Projects

This research supported Te Whakatōhea's vision of mana Māori motuhake through a focus on kai sovereignty and climate resilience. The intern gathered and analysed mōteatea recordings relating to kai, contributing to the iwi’s Tohe Ora Wānanga Whenua programme. The project informed efforts to reconnect whānau with their whenua and promote maara kai for improved iwi wellbeing.

Māmā Aroha, the first Indigenous breastfeeding app, is being updated and enhanced to better support Māori whānau. Grounded in a Kaupapa Māori approach, this project explores how digital tools can uphold the whakapapa of waiū and strengthen intergenerational knowledge around breastfeeding.

We, the delegates of the International Indigenous Climate Change Summit (IICCRS), gathered from November 13th to 17th, 2023, recognize the profound climate crisis facing our world and its dire consequences for Indigenous peoples, our lands, and the global ecosystem.

Project Summary

The second edition of The State of Māori Rights gathers Māori perspectives on key events and issues that have shaped our lives over the past thirty years. Scheduled for publication in 2025, it is a major revision and update of the 2011 first edition, which continues to be widely used in university courses.

This project explored how the Māori concept of tohu—environmental signs—could inform Antarctic research and stewardship. By weaving te ao Māori into international climate science, the research supported Indigenous-led approaches to recognising and responding to signs of change in Antarctica.

This research explored how participation in Waka Ama supports the wellbeing of young Māori women. Grounded in Kaupapa Māori, it examined how the sport strengthens cultural identity, promotes health and fitness, and builds leadership and resilience—supporting their flourishing as rangatahi Māori and contributing to the celebration and preservation of mātauranga Māori through sport.

Māori have a long history of storytelling, which remains a central aspect of te ao Māori and a space for rangatiratanga. This is true of contemporary art forms, though little research has been conducted into adapting literature to screen. Briar’s research seeks to fill this gap by researching the influence of oral narrative forms on Māori literature and how that is then adapted to the screen.

This research will increase our understanding of the sexual and reproductive journeys of taitamawahine to make clear recommendations to improve the provision of abortion healthcare so it’s accessible and culturally relevant to taitamawahine.

This project created “Te Proton Poi” — a waiata integrating mātauranga Māori with quantum physics to support community engagement with advanced health technologies.
Inspired by MRI concepts and kapa haka, the project highlights how culturally grounded approaches can bridge science and te ao Māori to empower whānau.

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 explored 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.

Inspired by an ancient mōteatea and grounded in the living whenua of Ngāti Porou, He Uru Mānuka is a creative cultural mapping project breathing new life into ancestral knowledge. As climate shifts reshape the Waiapu River, we pair traditional practice with modern technologies to document, protect, and uplift the mauri of the land, the waters, and the stories in between.

Street design in Aotearoa has had limited involvement from iwi, hapū and Māori hāpori to date and yet streets are everywhere, they connect us to each other, they are communication channels and spaces and places to engage with others. What then might a Māori street look and feel like?

Bringing together cutting-edge mapping tools, mātauranga Māori, and regenerative farming practices, this iwi-led project empowers Tahamata Incorporation to reimagine the future of their coastal farm. Through GIS, LiDAR, and deep local knowledge, the team is creating new ways to see, plan, and care for the whenua—together.

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.

This project explores how mātauranga Māori can strengthen climate change responses in Aotearoa. By analysing policy and interviewing experts working in te taiao initiatives, the research aims to identify how government approaches support—or limit—Māori-led action. The findings aim to enhance Māori decision-making and climate health outcomes through Indigenous knowledge and leadership.

Indigenous histories are held in archives—but often without the authority of the people they belong to. This project pilots the use of Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels within ArchSite, Aotearoa’s national archaeological database, to return cultural control and visibility to Ngā Hapū o Waimarama.

This nationwide research programme set out to deepen our understanding of the experiences, challenges, and contributions of Māori PhD graduates across Aotearoa. By tracing the post-graduation journeys of nearly 800 Māori doctoral scholars, the study aimed to highlight their intellectual, cultural, social and economic impact—within whānau, hapū, iwi and beyond.

Although the programme has since been disestablished, its kaupapa remains vital: to inform new models of Māori leadership and participation across academia, government, iwi development, and civil society.

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga supported Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti (MTT) in their submission to the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use in Tairāwhiti and Te Wairoa. Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti (MTT) is an informal network of Tairāwhiti residents and others concerned about land use a

This research will explore wairua and spirituality for rangatahi Māori involved with a youth forensic service in Aotearoa, New Zealand