Cultural and Mathematical Symmetry in Māori Meeting Houses (Wharenui)

Abstract

This chapter draws on the symbolism found in various artefacts in wharenui (meeting houses), with a particular focus on Rauru, a traditional Maori meeting house located in Hamburg, Germany, the location also of ICME 13, to illustrate an aspect of ethnomathematics: cultural and mathematical symmetry. This addresses a gap in Maori-medium education whereby much of the focus to date has been on revitalising the endangered Indigenous language of Aotearoa/New Zealand, te reo Maori. In contrast, reviving the associated cultural knowledge has been somewhat stymied for three key reasons: the dwindling number of elders with the knowledge, the tension associated with transposing traditional tribal knowledge to contemporary learning environments and resistance on the part of state agencies to acknowledging Indigenous knowledge. After 100 years of cultural and linguistic assimilation, reviving cultural knowledge is a big challenge for marginalised groups. Fortunately, aspects of both cultural and mathematical knowledge remain embedded in highly valued artefacts such as the meeting house, and are thus able to be reconnected in the contemporary Indigenous mathematics classroom. However, there is a need to better understand how the cultural significance can be connected to mathematical understandings in a way that gives value to both.