The International Indigenous Research Conference (IIRC 2024), hosted by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, was held at Waipapa Taumata Rau, (University of Auckland) from November 12 to 15, 2024, providing a forum for dialogue and exploration for Indigenous research communities. The conference brought together over 600 participants, Māori and manuhiri tūārangi (international guests) under the theme Whītiki Taua or Research Solidarities.

Whakauae researchers contributed diverse presentations and panel discussions on Indigenous health, governance, language reclamation, and data sovereignty, fostering dialogue and knowledge-sharing. The conference offered opportunities for networking, collaboration, and replenishing both academic and cultural well-being, fulfilling its theme of Whītiki Taua.

Members of Te Urungi Māori, including Research Centre Director Dr. Amohia Boulton were recently hosted by the Mātai Medical Research Institute in Te Tairāwhiti. The purpose of the visit was to gain a deeper understanding of, and insight into, the work Mātai undertakes at the community, national and international levels, and to meet with members of the wider Malaghan Trust Board for a joint Te Urungi/Trust Board hui.

Whakauae Research has welcomed four rangatahi to our summer studentship program, excited to explore their unique contributions to our mahi. This includes creating digital artefacts, exploring Māori cultural connections, investigating the impacts of historical environmental events, and preparing scholarly publications, highlighting the organisation's commitment to fostering indigenous knowledge and research skills.

Beginning in December, Cinnamon Lindsay-Latimer will embark on a part-time PhD in Māori Health at the University of Auckland whilst she continues to work with Whakauae Research Services. The research is focused on supporting kaumātua with dementia and their whānau. Tentatively titled “Dude where’s my car(e)?”, the study aims to enhance aged care services for Māori—a kaupapa inspired by their grandparents’ journey through dementia.

The Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA) biennial conference took place in Tāmaki Makaurau from November 4-7, 2024, centering on the theme "The Mana Enhancing Role of Evaluation: Celebrating the wisdom from evaluative practice across Oceania." The event gathered evaluators from across Aotearoa and the Pacific to share diverse perspectives and strengths-based approaches. A highlight was Kiri’s presentation, “Hoki ki te ūkaipō: connecting to whenua tīpuna for hauora,” which showcased her whānau’s journey in reclaiming ancestral land for holistic well-being. The conference also featured discussions led by Mā Te Rae Māori Evaluation Association on challenges facing Māori evaluators. Attendees appreciated the opportunity to connect, exchange knowledge, and celebrate evaluative practices rooted in local and Pacific wisdom.

Representatives from Tū Tama Wahine o Taranaki and Taumata Associates recently met with Taranaki uri in Whanganui to wānanga the kaupapa of research development for Taranaki. The hui was the result of a successful joint application made by these organisations to the He Tipu Ka Hua Investment Fund, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in 2023.  He Tipu Ka Hua funding is for Māori-led research programmes that generate new research outcomes and expand the capacity of Māori communities and researchers to harness the Science, Innovation, and Technology system (SI&T). Nationally only three groups have been successful in securing funding: He Kahui Rangahau Nō Taranaki, Te Puna Ora o Mātaatua Charitable Trust and the Waikato-Tainui College for Research and Development

Whakauae affiliated students Jordan Tane and Tomairangi Morgan have taken home two prestigious accolades at this year's Best Awards, securing Gold in the Toitanga category and Bronze for Social Good.

Recently Aneta Cram and two members of her supervision team, Drs Lynne Russell and Amohia Boulton were fortunate to participate in the 2024 Hawai’i-Pacific Evaluation Conference in Kāneʻohe, Hawai’i. The theme of the conference was “Breaking Boundaries: Charting Paths towards Aloha, Joy, and Justice in Evaluation”. In a presentation entitled Wānanga (knowledge sharing): An Indigenous mentoring approach to supporting Indigenous students and evaluators, the three-member team presented a frank reflection on the challenges and joys of supervising Māori students, as Māori, in a predominantly Western, mainstream institutional setting.

