Pae Ora

Project lead: Dr. Emmy Rākete Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa The University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau (Host)

In the last four decades, New Zealand has begun imprisoning on a scale never seen before in this land’s history. Māori people have consistently made up at least half of the prison population, and Māori communities are among those that have experienced the worst consequences of mass incarceration.

Awardee: Hannah Rapata (Ngāi Tahu), Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

The NPM Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant supports Māori researchers to achieve impact and transformational research outcomes and knowledge sharing pathways that harness connectedness with research partners and communities; and shares and promotes research uptake and impact.

The award is known as the Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant, administered by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM).

Awardee: Lisa Jean Kremer, University of Otago

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Creating digital assets and illustrations for whānau who have pēpi in the neonatal unit.

In the neonatal intensive care setting, whānau receive a significant amount of written and verbal information about multiple procedures, screening tests and diagnoses, medication use, and more. Most of the written medical information is created from a Western perspective. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) A collaboration with a Māori artist led to the development of illustrations for a written resource on the diagnosis and treatment of ROP, as part of a 2024 honours project.

Awardee: Madi Williams (Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau), University of Canterbury

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Ngāti Kuia: He Pūtake, Hei Pakiaka Ora | A History. The first book focused on the history and identity of Ngāti Kuia.

Ngāti Kuia is an iwi from Te Tauihu-o-Te-Waka-a-Māui. Ngāti Kuia’s history has been left out or misrepresented in existing works. This book is an intentional, necessary writing of Ngāti Kuia into the historical narratives. The aim of the book is to illuminate Ngāti Kuia perspectives about their past and provide these perspectives with a platform in the historical narratives in an accessible way for Ngāti Kuia whānau, the general reader, as well as academics, both Māori and non-Māori.

Awardee: Anna Adcock (Ngati Mutunga), Victoria University of Wellington

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Te Rito o te Harakeke: Collective Resilience and Relational Research with Whānau Māori.

This project supports the dissemination of doctoral research through presentation at the Indigenous Futures Unbound: Indigenous knowledges leading transformative futures conference, held on Kabi Kabi Country, Sunshine Coast, Australia, in November 2025. He Tamariki Kokoti Tau was a longitudinal Kaupapa Māori study with whānau Māori whose pēpi were born preterm. The PhD research, Te Rito o te Harakeke, followed whānau through birth, neonatal intensive care, hospitalisation, and transitions home. It illuminated whānau experiences of resilience and aroha, showing that preterm birth is not only a medical event but a collective journey of connection, cultural continuity, and Indigenous thrivance.

Awardee: Alan Haenga O'Brien (Ngāti Porou), Massey University

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Kia kārohirohi te wairua: Empowering rangatahi Māori and their whānau to understand, nurture, and practise wairuatanga to support wellbeing.