Projects

The commercial fishing industry is a complex system, and one issue that can hamper the success of fishing companies is the inadvertent capture of fish that are not target species. Under the Quota Management System, if a company has limited quota for a non-target species then fishing for target species has to stop once the limited quota of non-target species has been met. In a lead-up

Rakiura Māori muttonbirders and researchers collaborated to build and test a computer-based decision support package to allow individual kaitiaki to choose optimal harvesting strategies on their own whānau’s ancestral birding ground.

For many years, the knowledge of indigenous peoples has been the preserve of Western anthropologists and ethnographers. Like other indigenous people, Māori are concerned with the ongoing neglect, misuse and erosion of traditional ecological knowledge. This is further compounded by the loss of key knowledge holders over the years and their scarcity today.
 

Otago has very low numbers of Māori language speakers – French is the most widely spoken second language in the region. Given this context, it is important that any interventions aimed at revitalising and maintaining the Māori language are evidence-based.

The population of kanakana (piharau, lamprey) is poorly understood and believed to be declining. In Murihiku concern for this taonga species led to this research in the Waikawa River.
 

Te Reo Māori represents an amazing opportunity to New Zealand for its potential to enrich society and culture and transform the experience and consciousness of those who are exposed to and use the language. The Māori language is an official language of New Zealand and is indigenous to our country. It is part of our country’s national character and identity.

This project draws together in digital form taonga exchanged during European voyages to Polynesia between 1765 and 1840. The digital format helps increase knowledge of the collections and reconnects iwi with their taonga held in archives and museums worldwide.

The Hauraki Māori Trust Board and the Cawthron Institute collaborated in this research project which stemmed from a spate of dog deaths on the beaches of Tikapa Moana (the Hauraki Gulf) in August 2009.  The dogs died from the poison tetrodotoxin (TTX) and this poison was present in sea slugs that had washed up on beaches.

The late Dr Pei te Hurinui Jones (Ngāti Maniapoto), one of Māoridom’s leading scholars, amassed a significant collection of books, manuscripts and taonga during his lifetime. His son Brian Hauāuru Jones donated the vast majority to the University of Waikato and a room, He Mahi Māreikura, was established in 2004 especially to house the collection. The room’s layout is based on a whare puni and adheres to tikanga principles.
 

Whare tapere were pā based ‘houses’ of storytelling, dances, music, games, puppets and other entertainments. This research explores how fragments of traditional knowledge concerning the whare tapere can be used in a contemporary arts project.

This project is contributing to the key policy area of whānau ora/ family wellbeing via new analysis of the wealth of data contained in the six national household censuses of 1981 to 2006.

The researchers will use wānanga, catch information, laboratory experiments in which the lengths of the day-night and tidal cycles are systematically varied, and simulation modelling to: identify similarities and differences between the Māramataka and science in understanding of the lunar rhythm; develop a consistent analysis and interpretation of patterns of variation in predictions of fish ca

Inequalities in child health between tamariki Māori and non-Māori are largely preventable and unnecessary. An example is rheumatic fever, where tamariki Māori are 30 times more likely to contract the disease than non-Māori. Being ill as a child has a big impact on school attendance and outcomes, and it may cause lifelong disability or illness. There are high costs involved, for the health system, society and to whānau. This study aimed to estimate how much not doing anything to reduce child health inequities really costs us.
 

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Inequalities in child health between tamariki Māori and non-Māori are largely preventable and unnecessary. An example is rheumatic fever, where tamariki Māori are 30 times more likely to contract the disease than non-Māori.

This project has involved the digitisation and categorisation of a diverse range of tāonga from the 28 Māori Battalion, D Company veterans and their families, including videoed interviews, handwritten and typed letters and other documents, and photographs of people, places and personal objects.

The commercial fishing industry is a complex system, and one issue that can hamper the success of fishing companies is the inadvertent capture of fish that are not target species. Under the Quota Management System, if a company has limited quota for a non target-species then fishing for target species has to stop once the limited quota of a non-target species has been met.

Māori have used geothermal waters and materials for centuries, yet in contemporary times only a few iwi groups have developed their geothermal resources, even though geothermal energy has sustainable and renewable attributes. One barrier to development has been a clear pathway that incorporates kaitiakitanga responsibilities into the development process.
 

The Life and Living in Advanced Age; A Cohort Study in New Zealand (LILACSNZ): Te Puāwaitanga o Ngā Tapuwae Kia Ora Tonu is the first large-scale study of people in advanced age in Aotearoa, New Zealand and the only longitudinal study of people in advanced age that includes a large number of Māori people.

This research project’s origins date back 27 years when Dr Joe Te Rito helped establish local Māori radio station Radio Kahungunu at the Hawke’s Bay Polytechnic, Taradale. Joe saw how the dialect of his iwi Rongomaiwahine-Ngāti Kahungunu was diminishing in quality, in terms of grammatical and spoken fluency, with each generation. The station was to fill the gap for children who did not have Māori spoken in the home or role models to learn te reo from. While schools looked after education, the station wanted to bring the voices into the home.

Health promotion was traditionally delivered within a public health setting in New Zealand. With changes to primary care delivery, health promotion is increasingly delivered within the primary care setting due to national strategy changes aimed at improving health outcomes.