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Tēnā koe, ko Tomairangi tōku ingoa. He uri ahau nō Rotorua, i te taha o tōku Pāpā. I te taha o tōku Māmā, he uri ahau nō Kāwhia me Te Kopuru, and I am currently studying a Creative Writing major with a Te Reo Māori minor at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau. As part of the AUT Work Integrated Learning programme I’ve had the privilege of interning with Whakauae Research Services, where I’ve worked alongside the TUI dissemination team.

Whakauae Intern Lead, Logan Hamley recently attended the Australasian HIV & AIDS Conference and the 25th IUSTI World Congress, incorporating the Australasian Sexual and Reproductive Health Conference, in Gadigal Country (Sydney). These two conferences represented an opportunity for transdisciplinary and action-oriented work looking to virtually eliminate HIV transmission and address high rates of STIs within Oceania. The conferences took place across one week, with an array of health practitioners, policymakers, and researchers gathering to share insights.

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I had the opportunity to complete an internship with Whakauae Research that involved carrying out a systematic literature review of Māori Health leadership. This work was part of the Rapua te ara Rangatira kia hikitia ai te oranga tangata – Leadership, Governance and Decision-Making Models to Achieve Health Equity project.

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In early August 2024, members of the Whakauae team visited Robinvale, Victoria, Australia. Our trip followed an earlier visit and cultural exchange with our Naarm (Melbourne) manuhiri in June 2024 at Whakauae’s offices in Whanganui.

Four of the Whakauae team recently attended He Pukenga Wai Symposium in Whanganui for the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the signing of Ruruku Whakatupua, the Whanganui River Deed of Settlement. The celebration consisted of two days, starting with “Te Mana o Te Iwi” a day for hapū and iwi of Te Awa Tupua only. The day opened with ruruku at Te Whakaniwha, Pūtiki slipway followed by breakfast at Memorial Hall.

Whakauae was honoured to recently host the return visit of Dr Ying-tzu Ena Chang to Whanganui. Ena was accompanied by her colleague, Tana Takisvilainan (Panay Kumod). The visit marked a deepening and ongoing relationship with our Taiwanese colleagues, fostering cross-cultural collaboration and shared understandings of Indigenous health issues.

The Whakauae team recently gathered to celebrate Te Tau Hou Māori (the Māori New Year) at Rātā Marae, the historic resting place of tupuna Utiku Potaka and the southern boundary of his Rangitīkei whenua. June 2024 was especially significant as it marked the second year running that the team had met at the Whakauae papakāinga, in the rohe of Ngāti Hauiti, to celebrate Puanga.

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“Ko Puanga te kairūri i te tau tawhito, ko Matariki te kaihuaki i te tau hou” Puanga draws the line to end one year. Matariki opens the door to the new year.

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We are delighted to announce that Dr Logan Hamley has joined the Whakauae team in the dual roles of Senior Researcher and Intern Lead. Logan (Ngāti Rangi and Whanganui) has recently completed his doctorate entitled Whakapapa, "the box", and beyond: poems, (re)presentations and the potentiality of rangatahi tāne identities in Auckland, which explores “the diverse strategies rangatahi tāne use to craft a positive identity in dynamic and often fluid ways.”

Luke Enoka, Utiku Potaka and Amohia Boulton spent a few days together recently in wintery Waitetoko progressing the Rapua te ara Rangatira research project and planning upcoming cultural projects and events.In addition to whakawhanaungatanga, team members accomplished a number of Rapua project-related tasks

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Te Ao Rauropi: Mapping the Biosphere of Rongoā Māori research team members Dr Amohia Boulton, Donna Kerridge and Gill Potaka-Osborne recently participated in the inaugural ACC Rongoā Māori Conference held in Rotorua. The conference celebrated traditional Māori healing and provided a unique opportunity for collaboration to support positive health outcomes for whānau and hapori Māori (Māori communities)

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One year further into my PhD, there are some key learnings and self-reflections.

