Ko te Koronga tētahi kaupapa mō te rangahau Māori kounga nei, e tū nei i Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou (https://www.otago. ac.nz/te-koronga/index.html). E rua ōna wāhanga: ko te Grad-uate Research Excellence tētahi, ko te Indigenous Science Research Theme tērā atu. I Aotearoa nei, e ai tonu i te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou, he āputa nui e tohu nei me whakatipu ō te Māori pūkenga, ōna āheinga hoki, ā-rangahau nei, ki ngā pūtaiao. He tauira, i Ōtākou ko tōna 3% o ngā pouako katoa i te Division of Sciences he Māori, ka mutu, ehara i te mea ka rangahau ngā pouako Māori katoa i ngā take whakawhanake Māori. Mō Te Koronga, ko tō mātou whāinga matua ā-rautaki ko te whakatipu i te tokomaha o ngā pouako Māori e hāngai ai ki te taupori, me te aro kehokeho pū ki te whakapakarihia o te mātauranga me te pūkenga Māori. E tutuki ai ngā whāinga e pā ana ki te whakawhanakehanga Māori i tā Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou Māori Strategic Framework 2022 (MSF), ngā whāinga ā-kaupapa here o te motu, ka mutu ko ngā whāinga o te hapori Māori anō hoki, kua whakatauria e Te Koronga kia whakatipu i te hunga pouako Māori kia hāngai ki te taupori (ko tōna 15%), kia whakapakari hoki i te mātauranga me te pūkenga Māori i ngā pūtaiao. E whakatinanahia ai ēnei whāinga, e rua ngā rautaki e horaina nei: ko te waihanga mai i tētahi kaupapa matua hou mō te pūtaiao taketake, mō te mauri ora rānei, nō roto mai i te Division of Sciences ka tahi, me te whakawātea mai i ētahi tūranga mahi mauroa mō te pouako Māori ka rua. Ka aro pū tēnei tuhinga ki te rautaki tuatahi. Ko tēnei kauapapa matua hou mō te pūtaiao taketake: ka whakangungu i ngā atamai, Māori mai, Pākehā mai hoki, ki ngā rohenga o te (‘ngā’ rānei) pūtaiao taketake; ka whakapakari i ngā āheinga ā-pouako puta noa i ngā momo akoranga mā roto mai i te waihangatia o tētahi wāhi ake hou mō te whakaako i te pūtaiao taketake/mauri ora; ka waihanga i tētahi marautanga hou kaupapa Māori nei, ka aro tonu hoki ki ngā ‘ōritehanga’ o te mātauranga taketake me te whakaaro Pākehā; ka takoha atu ki ō te hapori Māori hiahia, ki ōna wawata hoki mō ngā pūtaiao e whirinaki nei ki ngā hoahoatanga Māori o nāianei, ki ngā āheinga hou hoki ka puta, ka whakatutuki anō hoki i tā Te Hīkina Whakatutuki rautaki ko Vision Mātauranga Policy, Diversity in Science, me ō Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou whāinga i te Māori Strategic Framework. Koinei te tuhinga tuatahi o ngā mea e rua nā ngā kaituhi: ka kōrero tēnei tuhinga o te Special Issue tuatahi i te take tonu o tētahi wāhi whakaako mō te pūtaiao taketake/mauri ora. Ko tōna hoa haere ka tāngia ki te Special Issue tuarua, ka aro pū tonu ki tētahi mehanga i Ōtākou, ki te hanganga mai o tētahi marautanga pūtaiao taketake, ki ngā momo whakaakohanga o te marautanga anō hoki kua whakatakotoria.
Te Koronga is a Māori research excellence kaupapa (mission) based at the University of Otago (https://www.otago.ac.nz/te-koronga/index.html). It is composed of two parts: Graduate Research Excellence and the Indigenous Science Research Theme. In New Zealand, there is a significant need to grow Māori research capability and capacity in sciences and particularly at the University of Otago. For example, at Otago approximately 3% of all academic staff in the Division of Sciences are Māori and not all Māori staff necessarily research on Māori development issues. For Te Koronga, our top strategic priority is to grow Māori academic staff numbers to population parity with a clear focus on building Māori expertise and capability. In order to meet the objectives related to Māori development for the University of Otago Māori Strategic Framework 2022 (MSF), as well as national policy goals, and importantly Māori community aspirations, Te Koronga have set an aim to increase Māori academic staff numbers to population parity (approximately 15%) and to increase Māori academic expertise and capability in sciences. To realise these aims, two strategies are offered: firstly, to create a new indigenous sciences or mauri ora (flourishing wellness) major within the Division of Sciences and secondly to create Māori academic tenure track positions. This paper will focus on the first strategy. A new major in indigenous science will: train Māori and non-Māori scholars in the fields of indigenous science(s); build staff capacity across the disciplines through creating a new dedicated teaching area of indigenous sciences/mauri ora; create new curriculum that is kaupapa Māori-led as well as at the ‘interface’ of indigenous scholarship and Western ways of thinking; contribute towards Māori community needs and aspirations in sciences that build on current Mäori networks as well as new opportunities that emerge and will address Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s Vision Mātauranga Policy, Diversity in Science strategy and Otago University’s Māori Strategic Framework goals.This is the first of two papers by the authors: this paper in the first Special Issue will address the rationale for an indigenous sciences/mauri ora teaching area. Its companion paper will be published in the second Special Issue and will focus on an Ota-go-based solution of creating an indigenous science curriculum as well as proposed pedagogies for the curriculum.