In New Zealand, legal personality has been accorded to a rainforest (2014), a river (2017), and a mountain (2025). In all these acts, Maori ecological values and guardianship of nature have been included, sometimes even in Maori language. 

The poetic language stands in sharp contrast with the anthropocentric language of the New Zealand legislation and reveals some of the gaps between the Western and the Maori relationship with nature. 

This discourse makes the legislation of New Zealand an important study for exploring legal possibilities that are less anthropocentric and take traditional ecological knowledge into account.

Speaker

Mariëlle Matthee studied English literature at the University of Liverpool, she is a lecturer at Leiden University and an affiliated fellow at KITLV. Mariëlle has a background in environmental law (PhD in international law) and combines the legal perspective with literature in her research.

During her last research, she focused on the Maori language language in New Zealand, and rediscovered the importance of indigenous cultures and languages and their use of poetic language to safeguard nature. Her current project uses an esoteric approach to explore the ways of nonhuman communication in environmental governance.

Moderator

Louie Buana is a heritage storyteller and PhD candidate at Institute for History (Leiden University), researching South Sulawesi's legal history and maritime connections. Louie is a guest Researcher at KITLV.

Format, date, time & venue

This seminar is a hybrid event and will be held in the conference room of KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden and online via Zoom, on Thursday 13 March from 15.30 – 17.00 PM (CET).

Registration

If you want to join this seminar on location, please register via: kitlv@kitlv.nl

If you wish to join this seminar online, please register here

UUKS

This seminar is part of the monthly Unraveling Unconventional Knowledge Systems (UUKS) seminar series.

Image

Taranaki Maunga in early morning, the mountain that received legal personhood on 31 January 2025.