“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.

The Annual Child Poverty Monitor reports on child poverty measures and child-poverty-related indicators. Around one in three Māori children are defined as living in poverty. While the Monitor is a prompt for government action to reduce child poverty, it has been criticised as presenting a negative view of the lives of Māori children and whānau. This paper considers whether a fuller picture of the lived realities of Māori children can be gained from routinely collected data, using a lens of tamariki Māori wellbeing. A mauri framing for the indicator set is proposed, with three components reflecting the ihi, wehi and wana of tamariki.

Although commerce is often considered to be a primarily Western activity, Māori were, and are, just as engaged in it as anyone else and are internationally recognised today for their business entrepreneurship. Trade and exchange was a common feature in the early history of Māori, both before and after Pākehā contact, as it was one of the main reasons for interaction. The language used in these interactions offers an insight into Māori commercial and economic adaptability and provides a template for how te reo Māori can further develop to support a Kaupapa Māori way of conducting business.

Due to processes of colonisation, te reo Māori is currently identified as being in a state of endangerment (Reedy et al., 2011), which heightens the need for positive Māori language education outcomes. At a national level, reo Māori educators have begun incorporating technology into language classrooms to increase student engagement with the language (Heavey, 2014; McKenzie, 2014). This research evaluates a pilot study of Māori language auditory resources involving introductory to intermediate level learners of te reo Māori from Victoria University of Wellington.

Lifecourse research examines people’s trajectories through life and factors that influence those trajectories. It has the potential to build an evidence base around programmes that are effective for Māori. This paper describes the development and initial stages of Te Kura Mai i Tawhiti (TKMT), an innovative long-term research programme run as a collaboration between Taranaki Māori community organisation Te Pou Tiringa and the University of Otago’s National Centre for Lifecourse Research. The research aim is to examine the transformative power that quality Kaupapa Mäori early life and whänau programmes have on whānau health, wellbeing and educational outcomes.

This article illuminates the embryonic academic practice of writing doctoral theses in te reo Māori, storying the experiences of graduates, supervisors, examiners and senior managers involved in this pathway. In keeping with Indigenous sensibilities, a narrative research approach is adopted, whereby analysis proceeds by carefully curating interview data to tell a compelling insider story of the reo Māori doctoral journey. This narrative research process respects the teaching power of stories, told in the voices of pioneers in this field, and brings forward a joyful counter-narrative to the dominant detrimental research stories about Māori university education.