Pātai Puāwai

What are the existing gaps and opportunities in climate change research within Te Tairāwhiti that can be leveraged to support the adaptation, mitigation, and resilience-building efforts of Māori communities, whānau, and hapū?

The research project is analysing the WIPO’s proposal to develop databases of Indigenous Knowledge and genetic resources through a case study on mātauranga Māori innovations in papakāinga and assessing findings about novel mātauranga vis-à-vis existing and proposed domestic and international laws regarding data in registries.

This project explores how digital narratives of tohunga can be curated to support and enrich the multiliteracies of ākonga, particularly in Te Tai Tokerau. At its heart, Tohunga Talks is a collaborative digital storytelling initiative grounded in Te Tai Tokerau mātauranga tuku iho, Kaupapa Māori research approaches, and the Mana Model.

Sea level rise is threatening many marae and coastal cultural sites across Te Tai o Araiteuru. Yet existing climate models are complex and often not locally relevant or easy to understand. This project created a dynamic, culturally grounded 3D visualisation of the Otago coastline, integrating Kāi Tahu cultural data with environmental modelling to support hapū and marae in making inter-generational climate decisions.

Māori (and Indigenous) women engage in embodied relationship with the natural environment in a range of ways, such as raranga, rongoā, or physical activity. This research will explore what these embodied relationships can teach us about the potential for reciprocal healing between wahine and whenua, person and place, by developing a network of Māori and Indigenous women and prioritising mātauranga wāhine.

This kaupapa Māori project addresses one of the most devastating impacts of colonisation in Aotearoa – the forced institutionalisation of Māori children between 1950–1999. Drawing on the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry and leveraging large-scale data sets like the IDI, this study developed innovative methodologies to trace historical trauma and its intergenerational effects. Without burdening affected whānau through direct contact, the research seeks to highlight systemic harm, measure outcomes such as reduced life expectancy, and support future tools of justice, healing, and whānau empowerment.