Kai piro was traditionally a staple component of the Māori diet. However, over time and due to post-european contact, the practice of sourcing, processing, and consumption of kai piro has lessened to the degree in which it is no longer part of the common Māori diet today. The practice of kai piro is maintained today by remnants of an ageing Māori population.

PhD Candidate: Kapua O’Connor (Ngāti Kurī, Pohūtiare)

Primary Supervisor(s): Professor Tracey McIntosh

Project Supervisor: Dr Gianna Leoni

Partner: Te Hiku Media

Project Summary: Papa Reo is a multilingual language research platform grounded in indigenous knowledge and ways of thinking and powered by cutting edge data science. Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika (Te Hiku Media) have been trusted gatherers and kaitiaki of te reo Māori data for over 30 years. The overall objective of the summer internship was to investigate the linguistic features of te reo Māori in tautohetohe, formal debates, broadcast in the mid 1990s.

Project Summary: The Whakarauora Research Project aims to re-integrate traditional fishing methods used by Whanganui tūpuna into the development of an education curriculum and through facilitating wānanga. Wānanga have been facilitated for a tamariki and rangatahi environmental group, called Te Morehu Whenua, who have been established under the auspices of hapū associated with Rānana Marae, Whanganui. As a case study, Te Morehu Whenua examine taonga species within the Whanganui River area, which include tuna, kākahi, kōura, atutahi and pātiki.

Project Supervisors: Morgan Tupaea and Dr. Rāwiri Tinirau

Institution: Te Atawhai o Te Ao: Independent Māori Research Institute for Environment and Health

Project Summary: The Whakapapa Research Project aims to gather whānau narratives from eight whānau case studies. As this project unfolds, whānau responses to challenges they have experienced will be documented, and a whānau research methodology will be developed. Through this project, an innovative space of whānau narratives and whakapapa connections will be created, and provide insight into the organisation, perseverance, and preservation of whānau and whakapapa over time.