Nga Kete Matauranga: Maori scholars at the research interface: 2021

Description

In this beautiful and transformative book, 24 Maori academics share their personal journeys, revealing what being Maori has meant for them in their work. Their perspectives provide insight for all New Zealanders into how matauranga is positively influencing the Western-dominated disciplines of knowledge in the research sector. It is a shameful fact, says co-editor Jacinta Ruru in her introduction to Nga Kete Matauranga, that in 2020, only about 5 percent of academic staff at universities in Aotearoa New Zealand are Maori. Tertiary institutions have for the most part been hostile places for Indigenous students and staff, and this book is an important call for action. 'It is well past time that our country seriously commits to decolonising the tertiary workforce, curriculum and research agenda,' writes Professor Ruru.

Jacinta Ruru (Raukawa, Ngati Ranginui) is a professor of law at the University of Otago and co-director of Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, New Zealand's Maori Centre of Research Excellence. Her extensive research considers Indigenous people's rights, interests and responsibilities to own and care for lands and waters. She seeks to disrupt colonial legal norms and inspire a more just legal system. She has multidisciplinary research collaborations around the world, including as co-author of Discovering Indigenous Lands: The doctrine of discovery in the English colonies (Oxford University Press, 2010). She has won awards for teaching, research and graduate supervision. Linda Waimarie Nikora (Tuhoe, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti) is a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Auckland and co-director of Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, New Zealand's Maori Centre of Research Excellence. Her specialty interest is in the development of Indigenous psychologies to serve the interests and aspirations of Maori and Indigenous peoples. She has been involved in research about Maori flourishing; tangi and Maori ways of mourning; traditional body modification; ethnic status as a stressor; Maori identity development; cultural safety and competence; Maori mental health and recovery; social and economic determinants of health; homelessness; relational health and social connectedness.

The book demonstrates the power, energy and diversity that can be brought out into the world by Maori scholars working both comfortably and uncomfortably from within, without and across diverse academic disciplines and matauranga Maori. - Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith