Our lineages
The Moanaroa Pacific Research Network is an innovative addition to Pacific research at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland University of Technology (AUT). The "Moanaroa" in the network's name encapsulates the vast intraconnectedness of the "Moana", the Pacific Ocean, while "Roa" embraces our deep time and history, and enduring ties to our shared past, present and future landscapes.
Moanaroa exists to honour and realise the expanse of Indigenous Pacific research, underpinned by the wisdom of those renowned Pacific Indigenous scholars who have travelled before us and the rich continuum of Moana Pacific knowledges, and ways of being and perceiving. The spirit of Moanaroa connects and affirms Pacific diaspora communities within Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.
Research by Pacific peoples at AUT is about developing and
implementing knowledge-creation processes that come from
within our communities.
– Dr Teena Brown Pulu
In the heart of the Moana lies the tapestry of our ancestral wisdom,
interwoven across generations. Roa is the unbreakable bond
that tethers us to our roots, guiding our steps as we journey
into the future.
– Leali’ifano Associate Professor Albert Refiti
Tracing Pacific research histories at AUT
The Moanaroa Pacific Research Network builds upon the significant foundation of Pacific research at AUT. This snapshot of only some of AUT’s Pacific research activities over the past two decades points to the vast ocean of knowledge that the Pacific embodies – and new currents that Moanaroa might traverse.
The AUT Pacific Health Research Centre is home to:
- The longitudinal Pacific Islands Families Study that has been following 1398 Pacific children since their birth in 2000
- The community-based Healthy Pacific Grandparents Study
- The AWESSOM Study (Ageing Well through Eating, Sleeping, Socialising, Mobility Study)
The Critiquing Pasifika Education in the University 2007 conference hosted by AUT brought together many Pacific academics and their postgraduate students.
The organising committee included the School of Education Pacific staff and other local universities establishing a regular biennial conference. The peer-reviewed proceedings were published in the ALTERNATIVE journal.
The Pacific Media Centre in the School of Communication Studies emerged in 2007 to inspire research into Māori, Pacific and diverse media and culture production.
Until 2021, the research was published the Pacific Journalism Review: Te Koakoa.
Te Ipukarea Research Institute was founded in 2008. Its name, a gift from Te Wharehuia Milroy, underscores the intertwined relationships of tangata whenua and tangata moana.
The central focus of Te Ipukarea's research is the preservation and prioritisation of language, culture and knowledge.
The Vā Moana Pacific Spaces Research Cluster in the School of Art and Design was formed in 2012.
The Vā Moana Pacific Spaces Research Cluster is an international research platform that engages Indigenous Pacific and Western thought to study Pacific notions of space.
In the postgraduate research context, AUT was instrumental in the coordination of the National Pacific Postgraduate Talanoa series, beginning in 2007, as a springboard for Aotearoa-wide engagement in Pacific research in the social sciences.
Later, in 2014, the Vaka Tele Pacific Research Network was established, led by Tagaloatele Professor Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop, to support the growth of Pacific scholarship and research at AUT.
The AUT initiative Eke Tangaroa was established in 2015 and supports Māori and Pacific early career academics with growing research-active academic careers during the first three years of their appointment at AUT and beyond.
The Mana tangata, Mana whenua, Mana moana website is celebrating Māori and Pacific success in Te Ara Auaha, the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies at AUT. It showcases both academic and professional staff in the faculty, and our connection to the communities we come from and serve. It also shows cultural collaboration and respect for diversity and inclusion.
In many ways, the Māori intellectual tradition is a navigational one,
forged in journeys across the Pacific that looked back to Rangiātea,
while longing to know what lay beyond that distant point where the
earth met the sky.
It has always been daring, as well as imaginative, tradition propelled
by both a longing to explore and the confidence that has come from
the stories told in this land.
– Dr Moana Jackson, CRSNZ
Guiding frameworks
Our work necessarily recognises continuous ancestral connections to this region, the tino rangatiratanga of tangata whenua within Aotearoa, and the shared oceanic ties that are unique to Moana peoples’ position as tauiwi.
Moanaroa will aspire to enact Te Aronui, AUT’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi Framework, which seeks to give life to Tiriti honouring actions. This includes the principle of Whanaungatanga, the relational space between people maintained by mutually beneficial exchanges.
We will enhance this relational space by “being clear about our positionality and maintaining a sense of belonging and connection to each other”, deepening ancestral kinship ties across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean.
The Moanaroa Pacific Research Network initiative has been founded as part of Rautaki Rangahau: AUT's Research Plan for (2023 to 2028).
The plan's Objective 1: Whakamana/Encourage and Enable states, “We will lift the quality and depth of our research by addressing knowledge gaps and inequities by generating new insights, amplifying Indigenous voices, and creating a research culture that contributes to a more inclusive and comprehensive understanding of the world.”
Moanaroa will collaborate and support the consolidation of Pacific research methodologies and knowledge systems within university programmes, policies and protocols.
Become a member
You can become either a general or an affiliated member of the Moanaroa Pacific Research Network. Find out how to become a member.