Tikanga Tawhito Tikanga Hou – Literature Reviews
Literature reviews of current Māori ethics and frameworks associated with research, storage and analysis of Māori DNA and biological samples
with Dr Karaitiana Taiuru

Māori Data Sovereignty is the right of Māori to govern the collection, ownership, storage and use of Māori data, as guaranteed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 2522 findings recognise Māori data as a taonga. These articles apply that standard to real decisions, from health records, genomics and digital identity to data centres, cloud services and generative AI. Rangatiratanga over data sits with whānau, hapū and iwi, so the posts look at tikanga and jurisdiction at those levels. They also explain why data residency in Aotearoa is not the same as data sovereignty. For the principles in full, start with the Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty or the Māori Data Sovereignty overview..
Literature reviews of current Māori ethics and frameworks associated with research, storage and analysis of Māori DNA and biological samples
As with any new technology there are positives and often more negatives for Māori and other Indigenous Peoples protecting their traditional knowledge from abuse, appropriation and theft. In the short time that Non Fungible Tokens have been created, traded and advertised online there is a large amount of cultural appropriation and stolen images being transformed … Read more
Can non-Māori can use the New Zealand Domain Name maori.nz? As the primary author of the application that lobbied InternetNZ to create maori.nz domain name in 2000, I say yes. Further information about Māori Data Sovereignty is in Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty. Anyone anywhere in the world can register a maori.nz domain. But, only … Read more
Formerly published as the Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty. Māori data sovereignty is the inherent right of Māori, whānau, hapū, iwi, marae and rōpū Māori to exercise control over Māori data and Māori data ecosystems. It is grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and He Whakaputanga, and given legal definition by the Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI … Read more
The High Court decision that the Ministry of Health must hand over Māori Data to Whānau Ora is a significant and swift stride towards Māori Data Sovereignty that has left Māori and the government exposed. Ideally, the government and academia would have been engaging with Māori groups and Iwi to recognise Māori/hapū/marae/Iwi Data Sovereignty and … Read more
This article introduces new datasets of Marae names that will form the basis of Marae data sovereignty for database administrators that recognise Marae rights and valuable information to navigate the whole Māori Data Sovereignty landscape. The data sets are available from https://github.com/ktaiuru Introduction Marae/Rūnanga Data Sovereignty refers to the inherent rights and interests of Marae/Rūnanga … Read more
Update: All Māori Data Sovereignty posts have been combined and updated into a Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty – https://www.taiuru.co.nz/compendium-of-maori-data-sovereignty/ These widely recognised principles are from Te Mana Rauranga and have been slightly modified to recognise tikanga Māori and all of Māori societies, modern and traditional and to ensure that the principles are future proofed for … Read more
Update: All Māori Data Sovereignty posts have been combined and updated into a Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty – https://www.taiuru.co.nz/compendium-of-maori-data-sovereignty/ To assist organisations to make public statements that both recognise and enact the instruments that protect Māori interests with Māori Data, all organisations should create public commitment statements that are committed to by the whole organisation. … 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 introduces six new licence to protect Māori Data and recognise Māori Data Sovereignty rights today and for the next 1000 years. Māori Data Sovereignty principles are also updated to reflect Māori society and the Social Licence is reviewed as not appropriate for Māori and Indigenous Data. Citations This article can be … Read more
A new dataset of Iwi and hapū names that will form the basis of hapū data sovereignty for database administrators allowing hapū to regain sovereignty over their own data in this new society where data is the new currency. Referencing This document may be referenced as: Karaitiana Taiuru (2021). Explanation and notes of the … 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
Update: All Māori Data Sovereignty posts have been combined and updated into a Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty – https://www.taiuru.co.nz/compendium-of-maori-data-sovereignty/ This article is the most recent in a number of Māori Data Sovereignty and AI posts. My previous post is called Māori Data Sovereignty an Updated Definition. Māori Data Sovereignty consultation requires much more than only … Read more
Update: All Māori Data Sovereignty posts have been combined and updated into a Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty – https://www.taiuru.co.nz/compendium-of-maori-data-sovereignty/ Over the past four years there has been such a directed focus on Iwi rights with Data held by the Crown that the definition of Māori Data Sovereignty has neglected traditional and modern Māori societal hierarchy … Read more
This brief article looks at the idea that the Māori language will be colonised if used in speech recognition, machine learning, AI and other linguist technologies. This article makes the argument that the Māori language can not be colonised and that by making such statements will only hinder Māori Peoples and wellbeing. As technology is … Read more
Update: All Māori Data Sovereignty posts have been combined and updated into a Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty – https://www.taiuru.co.nz/compendium-of-maori-data-sovereignty/ A new and inclusive of all Māori people and societies, not just Iwi as has been the status quo since Māori Data Sovereignty was first discussed in 2016 or thereabouts, definitions of Māori Data and Māori … Read more
Presentation to the Digital Justice – Emerging Technologies, Methods and Research on September 11 2020. Presentation here. Abstract An introduction to Māori and Indigenous Data sovereignty and digital colonisation. The presentation starts with a traditional Māori society view of Data, customary ownership values, Treaty of Waitangi values and Indigenises digital data to show the importance … Read more
Another embarrassing lesson for the ICT and Digital industry when working with the New Zealand government. If you don’t consider Treaty of Waitangi/Te Tiriti with digital projects you could unintentionally discriminate against Māori, Treaty and in this case legislation that protects and enhances the Māori Language. The New Zealand Covid app provided by the Ministry … Read more