This research project explores the utilisation of sonic mapping and LiDar scanning of Motiti marae and Tapuiwahine A12 landblocks, located 7 km south-west of Te Kūiti, on Mangatea Road. The principal hapū associated with Mōtiti marae are Ngāti Te Puta-i-te-muri, Ngāti Tauhunu, Ngāti Urunumia and Ngāti Kinohaku.The wharepuni are named Ko Te Hunga-iti and Te Hāpainga. The marae connects ancestrally to the Tainui waka, the maunga Kakepuku and Pirongia, the awa Mangapū and the tribal collective of Ngāti Maniapoto.

Our tūpuna were experts in reading tohu o te taiao to live more attuned with the environment and gather kai at the optimal times. Their understanding of their own local taiao is recorded and woven throughout kōrero tuku iho. The maramataka is an example of kōrero tuku iho which provides a uniquely Māori way to record, organise and understand ngā tohu o te taiao.

This research is at the cutting-edge of expanding legal research theory, methodology and legal knowledge in the development of a bijural legal system in Aotearoa New Zealand. In 2021, Te Kōti Whenua Māori initiated a new tikanga-based dispute resolution process, in response to amendments to the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. We will analyse and assess how tikanga principles are being used in the new dispute resolution process, compare and contrast that use with the court’s traditional adjudication process and assess the outcomes for Māori landowners from both.

This research programme will examine how we might envision an approach to placemaking that would result in outcomes that facilitate the expression of mātauranga Māori, tikanga, whānaungatanga and orangatanga in urban areas. The programme will do this by examining concrete innovations through a series of case studies. These examples will demonstrate the optimism that transformative urban activity brings in terms of the potential to redress the struggles of the past (Awatere et al. 2008; Harmsworth 2004).

This project forms the first phase of a broader initiative to create guidelines to help direct Rainbow Organisations (RO) in ensuring their work is successful in supporting the long-term flourishing of rangatahi takatāpui. 

PhD Candidate: Stacey Ruru (Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Raukawa)

Primary Supervisor(s): Professor Chellie Spiller

Throughout Aotearoa there are examples of wahine rangatira in business, non-government organisations and government organisations who contribute to their whānau, iwi and hapū in governance. This project will investigate the experiences and mentorship of wāhine rangatira in New Zealand governance. The aims of the project are twofold:

Tangi is the ultimate form of Māori cultural and community expression. Addressing the dearth of scholarly information, this study considers tangi practice, whakapapa, changing environments, community values, sharing knowledge, ritual and what it means to be Māori.

Lead Researcher: Professor Chellie Spiller (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa) University of Waikato

Research Team:

Professor Jarrod Haar (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngaati Mahuta) AUT University

Dr John Reid (Ngāti Pikiao, Tainui) University of Canterbury

Dr Jason Mika (Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu) University of Waikato

Dr Matthew Rout, University of Canterbury

While the terms racism and equity are increasingly commonly used, action that meaningfully addresses racism and eliminates inequities is less common. This programme seeks to uncover how commitments to equity and ending racism are undermined, ‘non-performative’ or symbolic only, and how they may need to be reconfigured in the context of Aotearoa to align with rangatiratanga. Understandings of racism and (in)equity are strongly shaped by contextual factors and dominant, frequently changing discourses. These in turn influence assumptions and logics underpinning research questions, methods, datasets, analytical frameworks, indicators and interventions.

Currently, the New Zealand Education system is failing Māori in almost every measure of educational progression. A significant part of the problem is the lack of cultural competence of the non-Māori majority teacher workforce. Given the projections of increasing Māori and Pacifica student populations, there is a compelling need to address the paucity of resources to assist well-meaning teachers to develop cultural competence in te reo and tikanga Māori.