Pae Ahurei

This internship explored archival sources for Māori knowledge and stories about kākāpō, supporting efforts to protect this taonga species. Guided by NPM researchers, the intern contributed to public education strategies connecting mātauranga Māori with conservation.

This internship explored how Maramataka Māori and mātauranga can be meaningfully integrated into English and Māori-medium education in Aotearoa. It supported the protection and sharing of tohunga knowledge through research and a symposium connecting Indigenous educators across the Pacific.

This project explored archival and historical material across Aotearoa and the Pacific to inform a whare metaphor for the new Centre of Indigenous Science at the University of Otago. The intern contributed to kaupapa Māori research within Te Koronga, gaining skills in research praxis, literature review, and kaupapa setting.

This internship focused on Indigenous Science curriculum through a kaupapa Māori lens, producing a literature review of Māori and global Indigenous approaches. Working with Te Koronga and the Centre of Indigenous Science, the intern gained hands-on experience in kaupapa Māori research and curriculum development.

Reimagining our cities through Indigenous knowledge, identity, and environmental care. Today, over 85% of Māori live in urban environments across Aotearoa. These modern kāinga (settlements) are more than places to live—they’re reflections of identity, connection to whenua, and intergenerational ingenuity. Yet, many Māori have been relegated to the margins…

Spanning from Maungatautari to the Waikato River, this project centres the identity, resilience, and knowledge of Ngaati Koroki Kahukura. Through research grounded in whakapapa, reo, tikanga and mātauranga, we illuminate the vital role our iwi has played in shaping wellbeing, cultural revitalisation, and sustainable relationships within our rohe and beyond.

Revitalising kai piro – reconnecting traditional Māori food practices with community health, cultural identity, and future innovation.

The research considers our whanaungatanga relationships and whakapapa connections to ngā rākau and ngāhere. This has led to the creation of a plant-based 16mm film developer, replacing the environmentally damaging Kodak D-76 chemicals.

Simon’s research is concerned with the imposition of Western thought on Māori which has displaced our ways of knowing and being. Colonisation is most visible in the political and biophysical spheres, however, less apparent is the damage to the less tangible – a Māori metaphysics – which underpins relation to the world, and importantly, our ways of existing.

This research programme dives beneath the surface to expose how efforts to address racism in Aotearoa can be symbolic, sidelining Māori worldviews and limiting true transformation. Led through a kaupapa Māori lens, this programme challenges narrow, imported definitions of racism and equity, and confronts how dominant systems create and maintain Māori…

Project SummaryCurrently, the New Zealand Education system is failing Māori in almost every measure of educational progression. A significant part of the problem is the lack of cultural competence of the non-Māori majority teacher workforce. Given the projections of increasing Māori and Pacifica student populations, there is a compelling need to address the…

This project investigated the linguistic features of te reo Māori in formal debates (tautohetohe) broadcast in the 1990s, supporting the development of Papa Reo—an Indigenous-led multilingual language research platform.