Power, People and Plant Pathogens. A historical examination of plant biosecurity risk and its impact on Māori communities

Historically, plant pathogens have caused much distress to indigenous groups in settler-colonial contexts. This thesis argues that Māori communities have long been impacted disproportionately by plant disease and continues to be the case as expanding pests and diseases threaten more of the economic and natural estate of indigenous peoples. This research examines and compares three significant and diverse plant biosecurity incursions in Aotearoa New Zealand to demonstrate how plant disease has triggered a range of impacts and respective responses from Māori. At the end of the 19th century the potato blight caused acute implications for Māori settlements, 50 years on, kūmara black rot caused considerable and incremental damage for Māori growers and enterprise and more recently, kauri dieback continues to denigrate Māori spirituality, identity, and access. Findings suggest that Māori ascribe value to plant species based on a range of measures that can be influenced heavily by economic opportunity, industry and changing social needs. Further findings show that the nature of plant disease implications on Māori are correlated with the nature of the Māori-taonga relationship which illuminates an opportunity for biosecurity systems to realign, redesign and/or readjust. A final component of this research highlights how colonialism and its long shadow have handicapped Māori capacity to resist plant biosecurity incursions. Plant disease risk will continue to disproportionately impact Māori if decision makers fail to address biosecurity inequity and continue to misunderstand or ignore the Māori-taonga relationship.