Te manu huna o te pō: The kākāpō’s cultural legacy

The kākāpō, a nocturnal parrot native to Aotearoa New Zealand, embodies resilience and rarity. Once found across the country, this taonga species is now critically endangered, threatened by habitat loss and predators, and requiring major conservation efforts. This article is an attempt to retrieve mātauranga Māori about the kākāpō by exploring its role in cosmology, material culture and oral traditions. Our search of the literature, mōteatea and waiata archives, and museums resulted in very few references of central interest to this study. Most references concerned the kākāpō’s decline and conservation. References of note were Elsdon Best’s detailed account of the bird’s ecological, cultural and material significance as a taonga species; a rare waiata tangi collected by George Grey in which the composer mourns the loss of a child; and the kahu kākāpō in Perth Museum, the only known example of its kind. In response to the limited references to kākāpō, a waiata tangi composed by the first author is used to discuss our results and as a model for revitalising knowledge and memory. Climate change poses substantial challenges to the survival of the kākāpō, including disruptions to essential food sources and habitat. These challenges mirror the historical upheavals faced by Māori and the natural world. To address these threats, adaptive strategies must prioritise not only the conservation of kākāpō and other threatened species but also the revitalisation of mātauranga Māori, reaffirming its significance in safeguarding this taonga species.