Whakaaweawe

Awardee: Madi Williams (Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Koata, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau), University of Canterbury

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Ngāti Kuia: He Pūtake, Hei Pakiaka Ora | A History. The first book focused on the history and identity of Ngāti Kuia.

Ngāti Kuia is an iwi from Te Tauihu-o-Te-Waka-a-Māui. Ngāti Kuia’s history has been left out or misrepresented in existing works. This book is an intentional, necessary writing of Ngāti Kuia into the historical narratives. The aim of the book is to illuminate Ngāti Kuia perspectives about their past and provide these perspectives with a platform in the historical narratives in an accessible way for Ngāti Kuia whānau, the general reader, as well as academics, both Māori and non-Māori.

Awardee: Anna Adcock (Ngati Mutunga), Victoria University of Wellington

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Te Rito o te Harakeke: Collective Resilience and Relational Research with Whānau Māori.

This project supports the dissemination of doctoral research through presentation at the Indigenous Futures Unbound: Indigenous knowledges leading transformative futures conference, held on Kabi Kabi Country, Sunshine Coast, Australia, in November 2025. He Tamariki Kokoti Tau was a longitudinal Kaupapa Māori study with whānau Māori whose pēpi were born preterm. The PhD research, Te Rito o te Harakeke, followed whānau through birth, neonatal intensive care, hospitalisation, and transitions home. It illuminated whānau experiences of resilience and aroha, showing that preterm birth is not only a medical event but a collective journey of connection, cultural continuity, and Indigenous thrivance.

Awardee: Alan Haenga O'Brien (Ngāti Porou), Massey University

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Kia kārohirohi te wairua: Empowering rangatahi Māori and their whānau to understand, nurture, and practise wairuatanga to support wellbeing.

Awardee: Alehandrea Raiha Manuel (Ngāti Porou), The University of Auckland

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Lalanga e Ako’ae Māori and Pacific – Weaving together the learnings of Māori and Pacific ECR knowledge holders.

Awardee: Josephine Davis (Ngā Puhi me Ngāti Whatua Orakei), The University of Auckland

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Māori nurse practitioners: Kaupapa Māori workforce development realising equity.

The Māori nurse practitioner (NP) workforce can transform health outcomes for whānau Māori and local hapori (communities) by delivering comprehensive and meaningful primary healthcare services. Currently, no national framework or policy supports the development of Māori registered nurses (RNs) to become NPs, perpetuating nursing workforce inequities.

Awardee: Dan Hikuroa (Tainui, Ngati Maniapoto, Te Arawa), University of Auckland

The Awardee will undertake the Whakaaweawe Impact and Transformation Grant titled Te Waharoa Hīnātore.

Light has always carried meaning. Hīnātore, the soft glow found against Ranginui’s chest, in te moana whitiwhiti a Tangaroa, and sheltered within te wao nui a Tane, connects people to story, place and imagination. For Māori, hīnātore is both a physical phenomenon and a spiritual presence, embodied as an atua, whose light guides, inspires, and sustains connection between people, whenua and the cosmos.