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Whakauae welcomed a group of researchers from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence on the Life Course (the Life Course Centre).The Life Course Centre involves a range of partner institutions including the University of Melbourne (from whence our visitors hailed); the University of Sydney; the University of Western Australia and the University of Queensland. Sangeetha Chandra-Shekeran and Brendan Kennedy, were accompanied by emerging researcher Ella Reweti during their brief visit.

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The Rapua te Ara Rangatira, Kia Hikitia Ai Te Oranga research team, comprising Utiku Potaka, Luke Enoka, Amohia Boulton and Bridgette Masters-Awatere, completed the second of four governance workshops with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hauiti on Saturday 11th of May.

On Monday 29th of April, Dr Amohia Boulton joined friends and colleagues to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Te Hikuwai Rangahau Hauora | Health Services Research Centre (HSRC), at Victoria University of Wellington. Dr Boulton is currently an Adjunct Professor at the centre having first become involved with the HSRC in 1996 as a master’s student.

Amohia Boulton, Gill Potaka-Osborne, and Danielle (Dani) Sword recently attended the World Indigenous Cancer Conference in Naarm (Melbourne), Victoria, Australia.

I am extremely grateful to have been able to take part in a summer internship with Whakauae to support the project ‘Rapua te ara Rangatira’. For me, it was an introduction to the depth and power of the mahi Whakauae is doing for the future of Ngāti Hauiti, and Ngāi Māori.

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Whakauae is embarking on a new project looking at Māori experiences of HIV prevention and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) access.

Dr Amohia Boulton recently joined co-author Dr Debbie Goodwin at the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge (HLNSC) Kōrero Tahi 2024: equity and beyond, to launch two new publications aimed at improving how researchers and community members work together in their aspirations for achieving health equity.

On the 24th of February 2024, Dr Amohia Boulton, Utiku Potaka, and Luke Enoka, members of the Rapua te Ara Rangatira research team facilitated the first of four wānanga and workshops with Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Hauiti during their quarterly strategic hui at Rātā marae. Utiku and Luke are also hapū delegates on the rūnanga for Ngāti Tūmokai and Ngāti Tamatereka respectively.

Whakauae Research Services Ltd is adding their voice to the many demanding the new coalition government stop plans to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Amendment Act (SERPA); plans recently described in latest issues of the New Zealand Medical Journal “public health vandalism.” (Vol 136 No 1587: 15 December).

The D4H Symposium, hosted by AUT’s Design for Health, focused on exploring collaborative efforts with communities to bring their solutions to life, placing a specific focus on empowering rangatahi as the leaders of the future.

Tom Johnson (PhD student at Auckland University of Technology and Whakauae Research) has been awarded a Māori Health Research PhD Scholarship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) from the 2024 round of applications. Tom’s research is based in the region of Te Awa Tupua and focuses on the wellbeing rituals and tools Tāne Māori use to manage their wellbeing.

Whakauae researchers and PhD students travelled from their kāinga across Aotearoa and Australia to attend the annual writing retreat, held at River Valley Lodge in Taihape from the 6-9th of November 2023.

Whakauae Research will be participating in the annual Good Health Design Symposium, held in partnership with AUT’s Taupua Waiora Māori Health Centre and Centre for Person Centred Research.

4-8 September, Bremen, Germany. The conference is run by the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS) which is a professional organisation formed to promote empirical and theoretical research in, and applications of, health psychology within Europe.

Whakauae’s PhD students Kiri Parata and Tom Johnson presented their research at the Healing Our Spirits Worldwide (HOSW) Ninth gathering conference in Vancouver BC, Canada in September 2023.

When I look back on my life, I reflect on the people who made me. It is obvious to say that “my whānau knows me best”, but there are so many outside perceptions and expectations that shape who we are, many of which – for a young Māori male – have meant navigating through a sea of racist, homophobic, discouraging, and exclusionary environments, and which shape our political landscape here in Aotearoa.

