletein]

Thankfully, I have managed to set up a hui (meeting) with Cliffton Kelly (author of the thesis I've been using as my primary resource for this campaign). Although I planned to create a podcast by interviewing members of Raukawa iwi, I fell behind on my communication with Raukawa. Due to this, I have decided to go down a different road and create a stop motion animation. I plan to link this medium to my posters by exploring Māori ways of conservation and the negative impacts occuring to Te Waihou and the awa's mauri (life force).

[danielletein]

After my photoshoot of Te Waihou, I decided to cleanse my taonga in the awa. This was at the Whites Rd end of Te Waihou where you can swim and because I hadn't given my taonga some love in a while, I thought after my walk/photoshoot would be a perfect time.

I included this video because these are the types of things that are important about Te Waihou and water in general. Water cleanses, gives life and fosters togetherness and connection that can very easily be ruined by the exploitative methods of Western influences.

[danielletein]

These are some additional photos I took on my phone while at Te Waihou during my photoshoot for my posters in the previous post. I documented signage related to safe parking and littering with warnings of fines if rules are not adhered to, along with information about Te Waihou's history, the history of farming around Te Waihou and the cultural significance of the awa to local hapū.

I took photos of some cows graizing way downstream from Tūheihei (yet this still didn't seem to sit right with me) and some pest control devices dotted along the trail. I also happened upon someone cutting down trees during the first fifteen minutes of walking the trail. They were on the other side of the awa and I will say I'm not too sure of the reason why tree cutting was occuring but it was something I took note of mentally, as I wasn't about to point my camera at someone unsuspecting.

I also came across some pipes that were running directly into the awa from a source I could not place, but they were also downstream not too far from the cows I pictured so it may have had something to do with farming in general. The last image was of the back of a sign closer to the Leslie Rd end of Te Waihou, with stickers of varying range. Some looked to be from tourists, while the others could have been anyone, local or not. The reason I took a photo of this was because I felt that the commodification of Te Waihou was reflected in these random stickers, and the increased foot traffic will most likely add to this makeshift mural if nothing is done to manage the direction Te Waihou is heading down.

[danielletein]

These are my campaign's posters (in a work-in-progress stage). I plan to create informational posters highlighting Māori ways of conserving natural resources, specifically water, and the negative influences on Te Waihou from neoliberal impacts such as tourism and water bottling. I also want to use an emotional angle with one of my posters to provoke benefincial thought and change for the awa and its natural surroundings.

[danielletein]

Production Timeline

I created a rough production timeline to help keep track of my campaign process and ensure I have my final media outputs produced and handed in on time. Each checkpoint represents how far I should be in the making of my project. So far I am in the process of contacting my interviewees and starting creative production on both my poster and podcast.

[danielletein]

Project Moodboard

This moodboard reflects the major impacts and inspiration for my poster and podcast campaign. Each image is a representation of what is affecting Te Waihou, with degrading environments and tourism as an example, coupled with how our awa should be thriving. With a visual presentation of what I want to achieve, I feel plenty of motivation towards this project and look forward to experiencing this creative process.

[danielletein]

Case Studies: Poster & Podcast

I found great inspiration in the case studies I found. For my poster, Te Tauihu Environmental Trust (TET) and Chris Burkard gave me some great pointers as to how I can approach my topic creatively. TET has a page of a draft plan for the Motueka Catchment, coming from the Motueka Catchment Collective, that is very informative of their methods to help conserve our natural environment. Chris Burkard's photography is a great visual incentive for my campaign. His images evoke the feeling that nature is just as alive as we are, his photos of Iceland's rivers almost mimicking veins, an amazing aspect I could potentially incoporate into my work that's meaningful to me. Mixing education with impactful visuals that will both inform and evoke emotional effects from my audience is the goal I'm aiming for.

A quick search for podcast examples granted me a lucky find in the form of RNZ's Our Changing World, with a specific episode titled Restoring freshwater forests, giving me great insight to what I experiment with for my own podcast. The episode is also very educational and takes place outside of a recording studio, which is something similar I wanted to try with my interviewees when dicussing Te Waihou. This just highlights the fact that podcasting is the perfect medium for my topic of choice.

Below referenced are my sources for the images above:

Photography images (first 3 images): Burkard, C. (n.d.). [Photograh] X Universe. https://alphauniverse.com/stories/chris-burkard-on-conservation-photography-and-his-creative-drive-an-earth-day-conversation/

Website Screenshot: RNZ. (n.d.). Restoring freshwater forests. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ourchangingworld/audio/2019013721/restoring-freshwater-forests

Motueka Draft Plan: Motueka Catchment Collective. (n.d.). Help Shape How We Live With and Care for Our Rivers. https://motuekacatchment.org.nz/help-shape-how-we-live-with-and-care-for-our-rivers/

Te Tauihu Environment Trust. (n.d.). Help Shape the Future of Our Catchment - Have Your Say. https://www.tet.org.nz/news/shaping-how-we-live-with-and-care-for-our-rivers

[danielletein]

Research: Clifton E. Kelly's 2020 thesis

During my research, I happened across a thesis written by someone from Putaruru named Clifton E. Kelly. His thesis was written in 2020 for the degree, Master of Social Sciences at our very own University of Waikato.

Thanks to Kelly's own research, I was able to find out a plethora of information I previously didn't know about Te Waihou/Tūheihei. The above images are brainstorm notes taken directly from Kelly's thesis. My brainstorming process was quite fun, as I have never thought to take down information this way before, and trying this method has proved efficient in my researching. Something interesting (and cool) I found out is that a close friend of mine actually knows Kelly, and even recognised a couple of interviewees from the thesis who Kelly had quoted. It was very exciting to find this research and I really enjoyed learning about our toanga tuku iho.

Below is Kelly's thesis referenced in proper APA formatting:

Kelly, C. E. (2020). Te Mātāpuna o Te Waihou: When the River Speaks: Te Waihou river rights and power-sharing in the currents of cultural inequality (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Waikato).