Antarctic trip tinged with sadness
Hinemoa Elder led a moving tribute on the ice to a young Ma¯ori scientist who died before taking trip. By Kari Lyderson.
Amid icebergs and glaciers and under an overcast sky on the Antarctic Peninsula, Hinemoa Elder leads a group of 100 women in a Ma¯ ori song.
‘‘Te aroha, te whakapono, me te Rangimarie, tatou tatou, e.’’
Elder travelled to Antarctica as part of the largest all-female expedition to the frozen continent: women in science, technology, engineering, math and medical (STEMM) fields brought together by the Australia-based initiative Homeward Bound.
The song the women sang on one of the coldest days of the voyage late last year was a tribute to Lilly Marie Taylor, a young Ma¯ ori scientist who was also chosen to be part of the group.
Taylor had begun fundraising for the voyage, but died of a suspected suicide in January 2019.
In a post prior to the trip, Taylor wrote: ‘‘As a Jewish-Ma¯ ori woman, who left school at 15 and spent most of my youth as a metaphorical suitcase moving between homes and minimum wage jobs, I never imagined I could be here, doing a PhD and now going to Antarctica with 95 amazing female scientists!’’
Taylor had been pursuing a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Auckland. Her work focused on making natural compounds synthetically, to more sustainably tap the medicinal or other potential of compounds found in marine sponges and rare plants.
Elder says that getting to know Taylor and then losing her, increased her own motivation to help aspiring female scientists who do not have easy access to academic careers.
‘‘Mental illness affects women of every social strata, and science is no different,’’ Elder says.
‘‘There’s a lot of pressure on women, especially Ma¯ ori women, to be all things to all people. We mourn [Taylor’s] loss, and take her legacy with us.’’
Elder felt it was important to continue assisting and mentoring young women and advocating for institutions to better understand and provide for their needs.
Elder lost her own brother to suicide, which is among the reasons she’s devoted her career to mental health.
Her work as a psychiatrist involves helping to heal this trauma as well as advocating for Ma¯ ori rights, political power and leadership — especially for Ma¯ ori women.
Experiencing the harsh yet fragile majesty of Antarctica with women from around the world exploring their own life transitions and hopes of making a difference in the world helped Elder develop her plans and goals, including the potential creation of a centre for Ma¯ ori leadership.
‘‘Being in the lands of Hinehukapapa, being so aware of Papatu¯ a¯ nuku has been truly eyeopening.
‘‘It reminded me of our ancestors being here many centuries ago and of our responsibility, handed down from them, to protect our mother earth, our Tangaroa, our home,’’ Elder says, referring to the goddess of ice and snow and Mother Earth.
‘‘It underscored the mental health impact of the planetary emergency and at the same time, the potential for building wellbeing by getting more involved in activities that contribute to improving the status of the emergency.’’
For a year before the journey to Antarctica, the women — from more than 30 countries including New Zealand, Australia, the USA, Pakistan, Tunisia, India, Germany, Spain and France — attended intensive workshops meant to help them understand and potentially shift their own leadership styles.
Elder noted that Ma¯ ori leadership can be very different from Eurocentric or mainstream corporate styles, and understanding and incorporating indigenous leadership practices would be of great benefit to any society.
‘‘I believe our leadership models are models for everyone in New Zealand and globally,’’ Elder says.
‘‘There’s a real opportunity to bring the momentum of Homeward Bound and the skill set I’ve been given to serve the needs of our Ma¯ ori community around leadership, taking our leadership to the next level.’’
Inaction by political leaders was very much on the women’s minds during the Antarctic voyage especially in relation to climate change, as most of them focus directly or indirectly on such issues.
The last few days of the women’s trip coincided with COP 25, the international meeting in Madrid where countries failed to reach consensus on important goals including the development of a global carbon market.
Like many such meetings before, it ended without meaningful progress in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
Homeward Bound — which is funded in part by the Spanish renewable energy company Acciona — brings women to Antarctica because it is the last largely pristine wilderness on earth, still mostly untouched by humans except for a network of international research stations and a rising number of cruise boats.
Elder says that Ma¯ ori people are especially vulnerable to climate change. Ma¯ ori economies based on forestry, fishing and agriculture could all be seriously harmed by the droughts, flooding, warming temperatures and ocean acidification linked to climate change.
Many of the women on the Antarctic trip emphasised the legacy and current struggles of indigenous people throughout the program, and called for more indigenous participants in future Homeward Bound voyages.
They often began their Symposia at Sea talks by honouring the original inhabitants of the land where they live.
‘‘All my life I’ve been a strong advocate for having a voice for the environment, having a voice for wildlife, having a voice for nature, and then I realised another voice wasn’t being heard: First Nations people,’’ said Ingrid Albion, a marine biologist, interpretation and education officer for Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.
‘‘And that was people being most impacted by climate change. That’s where I thought I need to create change and I need to be involved in raising the voice of all people.’’
Elder devoted much of her Symposium at Sea on the ship to a formal Ma¯ ori greeting, a mihi and her pepeha, a waiata and a Ma¯ ori proverb that encompassed the same themes expressed by other women: commitment to fighting for a more sustainable world, appreciation for nature and solidarity with women and all people around the world.
‘‘I am a descendant of Mother Earth, I acknowledge Mother Nature, the Ocean, the Earth, the Sky.
‘‘The reeds can be broken if they grow singly, but they are stronger if they grow together.’’