About this research
This edited collection brings together collates the work of leading Māori scholars to reflect on the impact and legacy of the Waitangi Tribunal over the past 50 years. Covering areas such as whenua, resources, social policy and rangatiratanga, it highlights the breadth of issues the Tribunal has addressed and its role in shaping understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Released to mark this significant milestone, the book provides an accessible and contemporary resource for researchers, policy makers and communities, supporting ongoing engagement with Te Tiriti and its relevance in Aotearoa today.
Project Lead - Maria Bargh (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa) Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington
“A key intention of this book is to ensure that the Tribunal’s work is practical and accessible for hapū and iwi. Each chapter outlines the main arguments Māori have raised in specific areas, such as freshwater, alongside the Tribunal’s recommendations. Together, these provide a foundation that communities can draw on in future advocacy, particularly where there are concerns about breaches of Te Tiriti. We’re already seeing these collated arguments being used in current debates at both local and central government levels.”
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.
Kairangahau · Researchers
Dr Maria Bargh
Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa
Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
Maria Bargh (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa) has a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Australian…
Dr Maria Bargh
Rangahau · Related projects
Ētahi atu · Other projects
This project explored how Ngāti Kea/Ngāti Tuara are revitalising their role as kaitiaki of Horohoro maunga near Rotorua. Faced with ecological threats from pests and limited access control, the hapū is leading efforts to restore native biodiversity and protect culturally significant whenua. Their story sheds light on Māori approaches to achieving a…
View projectStrengthening Māori Agency: Te Whakamaru o Horohoro Maunga
This project explored how Ngāti Kea/Ngāti Tuara are revitalising their role as kaitiaki of Horohoro maunga near Rotorua. Faced with ecological threats from pests and limited access control, the hapū is leading efforts to restore native biodiversity and protect culturally significant whenua. Their story sheds light on Māori approaches to achieving a predator-free Aotearoa by 2050.
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Dr Maria Bargh
Dr Maria Bargh
Maria Bargh (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa) has a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Australian National University. She is a Senior Lecturer in Māori Studies at Victoria University and editor of Māori and Parliament (Huia Publishers, 2010) and Resistance: an Indigenous Response to Neoliberalism(Huia Publishers, 2007). -
Tame Malcolm
Tame Malcolm
Tame has more than a decades experience in environmental management roles in the Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Canterbury and Marlborough regions. This has included working for OSPRI (TB Free), Waikato Regional Council, Department of Conservation (Waikato) and most recently the Maori Biosecurity Network. His is a member of the Bay of Plenty Conservation Board, is on the Advisory Board for Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, was interim executive of Te Tira Whakamataki (Maori Biosecurity Network), and is a member of the Royal Society.
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… -
Dr John Reid
Dr John Reid
John is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury’s Ngai Tahu Research Centre. He is a specialist in leading and developing multi-disciplinary research and development programmes focused on addressing interrelated social, economic, and environmental problems. His research explores the way in which Indigenous and Western cultures shape identity, sense of place, and approaches to social and economic development. John's current research interests are focused on sustainable development within indigenous tribal communities and in fostering novel approaches to development through… -
Associate Professor Jason Paul Mika
Associate Professor Jason Paul Mika
Jason is Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu. He is an associate professor at Te Raupapa Waikato Management School and Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato, in Hamilton, New Zealand. Jason’s research, teaching, writing, and practice centres on Indigenous business philosophy in multiple sites, sectors, and scales, including Indigenous trade, tourism, agribusiness, and the marine economy. In 2015, Jason completed a PhD in Māori entrepreneurship at Massey University. In 2019, Jason was a Fulbright-Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga senior scholar at Stanford University’s Woods… -
Dr Matthew Rout
Dr Matthew Rout
Matt works on indigenous socio-economic development and environmental sustainability initiatives and projects with a focus on applied outcomes through theoretical synthesis. He has a particular interest in how philosophical insights from ontology and epistemology can be used in practical ways to aid indigenous development. Indigenous and modernist ontology and epistemology Institutional economics Postcolonial psychology Settler colonisation Sustainable development
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.