Project supervisor: Associate Professor Linda Te Aho

Institution: Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Raumati intern: Nikorima Te Iwi Ngaro Nuttall (Raukawa) & Noah Piripi Kemp (Te Aati Awa, Ngaapuhi, Ngaati Tuuwharetoa)

Project Summary: The annual Borrin Foundation – Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Legal Research Internship Awards enables two Māori tertiary students to research legal issues of relevance to Māori. The purpose of the internship programme is to promote Māori legal scholarship, and strongly connect legal research with legal practice.

The 2022/2023 Borrin Foundation- Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Legal Research Internship analysed case law and legislation to explore the transformative recognition of tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in law and policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Tikanga is being increasingly integrated into legislation and into our common law through decisions of the courts. 

The interns were guided by Associate Professor Linda Te Aho, an experienced supervisor of tikanga-focused student research and other members of Te Hunga Rōia Māori. The internship research also connects with a broader project led by Associate Professor Linda Te Aho, titled E rua ngaa marae, kotahi te iwi, A history of Ngaati Koroki Kahukura. The broader project is funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and the Judith Binney Trust. The project gave voice to iwi and hapū to share stories and mātauranga, including stories and negotiations experience in relation to the Waikato River Settlements, from which emerged the concept of Te Mana o te Awa, the inclusion of Te Mana o te Wai in National Planning Statements, and more recently Te Oranga o te Taiao.

The interns learned how to be a member of a research team and presented findings to an audience from communities of interest, become more experienced in literature review and archival research techniques and develop strategies for engaging audiences through planned dissemination.  The research progressed through the internship  provided deeper insight into key concepts according to a Māori world view, and the impact of their inclusion into western legal frameworks.