“Disruption” and “decolonisation” are terms often associated with Indigenous researchers’ intent to validate traditional cultural knowledge and practice in academia. The challenges and complexities in Indigenous researchers’ positionalities within their doctoral research projects are not always openly discussed (Webber, 2009). In this article, I share my personal reflections and observations of the challenges in my doctoral research with Tongan kāinga (extended families) in Aotearoa New Zealand and Tonga.

Death narratives are common in literature on the Māori language. While there is a place for language death, such a strong focus on death may be limiting our scholarship. Conclusions drawn from such approaches may risk overlooking key information about language health, and this could pull the scholarship further away from reliable language health conclusions. This article discusses the need to offer space to new language conversations in contemporary times. The most recent published scholarship in the Māori language discipline is examined to support a new discussion.

Rights-based approaches to health in Aotearoa New Zealand have increased in recent years. However, dominant Westernised conceptualisations of rights have been criticised for their ties to colonialism and individualistic focus. This paper presents Oranga Mokopuna as an alternative which disrupts Western notions of rights that are assumed to have universal application. Based in Te Ao Māori, Oranga Mokopuna provides a conceptual frame of reference for the realisation of tāngata whenua rights to health and wellbeing.

This paper advocates for change regarding commodification of Māori rituals in sport, arguing that haka are important taonga, symbolising Māori practices of knowledge transmission. Indigenous research methodologies based on Kaupapa Māori theory were utilised in this study. The literature reviewed highlights ongoing commodification of “Ka Mate” (a haka composed by Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha) by transnational corporations in sport-related settings. A critique of promotional advertisements for sport events illustrates how recent legislation has had minimal impact.

A discussion about the decreasing proficiency levels of one of the official languages in New Zealand, te reo Māori, would not be complete without understanding teacher trainees’ attitudes and motivations towards taking an optional Māori language course. This is because teacher trainees can provide significant opportunities within the classroom to promote learning of te reo and understanding their perspectives on learning the language to inform future revitalisation efforts.

Research indicates that claiming a contemporary identity as Pākehā is being redefined by those individuals who engage closely with Te Ao Māori. This reopens the discussion of the implications for Pākehā researchers who engage across Māori research spaces. This article reports a reflective study I conducted using the transtheoretical model and its six stages of change (J. O. Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982) to understand my Pākehā cultural identity. I discuss my rationale for engaging in research with Māori, and then outline the approaches that I, as a non-Indigenous researcher, adopted to appropriately engage in Indigenous research.

When considering higher education, the voices and experiences of minority researchers are often absent. Within educational research, in particular, the voices and cultural realities of minority teachers are rarely valued and are often ignored. This paper is my attempt to “be heard”, particularly in relation to the education of Tongan males in Aotearoa. I am a Tongan teacher–researcher, and, through the autoethnographical approach, I have discovered a way to tell my story and, in doing so, legitimise my knowledge.

Wellbeing has predominantly been measured using self-report. However, methodological issues have led to an increased interest in informant-report. Māori literature suggests wellbeing measures should involve the self and others, providing a holistic view of Māori experience. Given the potential for differing impressions, and the implications of this for Māori, self-report versus other-report approaches to assessing wellbeing is an important area of exploration. This study administered the Hua Oranga wellbeing measure to 60 Māori male offenders and 11 officers at Waikeria Prison, to investigate the relationship between self-reported and informant-reported wellbeing.

We explore the notion of homeland from the perspective of the Māori iwi or nation of Rongomaiwāhine from Māhia Peninsula. The research is drawn from a qualitative study initiated and conducted by the iwi in the period of 2012 to 2013 and sought to identify important iwi mātauranga from iwi members. Included within the research data was the iwi conceptualisation of a homeland, which is discussed through the three themes of connection, community and the tapu of the whenua. The homeland is identified as having a physical, social and spiritual effect on iwi members’ well-being and being fundamental to their cultural identity, purpose and meaning of life.

Writings on traditional Māori economies have highlighted the value system that philosophically underpins them and the relational nature of trading interactions. Further, the significance of mana in sustaining economic relationships has been emphasised, leading to the concept of an “economy of mana”. In this paper, we explore traditional Māori economies, the concept of mana and the limited exploration of an economy of mana in order to propose future research directions for Māori economic research.