The river that flows in front of my marae, Tarimano, is known as Te Wai Mimi a Pekehāua. Named after the great taniwha who patrolled the area for generations, as a protector of my tūpuna. However, like the many branches of a tree, there are many perspectives from which this pūrākau  can be told. While … Continue reading Te haehaenga ō Pekehāua →

This work is yet to be titled, but is a 3D rendering of an idea working towards my final submission. The great taniwha Pekehāua lived in a cave, Te Waro-Uri, at the head of the spring that feeds our river of for generations, as a protector of our hapū. However, like the manybranches of a … Continue reading September Seminar Work →

Anō ko te riu o Tāne Māhuta Imagine a country where the history of your people is told twice: once by your family and community, then again by your school and society. The first version recites the stories of innovative seafarers who developed a complex culture at the edge of the world. The secondversion - … Continue reading July Seminar work →

From the thesis Āno, ko te Riu ō Tāne Māhuta: Possibilities and Challenges in a Ngati Rangiwewehi Curriculum Ngahuia Mahuika Pekehaua was the kaitiaki of Ngāti Rangiwewehi, arriving with the ancestor Ruaeo at Maketu. He would patrol the land as he could travese ground just as easily as he could water. His territory spread from … Continue reading Literature Review #5: Pekehaua is our taniwha and our kaitiaki →

From the book Maui Street Morgan Godfery Pākeha had many theories about where we came from and how we got here. Before science concluded that we came out of Asia Zoologist and Botanist from Norway, Thor Heyerdahl theorised that we were from South America or writer Edward Treagar who put forward the Aryan Māori theory, … Continue reading Literature Review #4: Disneys Moana isn’t progressive, it’s dangerous →

From the book Imagining Decolonisation Moana Jackson And there has always been another intellectual tradition in this land which cherishes different values and defines the concepts of power and democracy in a different way. There has also always been more than one way of making a nation, and Te Tiriti only ever saw a relational … Continue reading Literature Review #2: Where to next? Decolonisation and the stories of the land. →

Te Arawa traditions speak of how the kūmara was under the care the tupuna Whakaotirangi during the migration from Hawaiki. Other plants and vegetables such as taro and yams also brought over but were lost when the waka was almost swalloed in a whirpool. Whakaotirangi however was able to save the kūmara in a kete. … Continue reading April Seminar Work →

Dr Curtis Bristowe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-PwEnC-Rj8&t=10s Te ao Māori and in turn kaupapa Maori research are guided by three specifically Māori principles, kawa, tikanga and kaupapa, which are derived from and informed by their relationships with each other and observations of te taiao. These concepts value collective and spiritual wellbeing over individual need.Defining these concepts is important … Continue reading Literature Review #1: Indigenous Knowledge has Value →