Week 2, Task 2: Whakapapa

Whakapapa is a way of showing history and genealogy from the past and linking species
and ancestors to a place, time or each other. Whakapapa means identity and heritage
in relation to land and whanau. In a natural context, whakapapa is important for classifying
and identifying species and families, how things grew through evolution and provide
a way of explaining how things came to be.

Quotes:

Mäori traditions about this important food source also provide a number of accounts as to its
origins, handed down in the form of narrative and whakapapa

Whakapapa functions as a genealogical table or family pedigree in which the lineages
connect each papa or layer (a metaphorical reference to each generation of a family).

It is possible for descendants alive today to recite from memory their whakapapa
back to a canoe ancestor and thence to the ultimate source. This ability reinforces
the importance of whakapapa as a way of knowing, of locating a person or a thing
in time and in space

Wikipedia definition:

Whakapapa, or genealogy, is a fundamental principle in Māori culture.
A person reciting their whakapapa proclaims their identity, places themselves
in a wider context, and links themselves to land and tribal groupings and the mana of those.

The text describes how some think that genetic modification puts a split in the natural
‘heritage’ and evolution of a species, therefore ruining its whakapapa.

Making sense of the world is assisted by classifying species, visual similarities help
distinguish how far apart in a family tree two species are.

Species are a social construct and don’t actually exist in the real world.

Many knowledge points about the physical scientific genealogy and other knowledge/stories
surrounding it have been lost over time and the whakapapa fades away. 

Ecological links, supernatural beginnings, illustrates it all.

Whakapapa combined with knowledge creates a whole for explaining how things came to be.