Projects

Māori are more likely to be assessed and treated by a health practitioner trained within a western cultural system that pays little attention to Māori worldviews. Māori continue to experience misdiagnosis, non-voluntary admissions, inappropriate psychometric testing, high suicide rates, limited choices, differences in medication regimes and poorer treatment outcomes.

Whangapoua Harbour is within the Ngati Huarere rohe and they are kaitiaki for the harbour which is considered a taonga. Ngati Huarere are concerned about the effects of the Matarangi Wastewater Treatment Plant discharge on the mauri of the harbour, swimming, the gathering of seafood and the wider cultural relationship that Ngati Huarere enjoyed with the harbour. This research project has been initiated by Ngati Huarere to investigate the impact of the Matarangi Waste Water Treatment Plant on the mauri of Whangapoua Harbour and the ecosystem.

The original research pilot for this project arose out of a desire to make the transition for many whānau relocating from their city/urban lives back home, as comfortable as possible.

Despite the proliferation of equity and diversity plans and policies that have been established in universities across New Zealand over the past 25 years, Māori academic staff make up only a very small proportion of the nation’s academic workforce (6%) and the proportion of Pacific academic staff is even smaller (2%).

This study investigates how Māori and other indigenous scholars make a distinctive contribution to the disciplinary knowledge bases that drive national development in Aotearoa.

This is an extension of the Mauri Model based assessment conducted in 2011/2012 which assessed the impact of fracking on the Blood Tribe's lands in Ontario. The findings of this research will be extended by encompassing the input of the Iwi affected by consents issued to allow mining exploration activities in the Taitokerau and Heretaunga rohe.

“Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga’s MAI Doctoral Support Programme was of incredible value, especially in connecting me with other PhD students for advice.”

Some economists argue for diversity in the way collective resources are managed rather than an unquestioning faith in leaving things to the market. We support this thinking and looked at how ethics and Māori knowledge can be used equally alongside economics in managing collective Māori assets.

Māori and Pasifika students are under-represented in higher education. Despite important interventions, such as The University of Auckland's Tuakana programme, Māori and Pasifika students are still under-represented in the student body. This project will rely on focus group interviews with Māori and Pasifika students from both sexes at different university educational levels.

Author: Nick Allison

In 2014 Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) commissioned a report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) to assess the economic, social and other impacts of the Māori Centre of Research Excellence.

A summary of key findings from this research impact evaluation were:

Astronomy is the study of the objects in the sky (stars, planets, moons, galaxies, comets etc). Traditionally Māori held great knowledge of astronomy and their studies of the night sky played an important role in everyday life. Much of this knowledge remains recorded in te reo Māori and sits within karakia, waiata, whakataukī, and within place names.

Taunakitia Te Marae aims to research the key contributors of success that will enable marae to be centres of excellence for hapū development. It will explore with whānau, hapū and iwi the characteristics that enable or inhibit the success of marae as centres of excellence; and undertake case studies of successful models for marae that enhance hapū development. Through the research, Taunakitia Te Marae will identify critical determinants of marae wellbeing and construct a marae wellbeing framework to be available for use by marae, hapū and iwi within Te Arawa.

Dr Marion Johnson is the Principal Investigator of Te Rongoā Pastures: Healthy Animals, Resilient Farms.

Practitioner wisdom is an undervalued source of knowledge, particularly that of practitioners working successfully with Māori in uniquely Māori ways. In the field of psychology, there are some who have successfully married clinical psychology and mātauranga Māori to realise successful outcomes for those Māori clients they serve.

This project investigates the wellbeing (economic indicators) of Māori households whānau of a specific iwi using New Zealand Census data from 1991–2006. This project aims to provide greater sovereignty to iwi by providing an evidence base for their decision-making through analysis of this data.

In 2004 Dr Kepa Morgan embarked on a pilot project based around an idea of combining rammed earth technology with muka (flax fibre) – effectively integrating mātauranga Māori with science and engineering, to create low-cost housing solutions. The result was whareuku.

Agroecology, grounded in local knowledge and communities, applies ecological principles to agricultural systems. Indigenous agroecology is an opportunity for mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and totohungatanga Moriori (Moriori knowledge) to inform and generate innovation in farm practices. It focuses on guardianship of the land and the waters that flow through it, based on the traditional and contemporary experience of Māori and Moriori agricultural practitioners.

This Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga project incorporates most of the secondary schools and wharekura within the Rotorua school zone. From the literature, data gathered, and the matching and discussion of this information; the research team’s aim is that educators, parents and whānau will better understand the nature of teaching, learning and home socialisation patterns that support Māori student success.

 

Author: Nimbus Staniland. Supervisor: Professor Charles Crothers This report introduces quantitative analyses of Māori youth employment and occupational status using data from the New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS) issued by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) in 2008 and 2010.

Author: Ani Kainamu, Supervisor: Dr Dan Hikuroa. This project fulfils part of the Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga summer studentship project that looks at the elements of ecological and Mauri restoration at Ōkahu Bay.