Whaia te Mana Māori Whakahaere Tōtika ki Whai Rawa – In Pursuit of Māori Self-Determination and Good Governance for Wealth and Well-Being

Project commenced:

How can 21st century Māori self-determination and self-governance jurisdiction aspirations best be supported in law to assist with meeting strategic Māori community economic objectives of wealth and well-being?

What legal solutions and models can better support multi-dimensional and intergenerational wealth and wellbeing for whānau, hapū and iwi as envisaged in the Treaty of Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?

This is a collaborative research project led by Dr Robert Joseph and a research team in the University of Waikato Māori and Indigenous Governance Centre (MIGC) who are working with other Māori and Indigenous experts, communities and institutions to co-produce internal self-determination and good Māori self-governance jurisdiction research and models possible in law that seek to achieve multi-dimensional and intergenerational wealth and wellbeing for whānau, hapū and iwi in fact as envisaged in the Treaty of Waitangi and UNDRIP.

How can we better conceptualize Indigenous peoples’ rights and responsibilities to self-determination and self-governance in new, creative and innovative ways which fully respect Indigenous peoples’ rights, responsibilities and relationships with settler state Governments and the broader public?  In the second decade of the new millennium and as we approach the 10th anniversary of the 2007 UNDRIP, Indigenous rights enjoy nearly universal rhetorical support, but how they are to be implemented in practice without compromising Indigenous economic and political aspirations on the one hand, and social development and cultural integrity on the other hand, remains contested (Joffe, 2010; Charters, 2009, Erueti, 2017).

This project is specifically exploring the nexus of Indigenous self-determination and self-governance, and Māori governance jurisdiction, and the strategic development of balanced wealth and well-being within a Māori narrative of whai rawa and tikanga Māori.

Research Lead(s) and Team

Ngāti Raukawa ki Wharepuhunga Te Pae o Raukawa Ngäti Paretekawa o Ngāti Maniapoto
Senior Lecturer

Robert is a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and was a senior research fellow for the Te Mātāhauariki Research Institute at the University of Waikato under the leadership of Judge Michael Brown and Dr Alex Frame. Dr Robert Joseph was the second Māori in New Zealand - and the first Māori male - to graduate with a PhD in Law in 2006.

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