Tauhokohoko is a five-year, Endeavour-funded kaupapa Māori research programme that aims to transform trade policy, measurement, and facilitation through Indigenous knowledge, methods, and values.
Our hypothesis is that mana motuhake (autonomy) enhances Indigenous trade and its huanga (beneficial) and waiora (wellbeing) effects.
An Indigenous perspective views trade as a relational exchange of culture. This manifests in people, knowledge, and artefacts that must be in harmony with nature, delivering intergenerational equity and economic, social, and environmental value for all.
Research Aims
01
Indigenising trade policy using Indigenous world views, knowledges, and values;
02
Measuring Indigenous trade and its relationship to mana motuhake and wellbeing;
03
Enabling Indigenous trade through Indigenous entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Tensions arise between Indigenous aspirations for economic self-development and protection of Indigenous rights in trade policy and practice.
Mātauranga Māori and Indigenous Data Sovereignty Research Aims
04
Align with principles of Indigenous data sovereignty.
05
Investigate legal and extra-legal mechanisms that could identify and protect mātauranga and taonga.
This programme will create a new Indigenous-based framework for international trade, for which the wellbeing of te taiao (the environment) and ngā tāngata (the people) are central.
The framework will support the transition to a low-emissions, climate-resilient economy by amplifying the role of Indigenous knowledge of environmentally responsible trade policy and building Indigenous enterprise capabilities for kaitiaki-centred Indigenous trade.
The programme also supports Māori enterprises that trade internationally to be knowledge-intensive by focusing on mātauranga and science-based innovations in Māori agribusiness, agritech, and digital trade and in the processes and outcomes of Indigenous trade.