2012

Professor Michael Walker (Whakatōhea) is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Royal Institute of Navigation in London. He is best known for his research on the existence, capacities and use of the magnetic sense in navigation over long distances. Recently, he has developed research investigating the mechanisms of the lunar and tidal rhythms in marine organisms. Over the last 20 years, Professor Walker has also worked to increase participation of Māori and Pacific Island people in all aspects of the sciences and research.

Dr Ocean Ripeka Mercier (Ngāti Porou) is a Lecturer in Te Kawa a Māui (School of Māori Studies) at Victoria University of Wellington. In 2002 she became the first Māori woman to gain a PhD in Physics. Dr Mercier’s current teaching and research explores the interface between Māori and indigenous knowledge and science in tertiary and secondary educational contexts. She is the presenter of Project Mātauranga, a 13-part science series commissioned for Māori Television.

Professor Margaret Mutu is of Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa and Ngāti Whātua and Scottish descent. She has three adult children, five grandchildren, and heaps of nieces, nephews and other mokopuna. She is the Professor and Head of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland, and the chairperson of her tribal parliament, Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu, in the Far North and her two marae, Karikari in the Far North and Kapehu in the Kaipara. She represents Ngāti Kahu on the National Iwi Chairs’ Forum.

Born and raised in Te Arawa, the entrepreneur Wetini Mitai-Ngatai started his career teaching at Rotorua Boys and Western Heights High School, before lecturing at Waiariki Institute of Technology.

An internationally renowned kapa haka exponent, Wetini’s first culture group was Ngāti Whakaue, followed by Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao. In 1994 Wetini and Irirangi Tiakiawa Tahuriorangi started the group Te Mātārae i Ōrehu. Led by Wetini, who has won the male leadership title at four Matatini Festivals, Te Mātārae has won the national kapa haka title twice.

Professor Ngāhuia Te Awekotuku is Professor of Research at Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao (School of Māori and Pacific Development) at the University of Waikato. With other degrees in Art History and English, her PhD (1981) was in psychology. This experience contributed to her writing an early (1991) monograph on Māori research ethics. For years she worked in the heritage and creative sectors, as a curator, governor, and activist/advocate. Her research interests include gender issues, museums, body modification, power and powerlessness, spirituality and ritual.

Technology has been an important part of the 28th Māori Battalion D Company history project, called Au e Ihu! Ngā Mōrehu Taua: Those that are left behind must endeavour to complete the work, allowing taonga to be displayed and protected for generations to come.

This seminar, co-hosted by Te Puna Wānanga and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, featured international speakers Professor Karina Walters and Dr Eduardo Duran. Professor Walters, based at the University of Washington and the founder and Director of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute, spoke about what is historical trauma and gave a moving account of re-tracing her own Choctaw Nation’s Trail of Tears journey.

Professor Walters and Dr Duran were hosted in New Zealand by Te Atawhai o Te Ao, Māori and Indigenous Analysis, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and the University of Waikato.

This seminar, co-hosted by Te Puna Wānanga and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, featured international speakers Professor Karina Walters and Dr Eduardo Duran. Dr Duran, a leading expert on clinical and research work dealing with the impacts of historical trauma, talked about his experiences as a practicing clinical psychologist in Indian country for several decades. He also touched on historical trauma in New Zealand.

Professor Walters and Dr Duran were hosted in New Zealand by Te Atawhai o Te Ao, Māori and Indigenous Analysis, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and the University of Waikato.

This research project developed from a need to solve a problem for Māori: to find a more cost-efficient, sustainable building technology than timber for papakāinga housing.