Earlier this week the Honourable Winston Peters, in an open parliament debate about the punishment of three politicians of the Māori Party, made what is considered a derogatory and racist comment. He commented about the Honourable Rawiri Waititi’s moko kanohi. This is a traditional tattoo that covers the face, while a moko kauae is on … Read more
This article explores why there is no ‘one Māori opinion’ and aims to dispel media and politicians comments about “Māori in fighting” use this to create further separation with Waitangi claims, iwi issues and other iwi/social issues that seem to make it to mainstream media. It is based upon Sir Mason Durie’s “Maori Health Decade … Read more
In a new threat to Māori online, a new scam is increasing where scammers are creating false social media accounts as death/tangi notices and online funeral streaming accounts. This is a scam. Facebook and other social media has become an essential way of communications, particularly with Māori. Many of us find that if we stop … Read more
An analysis of traditional Tikanga Māori associated with research, storage and analysis of Māori biological samples including DNA.
Comprehensive definition of what a Taonga Species is using mātauranga Māori and cosmology
As opposed to conforming to Eurocentric values and academic comfort levels, this guideline is the first published bioethics guideline encapsulating traditional and modern mātauranga Māori, to explore ethical research & storage of Māori genetic samples. This is the complete guideline with the ISBN: 978-0-9582597-8-1. Similar to the New Zealand Health system overhaul (2022) to … Read more
Literature reviews of current Māori ethics and frameworks associated with research, storage and analysis of Māori DNA and biological samples
Tikanga evolves is a common term. Often this means people who were not brought up with mātauranga creating new tikanga while traditional values are forgotten or not transitioned into evolving society. This article discusses several common tikanga about the tapu nature of the head, not putting food on your head, not sitting on a table … Read more
Using traditional Māori knowledge, I discuss cultural appropriateness of deep fakes and face swapping filters. Some of this discussion is also applicable to Facial Recognition systems. Apart form Māori, this article may be of interest to developers and organizations with Facial Recognition Systems. It is against tikanga Māori (customary beliefs) to have your image on … Read more
This article indigenises the Internet and the global digital eco-system which is often called the Web or digital network, and has been specifically written to assist with understanding Data sovereignty, Internet, systems, robotics, algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) from a customary Māori perspective. For those who have been reading my series of articles, this is … Read more
Stuff reported a story that Māori businesses will soon have the opportunity to self identify as Maori. For the first time, a national register will let companies say if they identify as a Māori business. A change to the National Business Number register will give Māori enterprises the option to record data that identifies them … Read more
The recent introduction of kissing females on the cheek and ignoring the customary practice of a hongi creates a number of issues including the loss of tikanga and the real possibility of discriminating against people in our community. THe earliest written account in the South Island of Ngai Tahu of the traditional practice of the … Read more
This article is for Whānau, Māori: students, teachers and academics. The same principles can be applied to working remotely online. I have recently heard it stated that online learning is not tika, it is not right and that it is not our tikanga as our tikanga is kanohi ki kanohi, face to face. This article … Read more
This article is about karakia in post-colonial New Zealand and introduced religious influences that have changed Māori cultural beliefs and practices. This is not an article about religions and what religion is the more appropriate. Every person has a right to practice their own religious beliefs without hurting others or being hurt because of their … Read more
The Christchurch City Council (CCC) and the Okains Bay Māori and Colonial Museum held their 45th Waitangi Day celebration with a citizenship ceremony at Opara (Okains Bay), Banks Peninsula, South Island. The Christchurch City Council and the Okains Bay Māori and Colonial Museum chose to ignore flying the national Māori flag recognised by the New … Read more
The complete paper in a pdf format can be downloaded here. An introduction, explanation and indigenising of current day natural phenomena radio technologies that are used for technologies such as 3G, 4G and 5G for mobile phones and indigenises modern day smart phones. Then, the paper compares pre colonial communications and traditional knowledge to explain … Read more
In 2019 the Law Commission called for public submissions regarding the Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations. This is my public submission and impacts on Māori culture and Tikanga Māori. Introduction What is a Taonga Why DNA is a Taonga C.1 Tikanga C.2 Traditional Knowledge Data Sovereignty of DNA samples Māori world view Recommendations References … Read more