As a School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, Te Tumu is a lively department that conducts cutting-edge research for Māori, Pacific and indigenous communities throughout New Zealand and the South Pacific. We contribute to community – including marae, hapū and iwi – and government policies and programmes on pressing cultural, economic and environmental issues.
As a progressive team of research scholars, we model new directions for suitable land innovation, we develop indigenous language growth strategies and we explore cultural and economic pathways for communities against histories of colonisation and urbanisation. We also address major issues confronting humanity including climate change threats to low lying communities and increasing challenges and opportunities of urban development for indigenous peoples.
We all live in a world of other day to day realities including increased digital connection, increased environmental resource quality issues and increased financial pressures on families. We therefore turn our attention to intrinsic issues that matters most to individuals, their families and their communities: wellbeing, identity and security. While we are concerned with these cross-generational matters, we also have a diverse research reach extending through our nationally-renown teaching in the performing arts programme, and through our in-house museum and cultural heritage expertise. The past informs and shapes the present and the future, and historical enquiry forms one of Te Tumu's research strengths, looking at Māori and Pacific histories from pre-contact, colonial through to post-colonial times.
We pride ourselves not only on our research successes, awards and national profile as a department, but also on our nurturing and mentoring of next generation research scholars and our post-graduate community.