Sharing the fruit of knowledge tree for the good of all
"Sometimes it is easy to incorrectly think we are the only ones partaking of the knowledge tree and are therefore the only ones with a right to that knowledge or miro berry. "
One of my favourite Ma¯ ori proverbs is “Ko te manu e kai i te miro, nona te ngahere. Ko te manu e kai i te matauranga, nona te ao katoa”. One literal translation says the forest belongs to the bird that feasts on the miro berry.
The world belongs to the bird that feasts on education. Another says the bird that feasts on the miro berry replenishes the forest and the bird that feasts on knowledge replenishes the world.
Many years ago one of my kaumatua was angry at some people who had cleaned a part of our iwi land.
When I inquired what they had done wrong, he said they had cut down the only miro tree in the forest area. Further inquiry revealed he would feed his chickens miro berries from that tree, giving them a distinct “pigeon” flavour.
I am sure chickens were not a part of the original intent of this old Ma¯ ori proverb, but the knowledge and wisdom of my kaumatua to feed his chickens miro berries certainly was.
When a bird eats any berry in the forest, natural processes lead to that bird distributing the seeds of those berries to other parts of the forest or habitat.
Those seeds then grow into more trees, thereby replenishing the forest.
When a person learns new knowledge a natural process is for that knowledge to be shared, as I am doing now through this article, and given today’s technology who knows where in the world it could end up?
As the berry seeds replenish the forest, it is hoped that any knowledge we all share will replenish the world.
As we move through 2023, I would encourage us to learn and share more knowledge but to also be careful about what we are sharing. Just because we can say stuff doesn’t mean we have to.
As a piece of wisdom says, once spoken those words cannot be recalled. Some words need to be wrapped in silence.
In sharing information there are certainly people we should be protecting and wrapping in silence. People such as our wha¯ nau. For example, Michael Schumacher, the famous Formula One driver, was often asked questions by the media about his family.
His reply was the same each time, “private is private”.
“I will answer questions about me and my driving but my family is private.” Many years later, just months after retiring, Michael was seriously hurt while skiing with his son and was placed into a coma. Once again, the media came knocking and this time it was his wife who said “private is private”, and just as Michael protected our privacy as members of his wha¯ nau, they were now protecting his privacy.
So, what does “private is private” mean for you and your wha¯ nau? Especially when there seems to be a bit of a trend to tell all on social media or write books disclosing wha¯ nau secrets of late. Another saying is that there is nothing new under the sun. There is no new knowledge that someone did not know before you. Sometimes it is easy to incorrectly think we are the only ones partaking of the knowledge tree and are therefore the only ones with a right to that knowledge or miro berry.
For example, indigenous knowledge is thousands of years old and just because someone recently realises the medicinal properties of a particular leaf or berry does not mean they have the right to claim that knowledge as their own through patents and the like.
However, that is what some people do for the sake of developing money for themselves rather than sharing that knowledge with the forest, to make the world a better place. One of the “forest” lessons from the original Covid outbreak was how important it was for researchers to share knowledge to come up with immunisations because the health of the forest was at stake.
Ko au ko koe, ko koe ko au, I am you and you are me, is one of my uncle Mita Mohi’s favourite proverbs and this proverb was certainly in action during the world’s time of crisis. The fruit of the forest such as guava and miro berry have many fine attributes.
The wood pigeons (kereru) can be known to absolutely gorge themselves on fruit and berries to the extent that on a hot day, after sitting in the sun, their stomach processes can lead to the fruit fermenting, making the pigeons drunk.
Pigeons have been known to literally fall out of their trees. Hopefully, we do not become so selfish and gorge ourselves on knowledge and self-importance with knowledge that we should be sharing, that we fall out of our trees in 2023.
Sharing is caring, but just be careful what you share.