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126 pages ; "Risk analysis is both a scientific and a political exercise. Ultimately the whole exercise is driven by values, which determine choices made even within science, and the choices made by decision-makers and by society at large."1 Few issues better characterize the social, scientific, and political dimensions of the late 20th and nascent 21st centuries than do debates about genetic engineering. Faced with growing public anxiety about such research, particularly that concerning genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their possible release into the environment, the New Zealand Government has sought to address these concerns in two important ways. First was the commencement of a Royal Commission of inquiry into Genetic Modification. The Commission presented its findings in July 2001.2 The Government has also funded several research projects through the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, which investigates this technology, including the social, cultural, and economic milieu in which this research is being conducted in New Zealand.

The use of whakapapa by New Zealand Maori is most commonly understood
in reference to human descent lines and relationships, where it functions
as a family tree or genealogy. But it also refers to an epistemological
framework in which perceived patterns and relationships in nature
are located. These nonhuman whakapapa contain information concerning
an organism's theorized origins from supernatural beings, inferred
descent lines, and morphological and ecological relationships. In this
context whakapapa appear to function at one level as a "folk taxonomy,"
in which morphology, utility, and cultural considerations all play
an important role. Such whakapapa also function as ecosystem maps of
culturally important resources. More information and meaning is provided
by accompanying narratives, which contain explanations for why things came
to be the way they are, as well as moral guidelines for correct conduct.
Renewed interest in the whakapapa of plants and animals has arisen
from concerns raised by Maori in regard to genetic modification,
particularly the transfer of genes between different species, as
this concept is frequently invoked by those who oppose transgenic
biotechnology. Informed dialogue on this subject requires an understanding
of the structure and function of nonhuman as well as human whakapapa and
their underlying rationale, as well as the nature of the relationships
among the things included in nonhuman whakapapa. Of additional interest
and relevance is the relationship of whakapapa to modern scientific
concepts of taxonomy based on phylogeny and the species concept.
In this paper we describe and interpret the whakapapa of an important
food plant, the sweet potato or kumara, in terms of its apparent
functions and underlying rationale. We also discuss how the whakapapa
and its associated narratives might contribute to the current debate on
genetically modified organisms in New Zealand.