Whakaaweawe - featured impact

Awatea Waimārie Moxon (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāi Tahu), Te Herenga Waka Victoria University

My research explores the relationship between wellbeing and whakapapa knowledge (Māori history, genealogy and creation stories).

My PhD extends my previous research, which became the first to empirically illustrate the correlation between whakapapa knowledge and mental wellbeing over time (8 years). The present research employs a mixed-methods approach to further elucidate how and to what extent whakapapa knowledge contributes to wellbeing.

Maren Tahata (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui), The University of Auckland

Māori students remain underrepresented in STEM fields in Aotearoa-not due to lack of ability or interest, but because the education system often fails to reflect Māori identities, values, and ways of knowing. This research explores how culturally responsive science teaching can support Māori students to develop strong science identities and envision their “science possible selves” for students who aspire to work in STEM careers and those who will use science to inform their daily lives.

Jolene Barletta Rangihaeata (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Konohi, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngā Rauru, Ngāti Ruahine, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāti Apa), University of Waikato.

Climate change poses profound environmental and cultural challenges for Indigenous peoples across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, including Māori communities in Aotearoa. Despite minimal contributions to global emissions, Māori are among the first to face rising seas, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather events that threaten marae, urupā and ancestral lands. In Tairāwhiti, Cyclone Gabrielle (2023) caused rivers to exceed record levels, altering the land and ultimately displacing whānau.

Awardee: Linda Te Aho (Ngāti Koroki Kahukura, Waikato-Tainui), University of Waikato

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Tikanga and the State - Selected Papers of Sir E. Taihākurei Durie.

This collection brings together published and unpublished papers by Tā E. Taihākurei Durie, organised around the theme of hapū and Māori communities as the location of Māori authority. While Durie’s 1994 Custom Law paper is pre-eminent in bringing custom law into the realm of jurisprudence, the collection spans a remarkable range of papers and reports written over four decades, each exploring different facets of tikanga.

Awardee: Leticia Joesphine Ngoi Vizor (Leticia Joesphine Ngoi Vizor), The University of Auckland

This research explores how Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei (NWŌ) whānau understand, experience, and sustain collective oranga and mental wellbeing, with the overarching aim of developing a culturally grounded iwi-led mental health strategy. The project emerged from the NWŌ Mental Health Forum, established in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdowns in response to rising isolation and mental distress. In 2022, following the tragic loss of a rangatahi to mate whakamomori (suicide), the forum was revitalised, prompting a renewed focus on oranga and mental wellbeing, and the development of an iwi-specific strategic response.

Māori doctoral scholars often face significant challenges in universities dominated by Western academic traditions. These environments can clash with Māori cultural values and needs, reflecting colonial legacies that marginalise Indigenous knowledge and methodologies. To address these challenges, the Te Kupenga o MAI (MAI) programme was created in the late 1990s by Professor Graham Smith. This initiative supports Māori and Indigenous PhD students across Aotearoa New Zealand, providing mentorship, resources, and community connections grounded in Māori cultural values. MAI helps reduce isolation and creates culturally safe spaces for Māori scholars to succeed academically while maintaining their cultural identity.

This research focuses on understanding the long-term impact of the MAI programme by examining the experiences of recent Māori PhD graduates. It aims to explore their motivations, challenges, and the role MAI played in supporting them, as well as their career pathways and contributions to their communities after completing their studies. The findings will inform future efforts to support Māori doctoral scholars, ensuring they thrive in academia and contribute meaningfully to their whānau, hapū, iwi, and society.