The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) has granted a Māori Health Research PhD Scholarship to Tom Johnson, a PhD student at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Whakauae Research, as part of the 2024 application cycle. Tom's research centres on the practices and tools Tāne Māori might use to manage their wellbeing in Te Awa Tupua. The goal of the research is to share the diverse range of responsibilities and roles Tāne Māori hold in a cultural context where all forms of life, including humans and the more-than-human, are valued for their unique contributions to the collective.
Tom says, “I am lucky to hang this mahi between two steadfast pou, my supervisors. On the left, I have my ira Wāhine, Dr Tanya Allport (Te Ati Awa), a senior researcher at Whakauae Research and the project lead for TUI: Translation, Uptake, and Impact of Knowledge. And on my right, I have my ira Tāne, Dr Isaac Warbrick (Ngāti Te Ata, Te Arawa, Ngā Puhi), who is an exercise physiologist, Senior Research Fellow, and Director of Taupua Waiora Centre for Māori Health Research at Auckland University of Technology. Like te aho tapu, the research is woven between the tautness and strength of these two pou, who role model their firm connection to whenua, tāngata, and tūpuna. The study is made possible by those at the heart of Whakauae, descendants, and friends of Ngāti Hauiti. Ngā mihi nui to Luke Enoka, Pā Utiku Potaka, Vicky McLeod-Tuere, Dr. Amohia Boulton, Ayesha Maraku, Aunty Mel and Gill Potaka-Osborne, Kiri Parata, Dr. Heather Gifford, Lynley Cvitanovic, Stacey Ruru, Āneta Cram, and Dr. Tanya Allport. Thank you to the Health Research Council, who is advocating for shifting resources into communities (to places like Whakauae, an Iwi-owned research institution) and recognising the potential in Indigenous researchers to re-apply our kōrero tuku iho for our collective waiora”.
