PhD Candidate: Ashlea Gillon (Ngāti Awa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāiterangi)

Primary Supervisor(s): Professor Tracey McIntosh

How do fat Indigenous wāhine experience and enact body sovereignty (as resistance) within systems of oppression? AKA What does body sovereignty mean to you?

PhD Candidate: Kahurangi Rora Waititi (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Ngai Tahu)

Primary Supervisor(s): Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith

This research looks at how mahinga toi as process, theory and output contribute to whānau, hapū and iwi oranga and mana motuhake. This is explored through my iwi of Te Whanau a Apanui who have a strong history of tribal storytellers, that have led to our contemporary kaitoi and kaitito. One of the primary questions was how does mahinga toi contribute to oranga of whānau, hapū and iwi?

Kia ū ki tau kawai whakapapa, kia matau ai, ko wai koe, e anga atu koe ki hea – Take ahold of your ancestral stem, so that you might know, who you are, and what direction you're going in.
Can virtual reality technology promote engagement with the taiao and can we create research methods to assess the impact of virtual reality engagement with the taiao on rangatahi wellbeing?

What mātauranga exists that can support our flora for their continued existence as taonga and how can Māori build their response capability to biological threats on taonga plant species?

What is the current state of knowledge on wairua, pregnancy and birthing, what are the key initia-tives and opportunities for collaborative research pro-jects, and who are the key stakeholders in this area?

Pregnancy and birth are key times in the lives of mothers, babies and their whānau. Some whānau have the re-sources and life contexts that enable them to understand and experience pregnancy and birth using Māori concepts, frameworks and practices while many other Māori experience pregnancy and birth within a largely Western or mainstream biomedical system of processes and practices without recourse to Māori knowl-edge or support.

How do we collectivise what we have for greater gain? How can we best create sustainable new te reo me ngā tikanga narrative led research to refresh, renew and recover te reo me ngā tikanga knowledge narratives and scholarships and support reo speaking communities and scholars and what national and institutional strategies are required to truly enable te reo me ngā tikanga-led research?

This platform project is focused on collectivising te reo me ngā tikanga Māori researchers to support inspirational te reo writers for intergenerational empowerment, greater revitalisation, normalisation and practice within our research settings.

The research question for this platform project are:

The theory of value research platform is concerned with considering:

• How can the values that drive the Māori economy be understood and articulated within a theoretical context?
• How can the values that drive the Māori economy be utilised by Māori communities to enhance wellbeing?

The theory of value platform project seeks to build on research conducted by the Whai Rawa theme in the areas of Indigenous economics and entrepreneurship and Māori enterprise. Māori values research has indicated that they go beyond Māori business and entrepreneurship.

What digital platforms could support a collective approach to Te Tai Ao?
How could this be managed; practically and using what protocols?
What are the potential uses and benefits of these platforms locally, nationally and internationally?
What are the potential Te Tai Ao future needs of iwi/hapū that need to be addressed in the digital platform considerations?
What opportunities are there for Indigenous digital solution platform that can be developed and implemented in communities?

What current methods do Māori (particularly those on low incomes and/or living in conditions of poverty) use to manage money?

What financial products and services are likely to be effective for Māori and how might these be successfully implemented?

What support can Māori organisations (including iwi) and the government provide to increase whānau financial literacy and savings?

Poverty within Māori communities is perpetuated by low incomes, poor financial literacy and a lack of whānau role models who encourage saving. For change to occur, financial education, collaborative community efforts and radical behavioural shifts are required.

The overarching research platform questions include:

How can local tangata whenua be empowered to make the best decisions for sustainable management of Northland’s brown kiwi, and how can the isolated kiwi populations from Ipipiri (Eastern Bay of Islands) be managed to maintain local whakapapa and reduce the negative impact of small population sizes and inbreeding?

Is harakeke one key to a sustainable future for Aotearoa and, if it is, how do we utilise it to develop this sustainable future?

In this platform research, our focus makes the distinction between ‘kai’ as a culturally defined Māori notion and western interpretations of ‘food’. “He moumou kai, he moumou tāngata” describes a state where our existence and futures as healthy Māori people (Mauri Ora: Human Flourishing) are put at risk because our kai sources (Te Tai Ao: The Natural Environment), including access to kai, growing kai, preparing kai, the lore/law pertaining to kai, and control of kai systems (Whai Rawa: Māori Economies) is diminishing.  Without kai or wai the people will perish! 

This NPM Platform Project is building an understanding on how to build stronger, more connected iwi, through enhancing engagement with Māori governance entities.

In Phase 1 of the research, we are exploring the approaches used by Māori governance entities to ask: how do Māori governance entities engage members regardless of where they’re living?

In Phase 2, we then narrow the focus to one tribal governance entity, providing a demographic profile of the iwi based on both census and iwi register data to determine: what are the characteristics of registered and unregistered iwi affiliates?

This project explores the role that enterprise plays in indigenous self-determination. In New Zealand, we have chosen to examine Māori business networks (MBNs), which we argue are a manifestation of this struggle, but suffer from the absence of a sustainable business model. Our research question is, 'what is the role of Māori business networks in Māori self-determination and sustainable economic development'?

What Māori-focused research has been undertaken in the field of speech-language therapy, what does this research tell us about the speech-language therapy needs of Māori, and what evidence is there in the broader health and education sectors for ways to address any inequities or problems with speech-language therapy service provision for Māori?

What existing research, collation, archivingand disseminating of knowledge specific to te reo me ngā tikanga Māori has been done to date across Aotearoa New Zealand within Māori communities, government agencies, and research institutions’, what additional strategies can be used to further support the normalising of te reo me ngā tikanga in the modern world to create communities of practice; and how can iwi, hapū, whānau and marae be further empowered to advance te reo me ngā tikanga, including to share and communicate knowledge effectively with one another?

How will tikanga Māori empower the evaluation of the experience of Māori whānau in crisis to measure the performance of the Government’s new obligations in law to Te Tiriti o Waitangi?

Our longterm objective is to bring new evaluative knowledge to empower the mana of whānau in crisis. 

Māori have clearly and consistently stressed that a Māori child’s wellbeing is inherently linked to their place within, and connection to, whānau, hapū and iwi.

The overarching questions for this NPM Platform Project are: