Professor Annemarie Gillies (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Te Arawa) has long pushed the boundaries of traditional academic frameworks, bringing Māori voices and values to the forefront of research.

Annemarie, who is Professor Rangahau Māori at Te Aho a Māui and co-Director of EIT’s Te Kura i Awarua Rangahau Māori Centre, presented the fifth lecture in a series: ‘Reconnecting through Research’, organised by EIT’s Research and Innovation Centre (RIC).

Her lecture Whaowhia te kete mātauranga, He toi kahurangi a mātauranga Māori: Fill the basket of knowledge with the jewels of Mātauranga Māori, encapsulated her philosophy: ensuring that Māori knowledge is preserved, shared, and enriched for future generations.

The presentation explored the enduring relevance of Mātauranga Māori in research and its potential to shape future generations.

“Mātauranga Māori provides unique insights, understandings, and differing dimensions that frequently challenge Western thinking, paradigms, and science,” she explained. “However, these conversations often highlight exemplars of good practice in research and the promise of better societal outcomes.”

Annemarie’s lecture drew on a variety of experiences and projects, emphasising how whānau, hapū, and iwi inform her work. Her research interests are broad, spanning Māori health, economic development, and the application of tikanga Māori (customary practices) in modern settings.

After twenty-two years at Massey University and a period at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, she returned to Hawke’s Bay in 2021 to take up her professorship at EIT.

Central to her research is the belief that tikanga Māori is not a relic of the past but a living framework guiding modern Māori life.

“People often think tikanga has been lost, but it’s not. It’s still there. It’s just being expressed differently,” she said, citing examples like the inclusion of karakia in business meetings and the ongoing use of Māori values in decision-making processes.

Annemarie is committed to bringing Māori voices into academic research and has employed innovative methodologies, such as allowing whānau to record their own conversations, ensuring data comes directly from the source.

“In one project, we let participants video themselves because sometimes we researchers misinterpret what’s going on,” she explained. This method provides a deeper understanding of Māori relationships, capturing the nuances often overlooked in traditional research settings.

One notable research initiative involved qualitative interviews with Māori business owners, many of whom did not initially think they incorporated tikanga Māori into their practices. However, Gillies and her team found that tikanga—practices inherited from their tīpuna (ancestors)—were interwoven into everyday business operations. Whether it was a mutton bird business throwing back the first catch in respect for tradition or a photo studio owner conducting karakia (prayers) before working with human images, these practices demonstrated a deep, often unconscious integration of Māori principles.

Her latest research project involves the use of traditional knowledge labels in archaeology. Partnering with the Hapū of Waimarama, her team is piloting the integration of Māori values and knowledge into the New Zealand Archaeological Association’s Site Recording Scheme.

This initiative aims to highlight the cultural significance of archaeological sites by ensuring that appropriate hapū are involved and acknowledged, while also safeguarding sensitive information from commercial exploitation.

Throughout her career, Gillies has consistently advocated for research that uplifts Māori communities and preserves knowledge for future generations. “We always have to have the voices of our people. We do this for our mokopuna, so that they can carry it into the future.”

Professor David Tipene-Leach spoke at the lecture and commended Annemarie.

“That was a great exposition from a true academic who has really shown us a trail of researched projects that has covered her career including scoping kaumātua health and well-being, looking at socio-cultural aspects of Whanganui River hapū, examining a Māori way of dealing with economic development, scoping the connections of Mātauranga Māori and kai, working with the ‘blue economy’ and finally looking at ‘traditional knowledge labels’ which add local protocols for access and use to recorded cultural heritage sites.”