23:T454,

Moriori culture is one of the most researched in the Pacific, and yet perhaps one of the least well understood. Until the last 30 or so years, history had consigned the Moriori people of the Chatham Islands near New Zealand to being defined as extinct and almost landless. Today Moriori are in a spirit of revival and reconnection with their identity and culture. Through the gift of the Traditional Knowledge Revival Pathways (TKRP) software system, laser scanning of rākau momori (tree carvings), and involvement in the Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH) Project, Moriori are developing an extensive database of cultural landscapes, elder stories, traditional practices and digital records of taonga. The next stage of this research will involve development of an intranet guide to taonga Moriori (ancestral artefacts) in overseas collections. Here we explore the methods and technology that Moriori have been using to assist in the process of preserving taonga for present and future generations to enjoy.

24:T428,

To clarify the medieval tradition of the biblical Susanna, this study explores a new kind of Lenten sermon that arose in the fourteenth century and flourished. Creatively the Franciscan Johannes Contractus expanded a mainstream exegesis, popular since apostolic times: interpreting Susanna (Dan 13) as a type of Christ. Friar Johann opened a Holy Week sermon with her words in prayer when condemned to death—Ecce morior cum nihil horum fecerim que isti maliciose composuerunt adversum me—and presented them as apt for Christ pendens in cruce. Fifty-five manuscripts from across Europe record sermons on this innovative model. An Ecce morior sermon preached at the Council of Constance (1414–1418) on Good Friday further popularized the genre. Moreover, this popular motif also migrated to other texts including liturgical plays, notably the Planctus beatae Marie virginis cum prophetis. Comparing Susanna in her character, words and actions to Christ was highly affirmative of women.

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Taonga Moriori : Recording and revival

Ecce morior : Lenten Sermons Comparing Susanna and Christ