Privileging Indigenous Knowledge
A lifetime of service by Professor Tania Ka’ai fosters a network of authentic Māori academic excellence, centring Indigenous knowledge within the university ecosystem.
Professor Tania Ka’ai (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu, Hawaiian, Cook Island Māori, Sāmoan), Director of Te Ipukarea Research Institute at AUT, has spent her life in service of her community. She details this journey in Untold Autoethnographic Stories of (In)Justice, Teaching and Scholarship , published in September 2025.
Professor Ka’ai’s chapter Privileging Indigenous Māori Knowledge – Reclaiming My Birthright of Language and Culture: An Autoethnographic Story details her career of challenging conventional, Western forms of knowledge production by privileging Indigenous Māori knowledge within the academy.
As Aotearoa’s first Māori woman appointed to a university as a professor in Māori studies, Professor Ka’ai has fostered supportive, mana-enhancing Māori academic networks, focused on rebuilding intergenerational knowledge transfer.
“I entered the academy as a Professor, aware of my position as a minority – female, Māori and Pacific, and anxious about the presence of institutional racism and unconscious bias built into the Western framework of the academy. It made me question how I could be my authentic self, who would help keep me safe within the academy, and wonder whether my time would be consumed educating the non-Indigenous workforce on Te Tiriti and the rights of Indigenous Māori people in order to create an environment where Māori staff and students can function effectively.
“I determined that in order to serve my community well, as the generations in my whānau have before me, I would focus on maximising the ‘wrap around’ support for Māori (and Pacific) staff and students entering the academy and delivering Indigenous knowledge in an Indigenous way to ensure that Māori and (and Pacific) staff and students achieve their university qualifications.”
The journey of facilitating Māori (and Pacific) success at university has not been without challenges. Professor Ka’ai says privileging Māori knowledge has put her in opposition with university systems and colleagues on occasion. “I have been confronted by unconscious bias, racism, sexism and white privilege, and sadly I have faced hostility from both non-Indigenous and Indigenous colleagues who have sought to silence me.”
The urgency for systemic change within New Zealand’s education system is critical, says Professor Ka’ai. “Evidence shows that collaborative approaches to learning that are centred on shared power relationships and collective solutions help create spaces within the academy for Māori students to flourish and succeed. The Mahitahi way of working together provides unconditional mutual support and commitment, and helps us undertake our obligation and responsibilities to enhance our collective and not just ourselves individually.”
Te Ipukarea Research Institute has adopted Mahitahi and applied it to postgraduate supervision and creative practice. This collaborative methodology strengthens aspects of self-determination, cultural identity and education success for Māori and Pacific masters and doctoral students, fostering independence and critical thinking and the courage to make a difference. It attempts to address the gap in the academy of providing culturally safe spaces and environments that are inclusive of Māori and Pacific people’s ways of being and knowing.
As she reflects on more than 30 years of supporting Māori and Pacific scholars, Professor Ka’ai recognises that collaborative methodologies reflecting a shared practice are crucial for both accurate representation and to foster success. “This work demonstrates clearly that it is possible to shift the Western academy and create new spaces for Indigenous ways of knowing within the academy to create better learning pathways for Indigenous students
“My students, and there are many, continue to inspire me as they adopt the mantle of continuing the struggle or privileging Indigenous knowledge within the academy and their respective workplaces because it is the right thing to do to see our people, and our communities, flourish. I will continue to champion these students and our communities.”
Mā te whakapono, mā te tūmanako, mā te titiro, mā te whakarongo,
Mā te mahitahi, mā te mānawanawa, mā te aroha, ka taea e mātouBy believing, by having hope, by looking, by listening, by working together,
By having patience, love and compassion, we will succeed together.
Useful links
- Find out more about Te Ipukarea
- Learn about Professor Ka’ai’s research and expertise
- Untold Autoethnographic Stories of (In)Justice, Teaching and Scholarship, edited by Ari Sherris & Joy Kreeft Peyton