He Raraunga Haapori - Mapping Demographic Change and Social Service Provision for Maaori Communities in in Aotearoa New Zealand Regional Settlements

Jesse Whitehead, Te Ngira: Institute For Population Research
Moana Rarere, University of Waikato

He Raraunga Haapori is a research project that aims to build an evidence base about Maori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) wellbeing in regional settlements by triangulating their needs and aspirations with regional mapping of community services and the impact of wider demographic change. As a case study, we partnered with the local Indigenous peoples in the rapidly growing settlement of Pokeno, located 60 km south of Auckland central, to produce Maori community-led research that contributes to their aspirations. We co-created a set of web-based ArcGIS StoryMaps to amplify the voices of local Maori, promote their aspirations, and act as a tool to leverage their position in regional development discussions with local government authorities and stakeholders. In this presentation we share insights into our collaboration with Maori communities and use of geospatial tools to advance their aspirations. Our presentation will outline how we considered Maori Data Sovereignty rights, and how story maps became a tool to connect and include the wider community. The story maps highlight the history of colonisation in Pokeno and combine narratives from both Maori and Settler families to help new Pokeno residents understand the importance of specific sites of cultural significance in the growing town.

Keywords: Spatial Demography, Mixed methods research, The Demography of Indigenous Populations, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

See extended abstract.