About this research
Intern
Maioha Watson, Waikato, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Manawa, Te Whakatōhea, Te Āti Awa, The University of Otago
Supervisor
Dr Erena Wikaire, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
Overview
This kaupapa Māori project aimed to investigate the multiple dimensions of Māori experiences of cannabis and methamphetamine use. The project sought to highlight the lived experience of our whānau Māori about the challenges, benefits, opportunities, and barriers in this context – in relation to their wellbeing.
This internship contributed to a larger postdoctoral research fellowship project. Māori whānau and communities are heavily impacted by cannabis and methamphetamine. Despite calls for the treatment of drug use and addiction as a health concern, these issues continue to be addressed as criminal justice problems. This approach is not working for Māori, and Māori are rarely asked to tell our stories, or offer our solutions.
The internship involved interviewing Māori whānau and key stakeholders about their journeys related to cannabis and methamphetamine, and what works (and does not work) for Māori.
How do Māori experience and navigate cannabis and methamphetamine use in their lives and communities? This kaupapa Māori project internship centred whānau voices to better understand the challenges and solutions from within – aiming to shift the narrative from criminalisation to healing and wellbeing.
Ētahi atu · Other projects
He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing. These groundbreaking works celebrate Māori futures rooted in kaupapa Māori values while fostering pathways for responsible relationships, meaningful lives, and flourishing Indigenous wellbeing economies. By emphasising the central role of whānau…
- Mana Touchstones
- Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōhanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Economies of Wellbeing
- He Rauhī Kupu
He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing
He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing. These groundbreaking works celebrate Māori futures rooted in kaupapa Māori values while fostering pathways for responsible relationships, meaningful lives, and flourishing Indigenous wellbeing economies. By emphasising the central role of whānau, these publications provide actionable insights and inspiration for transformative change in economic and cultural systems.
- Mana Touchstones
- Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōhanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Economies of Wellbeing
- He Rauhī Kupu
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Professor Chellie Spiller
Professor Chellie Spiller
Dr Chellie Spiller, of Matawhaiti Iwitea, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, is Professor of Management and Leadership, and Associate Dean Māori at the University of Waikato. She was previously a senior lecturer and Associate Dean Māori and Pacific at the University of Auckland Business School. She has over 30 years of corporate experience in tourism, finance and marketing, holding senior executive positions in New Zealand and abroad, and brings this experience to her academic work and leadership and management development programmes. Her research explores how Māori and indigenous businesses create… -
Professor Jarrod Haar
Professor Jarrod Haar
Professor Jarrod Haar (PhD) is a Professor of Human Resource Management in the Department of Management and has tribal affiliations of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Mahuta. In 2018, Professor Haar was appointed as a Member of the Marsden Fund Council and is the Convenor of the Marsden Economics and Human Behavioural Sciences panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi (2020), a Research Fellow of the Australia & New Zealand Academy of Management (since 2012), and Chartered Fellow of the Human Resource Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ). He won the inaugural HRINZ HR… -
Professor John Reid
Professor John Reid
Professor John Reid is a researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of sustainability, indigenous knowledge systems, environmental governance, and technological innovation. Based within the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, his research brings together systems thinking, te ao Māori, and interdisciplinary science to address complex social, economic, and environmental challenges facing Indigenous communities and wider society. His work spans environmental management, regenerative land use, Māori economic development, and the governance of emerging technologies, with particular interests in… -
Professor Jason Paul Mika
Professor Jason Paul Mika
Jason Paul Mika Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei, ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei, ko te ira tangata kei waenganui i raro i te kaitiakitanga o ngā atua, o te manaakitanga o te Runga Rawa. Tīhei mauri ora! Ko Ngāi Tūhoe, ko Ngāti Awa, ko Te Whakatōhea, ko Ngāti Kahungunu ōku iwi. Ko Jason Mika ahau. I was born in Whakatāne and raised mainly in Rotorua. In November 2024, I was fortunate join Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland as a Professor of Māori Management and Associate Dean Māori in He Manga Tauhokohoko Auckland Business School. My research, teaching, writing, and practice centres on Māori and… -
Dr Matthew Rout
Dr Matthew Rout
Dr. Matthew Rout's research explores how Indigenous worldviews shape the institutions that govern economic activity, environmental management, and public decision-making. Working at the nexus of political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental domains, his research examines how values, knowledge systems, and social organisation influence the ways societies coordinate collective action and pursue development. A central focus of his work is the application of te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori to contemporary policy challenges, including environmental governance, disaster risk reduction…
This internship compiled a database of traditional Māori food preservation practices to better understand archaeological midden sites and mahinga kai history. Working with Otago’s SPAR team, the project links historical knowledge with contemporary preservation techniques across Aotearoa.
View projectInvestigating traditional mahinga kai practices of preservation throughout Aotearoa
This internship compiled a database of traditional Māori food preservation practices to better understand archaeological midden sites and mahinga kai history.
Working with Otago’s SPAR team, the project links historical knowledge with contemporary preservation techniques across Aotearoa.
PHD Candidate: Coral Wiapo (Ngati Whātua) Primary Supervisor(s): Dr Sue Adams Work is underway in Te Tai Tokerau to strengthen the Māori nursing workforce by supporting kaimahi to enter the nursing profession; and registered nurses to advance their scope of practice to become nurse prescribers or nurse practitioners (NPs). Improving access to healthcare for…
View projectAhakoa he iti, he pounamu: How do wahine Māori nurses utilise mātauranga Māori as a means to address health equity in Te Tai Tokerau?
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Dr Sue Adams
Dr Sue Adams
Sue is a researcher and senior lecturer in the School of Nursing, University of Auckland. Her research focuses on the development and establishment of the NP workforce; transition from NP trainee into NP practice; roles of NPs across the sector; organisational structure, climate, and funding models in primary health care utiltising the NP role; NP services to improve access and equity. Sue was the co-leader of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Enrolled Nurse (EN) workforce programme funded by the Ministry of Health between 2020 and 2025. Sue supervises PhD and master's students and has a…