Māori and Pacific ECR Symposium

Hīnātore: Māori and Pacific Research Futures

Hīnātore brings together Māori and Pacific early career researchers, postgraduate students, staff, and the wider Faculty of Arts and Education community to celebrate emerging scholarship, new ideas, and future possibilities.

Inspired by the season of Matariki, hīnātore refers to a glimmer of light or bioluminescence. Metaphorically, it evokes the spark of an idea, a moment of insight, and the emergence of new knowledge. The symposium creates a space for connection, dialogue, and celebration as we recognise the next generation of Māori and Pacific research leaders.

The programme will showcase the work of Te Tomokanga Postdoctoral Fellows and newly appointed Māori and Pacific academics whose research spans diverse disciplines, methodologies, and communities. Featured presentations include Kerryn Galokale, whose work explores research through tok stori with and in Indigenous communities in the Solomon Islands; KDee Aimiti Ma'ia'i (Fasito'outa, Sapapali'i, Penicuik), whose presentation, Fa'i Pasifika: Our Responsibility to Maintain the Agricultural Foundations of Postcolonial Pacific Regionalism, examines questions of stewardship, sustainability, and regional identity; and Ngahuia Harrison (Ngātiwai), whose research-driven practice investigates the relationships between mana i te whenua, legislation, labour, and land.

We are also delighted to feature contributions from newly appointed Māori and Pacific staff members, including Sam Iti Prendergast (Ngāti Maniapoto), a historian whose work spans the histories of Aotearoa, empire and imperialism, Pacific studies, and Indigenous studies, and multidisciplinary Tongan artist Sione Faletau (Taunga, Vava'u and Lakepa, Tongatapu), whose creative practice moves across visual art, performance, and community engagement.

Together, these contributions illuminate the richness and diversity of Māori and Pacific scholarship while fostering relationships that will help shape the future of research across the faculty and beyond.

Held during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Hīnātore honours the enduring vitality of Indigenous languages, knowledge systems, and communities while looking to the future with curiosity, creativity, and hope. We warmly invite faculty staff, postgraduate students, whānau, and the wider university community to join us for this special occasion.

Growing ideas. Shaping futures.

MEET THE SPEAKERS

Special guests:

Aymee Lewis (Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences; Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Ngāti Rakaipaaka) and Paraone Luiten-Apirana (Faculty of Engineering and Design; Ngāti Hikairo, Ngāi Tūhoe, Te Arawa)) will open the event with a Pūtaio Māori perspective on Hinātore.

Dr Kerryn Galokale

Dr Kerryn Galokale is a Melanesian educator, researcher, and scholar from Solomon Islands. She completed her PhD in Pacific Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, in 2024 and is currently in her second year as a Tomokanga Postdoctoral Fellow in Pacific Studies. Her research interests include Melanesian research methodologies, vernacular language education in Solomon Islands, faith, empowerment and resilience in Pacific climate research, and Melanesian markets.

Dr KDee Aimiti Ma'ia'i (Fasito'outa, Sapapali'i, Penicuik)

Dr KDee Aimiti Ma'ia'i is a Pacific scholar whose work explores questions of food sovereignty, cultural continuity, and regional identity. In 2019, she made history as the first Pacific woman to receive a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where she completed her doctorate. She is currently in her first year as a Tomokanga Postdoctoral Fellow, where she continues to explore Indigenous knowledge systems and Pacific futures.

Dr Ngahuia Harrison (Ngātiwai)

Dr Ngahuia Harrison is a new lecturer at Elam School of Fine Arts following the completion of her Te Tomokanga Postdoctoral Fellowship. A lens-based artist, her work examines the ongoing impacts of colonisation on the people and places of Te Taitokerau. Her research-driven practice investigates the relationships between mana-i-te-whenua, legislation, labour, and land.

Dr Sam Iti Prendergast (Ngāti Maniapoto)

Dr Sam Iti Prendergast is a historian whose work spans the histories of Aotearoa New Zealand, empire and imperialism, Indigenous studies, and Pacific studies. Her scholarship brings historical inquiry into conversation with contemporary questions of identity, sovereignty, and belonging while illuminating the ways in which Indigenous peoples have navigated colonialism and social transformation.

Dr Sione Faletau (Taunga, Vava'u; Lakepa, Tongatapu)

Dr Sione Faletau is a multidisciplinary Tongan artist whose practice traverses multiple artistic forms and disciplines. Drawing upon Tongan knowledge systems, language, memory, and contemporary artistic practice, his work explores the transmission of ancestral knowledge and the dynamic relationship between tradition and innovation.

Aymee Lewis (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, Ngāti Rakaipaaka)

Aymee Lewis is a PhD candidate in microbiology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, with a passion for bacteria, pūtaiao and te taiao. Her research explores the use of harmless glowing bacteria in larval fish aquaculture, a journey that has also led her into the kaupapa of Hīnātore.