Skip to main content
Rangahau · Matakitenga project

Te kāhui kūaka: he tupuna, he taonga, he tohu

About this research

Project lead: Dr Vincent van Uitregt (Ngaa Rauru, Te Ātihaunui a Pāpārangi, Tūhoe), Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka

Climate change related research is preoccupied with the impacts on human life and futures. The immanent impacts on our non-human relations are relegated to ecological or conservation research Our uri-based research group from Whanganui are engaging the breadth of our knowledge traditions to understand our relationships with our local Kūaka population and the wider places and peoples the they/he connects us to. 

Those connections have taken us to Alaska, Australia and China and contributed to the creation of the Indigenous led Migratory Kin Collective. Informally, our relationships with other hapū and iwi have formed organically as we do our mahi, but this research aims to strengthen those relationships under a notional banner of Te Kāhui Kūaka. 

Our transdisciplinary team will tono similar transdisciplinary teams from other hapū/iwi that share our regard for Kūaka to respond to the question of how best we can understand the impacts of climate change on our relationships with Kūaka. 

The five (including ours) art/science collaborations that result will produce creative works (visual, oratory, or written) that engage with their local kōrero about Kūaka and environmental data related to climate change, to develop a rich local to national narrative of how climate change will impact our ecosocial relationships with Kūaka. 

Project lead: Dr Vincent van Uitregt (Ngaa Rauru, Te Ātihaunui a Pāpārangi, Tūhoe), Victoria University of Wellington | Te Herenga Waka

Climate change related research is preoccupied with the impacts on human life and futures. The immanent impacts on our non-human relations are relegated to ecological or conservation research Our uri-based research group from Whanganui are engaging the breadth of our knowledge traditions to understand our relationships with our local Kūaka population and the wider places and peoples the they/he connects us to.

Ētahi atu · Other projects

Research Programme

21-24RP01He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing
Kaiārahi · Project lead Professor Chellie Spiller
Whare wānanga · Host University of Waikato
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2022 · Completed 2025

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…

View project

Internship project

21-22INT10Investigating traditional mahinga kai practices of preservation throughout Aotearoa
Whare wānanga · Host University of Otago
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2021 · Completed 2022

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 project

Doctoral thesis

22PHD03Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu: How do wahine Māori nurses utilise mātauranga Māori as a means to address health equity in Te Tai Tokerau?
Whare wānanga · Host Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2023 · Completed 2026

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 project