In this general issue, MAI Journal Volume 15, Issue 1 presents a wide collection of Indigenous research and scholarship that foregrounds Māori and Pacific perspectives on resilience, wellbeing, and self-determination. This issue features 15 articles, four commentaries, and a book review exploring kaupapa such as Māori economies and kai sovereignty, Indigenous research ethics, health and housing inequities, education, and justice. Contributions span topics from whakapapa-based economic frameworks and māra-centred urban planning, to rangatahi voices, Māori workforce experiences, and Pacific health and financial wellbeing.

This commentary responds to the removal of the Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities Sustaining Tenancies Framework (STF) by the National-led Coalition Government of Aotearoa New Zealand. We suggest that the ideologies informing the removal of the STF are grounded in a long history of colonial housing policies that have led successive governments to politicise Māori housing through punitive policies. Despite recent reports written about Māori housing by both the United Nations and the Waitangi Tribunal advocating for Māori housing as a fundamental human right, the removal of the STF provides an example of how guaranteed housing is treated as a privilege, as opposed to a right.

This commentary proposes that the decision to hold findings from te ao Māori and biomedicine in productive tension—rather than resolving them into a single integrated account—is not a methodological preference but a constitutional obligation grounded in the te reo text of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Drawing on the ontological turn in research methodology and on recent Waitangi Tribunal findings, the commentary argues that the two texts of the Treaty/Tiriti constitute two different worlds of reality: the English-language version enacting a hierarchical transfer of sovereignty; the te reo text enacting complementary, coequal spheres of kāwanatanga and tino rangatiratanga.

Mātauranga Māori has been severely impacted by settler-colonial agendas; however, continued efforts by Māori have supported mātauranga revival. This article examines interviews with 10 māmā and their journeys to reclaim ancestral knowledges for their tamariki. Māmā described reclaiming ancestral practices, including birthing traditions, wairuatanga, tikanga Māori, te reo Māori, rongoā Māori, weaving and food cultivation. Drawing on a whakapapa approach and the Hautū Waka framework, thematic analysis revealed a journey into the unknown, guided by tohu and shaped by challenges and resilience.

This narrative review examines the intersection of gambling harms and stigma among Māori, Pacific peoples, Asian communities and youth in Aotearoa New Zealand. The literature shows that stigma is shaped less by individual behaviour than by structural factors such as colonisation, socio-economic inequities, migration pressures and the concentration of pokies in low-income communities. We identify how stigma is experienced within each population and how it influences help-seeking, highlighting the central role of identity, cultural obligations and collective wellbeing.

In 2010, the passing of the Electoral (Disqualification of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Act removed voting rights for all prisoners, regardless of sentence length. A decade later, prisoners serving sentences of less than three years were re-enfranchised. Research and public discourse have highlighted the disproportionate effects of prisoner disenfranchisement for Māori, given persistent overrepresentation of Māori in prison. However, less attention has focused on the specific effects of disenfranchisement for wāhine Māori in prison.

Sir Hirini Moko Mead’s Five Tests framework helps identify a te ao Māori response to contemporary challenges. One such issue that Mead confronted, more than two decades ago, was genetic modification. We applied Mead’s precedent test to a genetic technology under development in Aotearoa New Zealand called single-sex offspring selection (SSOS). Single-sex offspring selection aims to control rat populations that harm native species either by producing primarily male litters or, by rendering females infertile, through a gene drive.

The New Zealand Government is planning to establish youth justice military-style academies through legislation. Public critique argues they are essentially boot camps, and research shows that these approaches can negatively impact young people who have experienced trauma. This article shares insights from a project funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga investigating trauma in rangatahi Māori engaged in serious youth offending. This study explored the perspectives of Kaupapa Māori community-based social workers, youth workers and organisational leaders (n = 11) working with rangatahi Māori who appeared in the youth court for offending.

This study explored whether functional, accessible, affordable, buildable (FAAB) small homes (45–70 m²) can meet the needs and aspirations of whānau Māori. Seventeen participants shared their experiences and design preferences through interviews and interactive activities. Analysis was informed by Te Whare Tapa Whā (Durie, 1985), a Māori model of wellbeing that recognises the interconnectedness of spiritual, emotional, physical, and whānau dimensions. Participants emphasised the importance of whānau-centred design, connection to whenua, cultural expression, and accessibility across life stages.