Matakitenga project

Ahinata’s project engages with the experiences of wāhine and gender diverse Kāi Tahu, informed by iwi and gender specific contexts, in order to answer the question: How do we as wāhine and gender diverse Kāi Tahu learn about, become, and take care of ourselves, specifically in the areas of gender, sex, sexuality and body?

With Breakdancing set to become an Olympic sport at the Paris 2024 games, it is an opportune time to revisit what constitutes sport and movement in Aotearoa. Kapahaka offers the ideal environment for overall wellbeing and identity development to be nurtured in accordance with cultural norms, values, and beliefs.

The project will explore the research question: What would a kaupapa Māori based social media platform for Māori communities and whānau look and feel like?  The research will involve engaging with a specific Māori community through wānanga/whakawhiti kōrero in order to ascertain the key elements required to develop it into a more Māori-specific and -friendly platform. 

The aim of this project is to work alongside the Kauora kaupapa to create a data sovereignty policy and methodology for Ngāti Kapu to protect the mātauranga and reo that is collected whilst learning about kaupapa wai in Ōtaki.

This proposed research uses Kaupapa Māori theory to challenge the current dominant Western explanations for suicide, which fail to consider socio-cultural-political pressures and historical processes such as colonisation as core to Indigenous suicide.

This research project will create a Digital Data Dashboard that links land blocks and sites with tūpuna and hapū names for the uri of Turora.