Projects

This internship aim was to scope the possibilities hapū, iwi and Māori organisations have to exercise Māori data sovereignty over electoral roll data, collected compulsorily about Māori for the administration of the electoral rolls by the Electoral Commission.

This internship investigates how physical activity and sports (PARS) support the mental wellbeing of rangatahi Māori, combining research review and lived experiences to explore culturally relevant pathways to flourishing.

This internship is about the kanakana/piharau/pouched lamprey, a struggling fish species in New Zealand due to decline in river water quality, industrialisation, and river alteration.

This internship uncovered the hidden stories of 2,000 toki from Auckland Museum’s collection, combining archaeology and mātauranga Māori to trace their stone origins and reconnect them to whakapapa. The work opens new paths to understand historic resource use, trade, and sustainable practices in Aotearoa.

This internship explored how urban-raised Māori postgraduate students can reconnect and rekindle their ahi kā with ancestral marae, strengthening their sense of belonging and empowering them to keep the home fires burning.

Intern

Keely Ranga, University of Otago

Supervisor

Dr Jade Tamatea, Waipapa Taumata Rau; The University of Auckland

Overview

Intern

Punua Waitoki, University of Waikato

Supervisor

Associate Professor Te Taka Keegan, University of Waikato

Overview

This project supported the indigenisation of the LLB at the University of Canterbury by developing an online repository of Māori-focused legal resources. The intern helped compile and organise materials to strengthen Māori perspectives in legal education and support future lawyers to engage meaningfully with te ao Māori and Māori legal knowledge.

This internship project focussed on analysing data to address two questions 1. How does trauma impact Māori youth who offend, and their whānau, and 2. how can their lived experiences and Māori approaches to Trauma Informed Care shape law and policy related to youth justice to foster whānau flourishing?

This internship explored the emerging field of Māori data governance, focusing on unmet needs within current data systems. The project unpacked Te Kāhui Raraunga’s Māori Data Governance Model and repackaged its components into practical formats—including FAQs, presentations, and social media-ready content—to support wider understanding and application across iwi and communities.

This research analysed kōrero by wāhine Māori on whenua protection and protest, as expressed in Broadsheet magazine (1979–1984). It contributes to the Mana Wāhine Kaupapa Inquiry by examining how wāhine Māori challenged land desecration and Crown confiscation, and how their activism was represented in feminist media.

This summer internship project researched how Auckland Museum could support Tiaki Taonga through museum practices, using Āta Tiaki Taonga Tuku Iho as an example framework.

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.