Pae Auaha

Awardee: Deborah Heke (Nga Puhi. Te Arawa), Unitec

Funding from this Grant will contribute to activities that support the dissemination, engagement, and impact of research and creative outputs, specifically: the creation and development of a prototype augmented reality (AR) experience exhibition that shares Māori research and narratives through immersive digital storytelling.

Awardee: Morgana Vicki Watson (Taranaki, Te Atiawa, Te Atihaunui-a-Papaarangi, Ngāpuhi), University of Canterbury

This research explores how Māori Futurism can be realised through interactive media, merging traditional Māori knowledge with futuristic storytelling and technology. The project investigates the transformative potential of Māori media, where Te Reo me ngā Tikanga are integrated into the development process of, as well as within immersive, interactive worlds. It aims to create culturally authentic experiences that empower Māori and Indigenous communities by offering edutaining ways to engage with their/our culture, language, and identity.

Awardee: Deacon Fisher (Ngāpuhi (Te Parawhau, Te Uriroroi, Te Māhurehure ki Whatitiri)), Massey University

In recent years, pūrākau have been an area of research interest. This has primarily resulted in the emergence of pūrākau as a mode of therapeutic intervention. Despite this, pūrākau and their application within the social work profession are yet to be explored. In addition, whilst tikanga Māori across social services has been previously explored, tikanga ā-iwi and kawa ā-iwi have often been of secondary focus, aside from the respective research conducted by Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata, Hayley Bell, and Tania Rickard.

In recent years, pūrākau have been an area of research interest. This has primarily resulted in the emergence of pūrākau as a mode of therapeutic intervention. Despite this, pūrākau and their application within the social work profession are yet to be explored. In addition, whilst tikanga Māori across social services has been previously explored, tikanga ā-iwi and kawa ā-iwi have often been of secondary focus, aside from the respective research conducted by Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata, Hayley Bell, and Tania Rickard.

Awardee: Hamiora Te Momo (Ngāti Porou (Ngāti Konohi), Ngāti Raukawa (Ngāti Whakatere), University of Waikato

This doctorial study in computer science explores the design and development of a culturally grounded mobile augmented reality (MAR) system where carvings on the marae can see, recognise, and respond to users through tikanga-led interaction. Using on-device face detection with portable machine learning models, each carving retains relational awareness of individual users—including those sharing whānau devices—supporting personalised engagement without requiring internet connectivity. Users are guided through a whakapapa-based network of pouwhenua, where permission and sequence matter: deeper storytelling is unlocked only through culturally correct pathways.

Universities in Aotearoa hold a vast, largely unmapped, collection of Māori data. With that, these institutions are in positions of power to control the ways in which Māori data is collected, stored, accessed and used, often without meaningful involvement from Māori communities. Organised across three objectives, this project explores how Māori data governance can be strengthened within academic policy and institutional contexts in ways which give effect to Māori Data Sovereignty for Māori hāpori, hapū and iwi.

The first objective investigates the potential for Machine Learning to identify and locate Māori research data held within universities.

Objective two examines existing approaches to Māori data governance within a university context and identifies opportunities to bring institutional policies and practices into alignment with Te Kāhui Raraunga's Māori Data Governance Model.

The third objective focuses on the relationships between Māori rightsholders and their data, exploring how Māori aspirations for MDSov can be at the centre of all decision-making.

The internship project was about Māori understandings of neurodiversity and development of digital technologies.