This article reports the findings of a two-year transdisciplinary research project that explored the implications of climate change for the security and safety of drinking water supplies in three communities in Te Hiku o te Ika in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this region, potable water comes mainly from “roof and tank” systems. The project was designed as integrative Kaupapa Māori research utilising climate science, microbiology and social science to develop community-oriented approaches for dealing with the complex issues at the nexus of climate change.

Kua hau ngä rongo o te hangarau i te mata o te whenua, me uaua ka kitea he tangata kāore i te whakamahi i tētahi momo hangarau—te pouaka whakaata, te waea pūkoro, te rorohiko, me te ipurangi. Katoa ēnei nei mea he uri nō te wāhiaotanga, ā, he whakangāwari i te horapa o ngā mea katoa ki ngā hau e whā o te ao. Ko te ito o tēnei tuhinga roa he titiro ki ngā mata e rua o te hangarau, arā, te mata i tāmi i te iwi Māori, me te mata i whakawhanake i te iwi Māori. Ko ngā whakahau ka whakatakotoria e māua i tuhia hei whakaohooho, hei whakatenatena i te iwi Māori kia kaua e waiho mä te ao te tuakiri me te reo Māori e waihanga ki te ao.

Mātauranga Māori has become commonplace in international sport events involving New Zealand athletes and teams to create a national identity. The heart of this article examines the journey and implementation of mātauranga Māori into the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth games teams at Athens 2004, Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Delhi 2010. The experiences of one cultural advisor (referred to here as CA), who is also an ex-Olympian, are presented through an analysis that considers the principles of rangatiratanga and ōritetanga as advocated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.