Projects

This internship developed a visual identity for Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Wellbeing Economies, bringing Māori wellbeing economies to life through design.
The work supports whānau aspirations by communicating key research in ways grounded in Te Ao Māori.

This internship project, aimed to compile an extensive literature review on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with a focus on the Australasian and Pacific regions.

Tangonge is a hugely significant taonga, historically referred to as the Kaitaia Lintel or Kaitaia Carving. It is now understood to have been a waharoa (gateway) and is considered the earliest surviving Māori carving in the world — a source of great mana and identity for the iwi of Te Hiku o te Ika.

This internship focused on global efforts by First Nations and Indigenous peoples to decolonise and re-indigenise child protection systems.

This internship contributed to a broader research project exploring how experiences of state welfare have contributed to historical trauma for Māori.

This project served as an introduction to the ongoing study Honourable Kāwanatanga: A Prerequisite for Constitutional Transformation. The overall study was designed to answer the following key questions:
1. What is honourable kāwanatanga?
2. How can third sector (and other) organisations strengthen and deepen their engagement with Te Tiriti?

The interns contributed to a research project exploring a new area of law, visual jurisprudence, which is a legal theory that considers how visual legal information affects people's perceptions of the law and its impact on them and their communities. The research focused on the aesthetic and moral implications of Indigenous peoples' visualisation of their law, legal culture, and experiences of coloniality and survivance.

This internship project employed a tikanga-based and marae-based regenerative environmental approach, emphasising the reciprocal relationship between people and te taiao.

This internship contributed to a larger postdoctoral research fellowship project: a kaupapa Māori analysis of Māori experiences of cannabis and methamphetamine use.

This internship aimed to address the critical shortage of literature in this field by providing insight into the ways climate change has impacted the mental health of Indigenous Peoples.

This project aimed to redress the lack of culturally safe, gender-affirming, and inclusive support services available for rangatahi takatāpui and their whānau within the Te Ranga Tupua rohe.

This te reo Māori publication shares powerful naming narratives from reo champions who reclaim Māori names as part of their language journeys. Through these stories—written entirely in te reo—it celebrates identity, resistance, and reo revitalisation, and includes teaching resources for kura kaupapa and wharekura.

Project Summary

This creative-led project focuses on four sites: Poor Knights, Hen and Chicks, Little and Great Barrier Island. 

Pukapuka Hanganga Reo Matatini brings treasured pūrākau of Te Aitanga a Mahaki to life through structured literacy children’s books that support neurodiverse tamariki to learn te reo Māori while connecting with their whakapapa and iwi.

Project Summary

This project, Wānanga Rau, Taumata Rau, Pukenga Rau, aims to provide an innovative conceptual toolkit and resources for the Māori Performing Arts community in Aotearoa, New Zealand. 

He Kahu Kōrero – Cloaks that Speak will be an accessible scholarly book celebrating the art of whatu kākahu and the transformative journeys of six Māori women and their whānau.

Project Summary

The project builds on a case study, “Ko te whaea te takere o te waka: Māori mothers as navigators of change,” which examined Māori mothers as key change-makers for their whānau. 

In 2025, the Waitangi Tribunal marks 50 years since its founding. This new collection, edited by Carwyn Jones and Maria Bargh, will bring together Māori scholars to reflect on the Tribunal’s impactful work across key issues like whenua, awa, taonga, and rangatiratanga. It will highlight the enduring significance of Tribunal findings for Māori communities, despite ongoing challenges in government response.

Project Summary

This project is part of a ‘circular economy’ research project based on a Jobs for Nature’ [J4N] river restoration programme, Toitū te Hakapupu, being undertaken by Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki (Puketeraki) in East Otago. 

Project Summary

This project translates the findings of lead researcher Dr Ngahuia Mita’s doctoral research Tairāwhiti Waka, Tairāwhiti Tāngata; Examining Tairāwhiti Voyaging Philosophies into practical printed and digital resources, to be shared with tamariki, rangatahi and whānau across Te Tairāwhiti and Aotearoa.