‘The breath of the mountain is my heart’: indigenous cultural landscapes and the politics of heritage

This paper examines the socio-political implications and consequences of heritage practices related to indigenous cultural landscapes in post-settler nations. Although cultural landscapes are natural and material, they are also, more importantly, inscribed with meaning by those for whom they are heritage. Using a critical heritage studies framework, this paper examines the historical, cultural and legal contexts of Tongariro National Park and its nomination to the World Heritage list. I argue that narratives surrounding the Gift of Tongariro silence the colonial histories of the Park. I show how the ecological integrity and scientific, aesthetic, and conservation values of the Park are promoted, and in the process, Maori people's complex and multifaceted relationships to the land are reframed as a relationship to the 'natural' world. I argue that to truly decolonise heritage, we must locate and acknowledge how our models, theories and practices of heritage work through systems of power and exclusion. Keywords: critical heritage studiesTongariro National Parkcultural landscapesUNESCO World Heritageexpert knowledge Acknowledgement I would like to thank Laurajane Smith and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and valuable feedback. This research was supported by a Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the Oregon Humanities Center. Notes 1. Cultural anthropologist Breglia (Citation2006) used the term in her ethnographic study of the social contexts of archaeological heritage sites in Latin America. 2. More on claim can be found at, http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/claims/claims_process.asp [Accessed 8 December 2011]. See also Stokes (Citation2006). 3. This quote from and email dated January 2009 is confusing because Ngati Tuwharetoa members did not submit a nomination to the World Heritage Committee. I suspect that Forbes is referring to the nomination submitted by IUCN in 1986, which did not report on the cultural heritage values. 4. Because of the sensitive nature of these materials and given that these files are not meant to be viewed by the public, I do not include identifying data. 5. Name suppressed, 6 June 1988, World Heritage Centre Archives, Paris. 6. Name suppressed, 8 January 1988, World Heritage Centre Archives, Paris. 7. Name suppressed, 10 August 1987, World Heritage Centre Archives, Paris.