Te Aho Tapu

What are the links between environmental integrity and the health, wellbeing and wealth of Indigenous communities?

Ensuring the sustainable management of our natural resources is increasingly becoming an issue of national and international concern, and understandably so.

Intern: Kelly M. Klink

Supervisor: Dr Nēpia Mahuika

University of Waikato

This research seeks to examine the intergenerational impacts that Christianity— and particularly Mormonism—have had on the Māori at Aotea (Great Barrier Island) from the 19th century to the present. The research draws from oral interviews with whanau and pakeke and probes the disruption of traditional belief systems and subsequent assimilation of the Māori of Aotea

Intern: Kara Beckford

Supervisor: Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga

This internship project seeks to create a foundational annotated database of takatāpui literature and resources, including whakawahine and tangata ira tane and other gender non-conforming takatāpui, which are often left out of the narrative.

This project assisted the research network in conducting a thorough literature and resource search, with the output being a themed annotated bibliography.

We are now 30+ years on from when our children first had the opportunity to attend Kōhanga. They are a part of a fortunate generation, like those who will follow them. And so too are those that are following. But what of those older Māori, their parents and grandparents, some of who do speak te reo but many who do not? What challenges to tikanga, age related roles and relationships do these demographics present? Status, mana, roles, responsibilities, ritual duties and leadership are all age related concepts that, in the Māori world, assume a foundation of learning that leads to experience, competence and accumulated wisdom over time. 

The overarching research question is: what constitutes entrepreneurial ecosystem efficacy with respect to indigenous entrepreneurs’ innovation intentions and activity? In order to investigate this overarching research question, the following questions will be explored: (i) how do Māori entrepreneurs think about innovation? (ii) How does enterprise assistance support Māori entrepreneurs’ to innovate? And (iii), what are the implications for enterprise assistance targeting Māori entrepreneurs?

This research seeks to investigate Māori jurisprudence. Māori jurisprudence, broadly speaking, comprises a set of tikanga and how those tikanga are used in everyday life to make decisions that affect Māori communities. For this research we wish to focus specifically on the most important institution of Māori decision-making: the hui. This pilot project will investigate a limited set of hui, specifically examining decision-making and the role of tikanga in such decision-making, within urban contexts.  The research hypothesis upon which this project is designed is that modern everyday Maori jurisprudence is observable and distinct, despite the impact of Western legal frameworks.

What are some of the psychological, emotional and spiritual influences that learners have experienced when learning te reo Māori?

How are these influences related to past trauma or negative experiences of theirs (or others) and in what ways have these influences impacted their engagement with and learning of te reo Māori?

What kinds of intergenerational trauma are having an impact on the ability to engage with and learn/speak te reo Māori?

In what ways do learners overcome these barriers to being motivated to learn te reo Māori?

While all hospitalisations can be stressful for patients and their whānau, hospitalisations involving transfers away from home can be even more so and can present unique issues in terms of how whānau negotiate distance, unfamiliarity, active engagement and help-seeking. In this study, we are interested in better understanding how whānau facilitate support and remain actively engaged in the ‘care equation’ when a whānau member is transferred or hospitalised away from their home location.    

Intern: Rewi Nankivell

Supervisor: Dr Carla Houkamau

The University of Auckland Business School

This research seeks to determine the concepts of cultural richness through a Māori lens and within the principles of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and aroha. Nankivell blends personal narrative and research to examine cultural richness and social capital and how these themes can be integrated into an urban setting.