Artemis II’s lunar data reveals systemic gaps in space governance, Indigenous heritage, and geopolitical resource competition
Original framing: “NASA releases trove of Moon data from historic Artemis II flight” — Nature
The Artemis II data release ignores the Moon’s status as a sacred site in Māori cosmology, where *Matariki* (the Pleiades) is a navigational and agricultural guide tied to ancestral stories like *Hine-nui-te-pō*’s descent into the underworld. The 2020 Artemis Accords explicitly exclude Indigenous land rights frameworks, despite the Moon’s spiritual significance to the Ngāti Kahungunu and other tribes. Even the name ‘Artemis’—a Greek goddess of the hunt—erases non-Western lunar deities, reinforcing a colonial erasure. NASA’s silence on these issues mirrors historical patterns of scientific extraction, where Indigenous knowledge (e.g., Māori star-lore) was appropriated without consent or credit.
The Artemis II data release is not just about ‘science’ but a high-stakes battle over who controls the Moon’s narrative—and its resources.
The framing obscures how Western space governance repeats colonial patterns: erasing Indigenous heritage (Māori *whakapapa*, Native Hawaiian navigation), sidelining marginalized scientists (Black and Latinx researchers), and treating celestial bodies as commodities rather than kin. The trickster here is the system itself, using ‘data’ as a smokescreen for geopolitical and corporate extraction, while artistic and spiritual traditions offer alternative visions. Solutions must center Indigenous sovereignty, democratize data, and embed lunar ethics in living cultures—not just scientific papers. The Moon’s future depends on whether humanity learns from Earth’s mistakes or repeats them in space.