Whakapapa of data
A spatial feature is more trustworthy when its whakapapa is visible. For GIS, provenance means knowing where information came from, who recorded or supplied it, how it was transformed, what authority applies, and which later datasets or maps were derived from it.
This matters because a clean modern polygon can conceal a complicated history.
Why lineage matters
A feature may have passed through several stages:
If only the final polygon survives, future users may not know:
- whether it came from oral history, a survey, a government record or interpretation
- whether it was digitised approximately
- whether it was approved
- whether its boundary is indicative or legal
- whether it replaced an earlier version
- which information was deliberately omitted from the public copy
Provenance is a governance control
Provenance is sometimes treated as a documentation task to complete after the GIS work. For important Māori spatial information it should be part of governance.
A useful minimum record can include:
| Field | Example purpose |
|---|---|
| Source | manuscript, field survey, iwi archive, LINZ dataset, council service |
| Source date | when the original information was created |
| Recorded by | person or organisation where appropriate |
| Authority | who approved collection, digitisation or use |
| Geometry status | indicative, interpreted, surveyed, legal, generalised |
| Confidence | what is known and what remains uncertain |
| Intended use | planning, archival, public education, internal management |
| Sensitivity | public, generalised, hapū, restricted, not for publication |
| Transformation | georeferenced, digitised, buffered, dissolved, reprojected |
| Version | draft, reviewed, approved, superseded |
| Parent dataset | record from which this derivative was created |
Do not record sensitive names or details in ordinary metadata if that would create another disclosure risk.
Historical lesson
The Waimamaku 2 case is a particularly strong warning about provenance and map authority. Different plans existed, and the distinctions between those representations mattered. Modern GIS makes versioning easier, but it also makes duplication easier. A file called final_final2_revised.gpkg is not a governance system.
Authoritative and publication data should be separate
A robust pattern is to preserve the best authorised source internally and create a separate derivative for public use.
For example:
The public derivative should record its relationship to the authoritative source without exposing information that defeats the generalisation.
This pattern is visible in long-running cultural mapping practice such as Ngāi Tahu's Kā Huru Manu, where public access does not mean the complete underlying archive is simply placed online.
Keep original evidence
Where practical, preserve the evidence from which geometry was created:
- scanned historic map
- photograph
- source document
- field form
- GPS record
- interview or archival reference
- georeferencing control information
- transformation notes
That allows future users to revisit an interpretation rather than treating the first digitisation as permanently correct.
Practitioner note
Treaty-related mapping repeatedly demonstrates the difference between making a persuasive map and preserving the evidential chain behind it. A map prepared for a hearing or discussion may combine historical plans, modern parcels, names and interpretation. The finished map is useful, but without source notes another person may not be able to distinguish historical evidence from later analytical construction.
For this reason, practical Māori GIS training should teach source recording and versioning alongside cartography.
Local Contexts
Local Contexts provides an international example of richer Indigenous provenance and protocol metadata through Traditional Knowledge and Biocultural Labels and Notices. Those mechanisms do not replace database permissions, but they show that metadata can carry community authority, expectations and relationships rather than simply technical fields.
What to do
For significant Māori GIS layers:
- Keep the original source where lawful and appropriate.
- Record who or what the source is.
- Record the authority under which it was digitised or used.
- Distinguish draft, approved, authoritative and publication versions.
- Record transformations.
- Preserve uncertainty rather than manufacturing certainty.
- Link public derivatives back to their lineage without leaking restricted information.
- Maintain a clear supersession history rather than silently overwriting important versions.
Related pages
Sources
Last reviewed: 16 August 2026