Pae Tawhiti

We, the delegates of the International Indigenous Climate Change Summit (IICCRS), gathered from November 13th to 17th, 2023, recognize the profound climate crisis facing our world and its dire consequences for Indigenous peoples, our lands, and the global ecosystem. This communiqué is an urgent message intended for world leaders, policymakers, environmental organisations, and the global community. It underscores the pivotal role of Indigenous voices, ideas, and actionable solutions in addressing climate change.

Inspired by a little-known Tīkapa mōteatea, He Uru Mānuka, a love lament set among riverside mānuka groves, this project aims to document and culturally map selected Waiapu River locations pairing customary and contemporary technologies. In February 2023 during Cyclone Gabrielle, Waiapu River flooded to a height of 8 metres which exacerbated existing erosion, and further damaged vulnerable cultural and ecological sites. Once-common species utilised in Ngāti Porou lifestyle practices are severely impacted by rapid environmental change, leading to a loss of cultural knowledge. Yet, these practices foster invaluable and mauri-sustaining relationships with our ancestral river.  

The best knowledge/technology is coming together for Tahamata Incorporation and shareholders’ coastal farm, Kuku, Horowhenua. Not only is Tahamata Incorporation aligning itself with Whenua Haumanu program run by Ministry for Primary Industries and Massey University to explore diverse pastures and regenerative management practices for lower North Island coastal farming, but this dedicated iwi-led research team will communicate with shareholders/board/operations via mapping and visuals at winter wānanga.  

Global climate change has been identified as the single greatest threat to human health.  Within this paradigm, indigenous knowledge systems shaped by generations of sustainable interactions with ecosystems, are being looked to for pathways to climate change mitigation and adaptation.  Mātauranga, the holistic and integrated knowledge system developed by the Indigenous Māori people of Aotearoa is no exception.   

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga supported Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti (MTT) in their submission to the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use in Tairāwhiti and Te Wairoa. Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti (MTT) is an informal network of Tairāwhiti residents and others concerned about land use and the impacts of woody debris.

Project supervisor: Associate Professor Linda Te Aho

Institution: Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato

Raumati intern: Nikorima Te Iwi Ngaro Nuttall (Raukawa) & Noah Piripi Kemp (Te Aati Awa, Ngaapuhi, Ngaati Tuuwharetoa)

Project supervisor: Heni Unwin, Māori Researcher for Marine Technologies, Cawthron Institute

Raumati intern: Toiroa Whaanga-Davies (Ngāti Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungungu, Ngāti Rehua, Ngāti Wai)

Project supervisor: Dr Kiri Edge & Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora

Institution: Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga

Raumati intern: Tama Blackburn (Ngāti Maniapoto; Ngāti Kinohaku)  

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).