Tanya Allport, Gill Potaka-Osborne, Mel Potaka-Osborne, and Teresa Taylor recently attended the 2023 Australian Evaluation Society's International Evaluation Conference in Brisbane, Queensland. The theme of this year's conference was 'Through the Lens', celebrating the diversity of evaluative thinking and practice.

Last week, Whakauae Research and Wai Rangahau (as part of Te Whānau o Waipareira) signed a new relationship agreement, He Kaupapa Mahi Ngātahi  to affirm a working partnership towards shared research goals.

A fifth paper in Te Pūtake - Whakauae Raro Occasional Paper Series has recently been published by Whakauae Research.

Tēnā koutou. In this article, we share our experiences as members of the Whakauae Winter Studentship 2023 rōpū. We offer some of our reflections both for Whakauae going forward and for the next cohort of tauira who may continue the work of Māori health research.

Over the last several months working with Whakauae and producing stories for the Tō mātou kāinga research project, a lot has been solidified for me.

On 18 July 2023, Whakauae was invited to speak at the Kanapu Hui Hihiri hosted by Te Kaahui o Rauru, Whanganui. Kanapu can be translated as lightening or instantaneous glow and is the name of an initiative designed and led by Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga (NPM) Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE).

Tēnā koutou kātoa. Nō uri ahau o Ngāti Whakaue rātou ko Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Taupō, ko Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki hoki ki te taha o tōku whaea. Nō Ma'ufanga rāua ko Holonga ki Tongatapu ahau hoki ki te taha o ōku mātua whāngai. Ko Ema Matahau-Haata Tu'akoi tōku ingoa.

In July 2023, Whakauae staff, board members, iwi members, sub-contractors and their whānau were invited to celebrate Puanga at Rātā Marae prior to the new Matariki publi holiday.

Dr Tanya Allport and Tom Johnson from Whakauae Research, and Dr Zarah Allport (Te Whānau o Waipareira ) attended the Indigenous Peoples Conference on HIV and Hepatitis Health Equity in Meaanjin (Brisbane), the ancient lands of the aboriginal Jaggera and Turrbal peoples.

Ko Reuben George Himiona Nightingale tōku ingoa.  

Ko Te Rarawa, ko Ngāpuhi ko Ngāti Maniapoto ōku iwi.

Tēnā koutou,

Ko Jorja Heta tōku ingoa.

Mai Maketu ki Tongariro
Ko Te Arawa te waka
Ko Waingaehe te awa
Ko Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe te roto
Ko Ngati Uenukukōpako me  Te Roro o Te Rangi nga iwi
Ko Owhata te marae
I te taha o tōku Māmā, ko Patricia Paraone-Pairama tōku kuia rāua ko Wiremu Hone Barlow tōku koro. Kua mate tōku kuia.
I te taha o tōku Pāpā, ko June Ramsey tōku kuia rāua ko Haaka Mōkena tōku koro. Kua mate tōku koro.
Ko Anaru Mōkena rāua ko Karyn Barlow ōku mātua
Ko Ebony-Grace Tomairangi ahau

Tēnā koutou katoa

Ko Mauao te maunga

Ko Tauranga te moana

Ko Mātaatua te waka

Ko Ngāiterangi, Waikato Tainui me Ngāi Tahu ngā iwi

Ko Ngāi Tuwhiwhia me Ngāti Tapu ngā hapū

Ko Saffron Stanley tōku ingoa

Ko Te Arawa te Waka

Ko Ngongotaha te Maunga

Ko Te Rotorua-nui-a Kahumatamomoe te moana Ko Te Arawa te Iwi

Ko Ngati Whakaue te Hapu

Ko Tama te Kapua te Marae

Ko Ben Barton ahau

A fourth paper in Te Pūtake - Whakauae Raro Occasional Paper Series, an online space that explores the aspirations, challenges and important issues arising for Māori, by Māori, has now been published by Whakauae Research.