Abstract
This article aims to provide insight into the reasons why there are very few Māori in
science departments in New Zealand’s universities. It is a personal, somewhat cheeky,
reflection of my own time in science departments. It is also part of my contribution to the
debate surrounding the “Listener Letter” and was inspired by reading Professor Alice Te
Punga Somerville’s Two Hundred and Fifty Ways to Start an Essay about Captain Cook
and Jack Remiel Cottrell’s Reasons why I called in sick rather than go to the mihi
whakatau for new employees last Friday.