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Historical trauma is a term commonly used by Native American researchers who have investigated the impact of past relationships between native populations and settler governments on current and future generations of Native Americans. The significance of their research is the emphasis placed on creating healthy, sustainable indigenous futures whilst recognising and seeking redress for historical injustices. These studies have been discussed in New Zealand by Native American scholars (e.g.

The premature birth of babies is a highly stressful and tense event for whānau. The care of such babies is focused within hospital based Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
 

Māori have voiced a range of concerns regarding the aerial application of 1080 bait and expressed the view that alternatives to 1080 are needed. One idea is that there may be toxins already present in plants in New Zealand's ecosystems that could perform well as alternative pest control tools.
 

We don’t have many Māori or Pacific Engineers and we need them. The University of Auckland’s Engineering degree programme is challenging and lists Level 3 Mathematics with Calculus as a compulsory prerequisite for consideration to enter. It has become common practice for secondary schools to stream by ability (for Mathematics) as early as Year 9 and continue this practice through to Year 13, Level 3. This means that placement in the highest ability groups throughout secondary school are necessary to study Level 3 Mathematics with Calculus.

The rise in cross-cultural marriages between Māori and other cultural groups in Aotearoa New Zealand has raised the issue of who decides where a deceased Māori person is to be buried, after they die, when his or her partner is not Māori.  There are several reported recent cases where whānau Māori have intervened to take a person back home for burial, often against the wishes of the surviving spouse and children.
 

The Ngāti Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau iwi places great significance on Te Kete Poutama, an area that encompasses Lake Rotoitipaku near Kawerau, because it has been integral to their economic, cultural, spiritual and social wellbeing for generations. Tasman Pulp and Paper, now Norske Skog Tasman Ltd., leased the area for dumping waste in 1971 and it became the primary disposal site for solid paper-mill waste. Now Lake Rotoitipaku no longer exists – it’s filled with more than 600,000m3 of toxic material. In 2013 the dumping will stop and the land will return to its trustees.

Māori are increasingly taking on environmental management roles (often on a voluntary basis) that juggle the responsibilities of both traditional networks and government regulations. The focus of this scoping project was to identify the barriers, obstacles and potential solutions to conducting research in the area of local customary fisheries from a flax roots level, that is the application and management of Mataitai and Taiapure by communities and marae.
 

Māori have expressed a desire to be involved in freshwater management in a way that reflects their values. This remains a challenge both for Māori communities and government agencies. Māori groups wanting to work with government on freshwater management often do not have the capacity to access the wide range of processes, structures and tools available to them.

This research reviewed international and local best practice models of freshwater management partnerships and provided guidance to the Ngāti Hori of the East Cost on their local stream.

This research project adopted an approach which is grounded in Māori cultural values and beliefs to answer three questions: what are the dreams, aspirations and goals that whānau in the Porirua community have for their own development; what are the major areas of concern for these whānau which may in fact prevent them from achieving their dreams; and finally how do government agencies and institutions support whānau to achieve their aspirations?  The research also looked at whether government departments enable  whānau to realise their dreams in a way that is consistent with being