WILD12 Delegate Spotlight: Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn

Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn of the Ngāti Kurī and Te Rarawa Māori peoples of Aotearoa (colonized name - New Zealand) shares photos of her homeland and her organizing actions against extractive industries and treaty signings. Catherine’s work has focused on policy work by engaging with governments about how their policies fall short of standards, to shine a light on the gap between the standard and the policy and how to bridge it, disrupting a system that has been rigged to support colonizers. You can hear her speak about some of her work towards establishing a Marine sanctuary, and see photos from her homeland.

Catherine has been an Indigenous human rights and environmental defender most of Her adult life. Her credentials include a Master of Laws; official roles in two Māori Treaty Claims negotiations with the New Zealand Government; UN OHCHR Indigenous Fellowships (2005 and 2020); Indigenous representative postings for numerous UN mechanisms (including Pacific Caucus Chair responsibilities); and founding member of various local and Pacific regional activist networks. A proud grandmother, Catherine also works in the area of metaphysical activism - particularly Indigenous spiritual knowledge and practices for healing people and the planet.

“We need Indigenous People and western science to get in the same room–as equals–and have a conversation. Not as colonizing, expert scientists coming over, stealing our knowledge. Because we know this has happened already countless times: extracting our knowledge, taking it back to their labs, turning it into something that can be commodified, commercialized, and then saying ‘we scientists discovered this.’ I believe it needs to begin with an admission, an acknowledgement, a recognition that scientists need to apologize for their doctrine of discovery in their field. The community of western scientists need to do the same thing for Indigenous Peoples. We need to rebuild the trust where it’s been demolished and eroded.”