Pūrongo Rangahau | Project Reports

This summer internship investigated the evolution of te reo Māori by examining its linguistic structures, oral traditions, and the impact of historical and policy changes. The research aimed to enhance educational outcomes by analysing phonology, orthography, and teaching approaches, concluding with recommendations for compulsory curricula to better support te reo Māori learners.

Traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes is a feature of indigenous human societies. The biological principles that underpin many such traditional remedies has been established using various scientific methodologies. 

This research project aims to determine how whānau might flourish.

In 2012, a wave of youth suicides in Northland featured far too many of Ngātiwai descent. 19 people under 25 years took their own lives, a huge increase from 5 the year before (Penney & Dobbs, 2014). Suicide rates for Māori youth in Te Tai Tokerau, including the Ngātiwai rohe, is therefore a major public health issue.

This research project evaluated and monitored the environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts of the grounding of the ship Rena on Otaiti, with a particular focus on the impacted areas of Maketū, Mōtītī, and Pāpāmoa. The research team led by Dr Kepa Morgan incorporated an assessment of the mauri of the impacted people within these areas and their environs.

This internship applied the Mauri Model Decision Making Framework to assess the impacts of fracking on an Indigenous reservation in Alberta, Canada—highlighting environmental, cultural, and social consequences. The findings offer valuable insights for future oil and gas decisions in Aotearoa.

Author: Elizabeth Jurisich Strickett. Supervisors: Associate Professor Helen Moewaka Barnes and Dr Tim McCreanor. This report was written while undertaking a Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga internship with Whāriki, SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University.

This research looked at how the 2010/11 earthquakes in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) have affected Māori mental health communities. The research team led by Dr Simon Lambert focused on how the support networks for Tangata Whaiora (a term applied to Māori mental health clients that translates as people seeking health) and their whānau responded and recovered through the disaster.

 

Author: Joshua Tahana. Supervisor Dr Elaine Ballard This report outlines the background for a study to be undertaken tracking phonological development (speech skills) in Māori for Māori speaking pre-school children. Although there is a substantial body of literature on how children develop speech sounds in English we know nothing about the developmental trajectory in Māori.