Te Taiawatea Moko-Painting

Te Taiawatea’s emerging PhD will explore how land-based impacts affect the health of pāua (Haliotis iris) in Reporua (Aotearoa) and pā’ua (Tridacna maxima) in Rarotonga (Cook Islands), and how reconnecting Māori across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa through shared whakapapa and language can support climate-resilient futures for our taonga and communities.

Te Taiawatea’s moemoeā…

This research asks:

1. What is the ecological and cultural state of pāua and pā’ua today?
2. How did two distinct species come to share a name, and what does this reveal about our knowledge systems?
3. How do current policies and customary governance shape their management?
4. What could future, climate-resilient systems look like?

This kaupapa was first endorsed at our Ngāti Rangi Marae AGM in 2022, and my journey has since been shaped by both whānau and whakapapa. After pausing for the births of my children, I returned to the project in 2024, and this year’s Pacific Climate Resilience Roadshow reminded me that my whakapapa extends beyond Aotearoa. With the guidance of supervisors Professor Kura Paul-Burke, Distinguished Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith, and Dr Teina Rongo (Cook Islands), I am ready to take this work forward.

The vision is to restore and protect these taonga species by weaving together Indigenous knowledge and policy pathways. Through fieldwork in Reporua and Rarotonga, wānanga with communities, policy analysis, and exploration of language and naming, the research will connect ecological wellbeing with identity, food sovereignty, and intergenerational care.

Funding will support community-led fieldwork and engagement, ensuring knowledge holders are properly resourced. Ultimately, this kaupapa strengthens Pacific resilience by restoring relationships between people, language, and moana, recognising that the health of pāua and pā’ua reflects the health of us all.