Bicultural mixed-method research is increasingly being woven into many academic disciplines but remains poorly represented in geomorphology. In Aotearoa New Zealand, partnership agreements legitimised by the Treaty of Waitangi—the founding document of modern Aotearoa New Zealand—require that research endeavours seek to involve, prioritise and respect mātauranga Māori, the knowledge, worldview, culture and values of the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand. This thesis aims to provide a bicultural account of landscape change and recovery in Aotearoa New Zealand by weaving geomorphological investigations with wisdom, knowledge and perspectives from Te Ao Māori (the Māori world). Timescales over which landscapes respond to major disturbances (such as earthquakes), the roles that people play in responding to major disturbances, and the idea of landscapes “healing” following major disturbances are explored.

A review of the relationship between Indigenous knowledge and science is provided in the first chapter. Three theoretical frameworks (i.e. methodologies) and three models (i.e. methods) for conducting respectful bicultural research are discussed. I explore possibilities for extending the application of these frameworks and models beyond the context of Aotearoa New Zealand, where they were initially developed. I also provide examples from Aotearoa New Zealand of how adaptive research methods that uphold and respect Māori knowledge have provided benefit to the geomorphology community, with the intent that it will inspire more geomorphologists to engage in genuine, respectful, and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities to continue exploring ways of understanding Earth’s surface. This chapter establishes the methodological framework (He Awa Whiria) employed in this thesis.

Two geomorphological investigations of the fluvial response of the Tūtae Putaputa|Conway River to the 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake are presented. These investigations attempt to quantify changes in fluvial processes following the earthquake to determine if the river may establish new equilibrium conditions before the next earthquake of a similar magnitude. In-situ 10Be is used to investigate catchment-wide apparent erosion rates and detect propagation of coseismic landslide material through the catchment. Active radiofrequency identification tags are used to track individual bedload clasts in the fluvial reach at the rangefront of the catchment to determine reach-scale sediment transport conditions. 10Be concentrations in fluvial quartz grains in the Tūtae Putaputa|Conway River record catchment-wide erosion rates of ~0.28 mm/yr, which are similar to erosion rates in a neighbouring catchment unaffected by the earthquake (0.26-0.32 mm/yr). Erosion rates determined from 10Be samples from the rangefront of the Tūtae Putaputa|Conway River (0.41-0.58 mm/yr) are on pace with long-term exhumation rates for the region. Bedload flux rates determined for a reach at the rangefront of the Tūtae Putaputa|Conway River indicate it may take ~250-1320 years for coarse sediment currently connected to the channel to travel through the study reach. Results from both geomorphological investigations suggest that the Tūtae Putaputa|Conway River has capacity to store most of the coseismic landslide material in temporary or semi-permanent riverbed features such as landslide dammed lakes, terraces, and braidplains. The river appears to show no—or perhaps a delayed—response to the earthquake and challenges some common geomorphological assumptions regarding sediment generation, transport, and mixing.

Ten semi-structured interviews with five Māori individuals from different iwi (tribes) and hapū (subtribes) around Aotearoa New Zealand are shared to establish some Māori perspectives of landscape change in Aotearoa New Zealand. The responses of both cultural and physical landscapes to major disturbances are explored and cultural values pertaining to landscape change, and how people can respond to landscape change, are identified. The wisdom and perspectives shared by the participants indicated that cultural and physical landscapes are tightly interconnected, yet sometimes merit independent discussion.

Conversations also revealed key cultural values pertaining to landscape change—reciprocity, sustainability, connections, and adaptability—and resulted in the conceptualisation of a new term for Earth-altering phenomena: Te Ohomauri o te Whenua, The Awakening Lifeforce of the Land. This concept reflects a holistic Māori worldview in which the land has agency to act and that people are responsible for responding to it.

The final main chapter of this thesis (Chapter 5) weaves together the findings from the previous chapters and other aspects of this work (Appendix 1) to present a bicultural narrative of the Tūtae Putaputa|Conway River’s response to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and present a conceptual process framework for geomorphology for bicultural explorations of landscape change. The framework, “landscape co-becoming”, is a multi-directional and multi- dimensional understanding of landscape change that recognises the influence between landscapes and their human and nonhuman inhabitants. This framework could be adapted to conduct holistic explorations of landscape change and processes, informed by cultural values and the relationships within and between landscapes.