Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington

This internship was a literature review evaluating the available academic research pertaining to the role of wairua in whare tangata ora. It responds to the serious deficit of academic outputs in this area and contributes to the rationale on why it is needed.

This internship involved supporting the work of Te Rōpū Wāhine Māori Toko i te Ora - the Māori Women’s Welfare League through research, transcription, and thematic analysis of interviews with wāhine Māori.

This project examined claims that the Waitangi Tribunal has exceeded its original mandate by engaging with contemporary issues. By analysing Tribunal reports across its full history, the research focused on how the Tribunal has operated in practice over time.

This project involved listening to organisational submissions against the defeated Treaty of Waitangi Principles Bill 2024 and analysing how submitters from different categories articulated what honourable kāwanatanga may look like, as opposed to focusing on what the Crown has done wrong.

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.

Project Summary

The project builds on a case study, “Ko te whaea te takere o te waka: Māori mothers as navigators of change,” which examined Māori mothers as key change-makers for their whānau.