<p><em><span style="font-size:12px">This photograph was taken at our recent writing retreat in our rohe of Te Rangit&#299;kei when I found out the scholarship had been rewarded. With fellow Whakauae PhD students Left to right: Kiri Parata, Aneta Cram, Stacey Ruru and Tom Johnson.</span></em></p>

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<p>Tom Johnson (PhD student at Auckland University of Technology and Whakauae Research) has been awarded a M&#257;ori Health Research PhD Scholarship from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) from the 2024 round of applications. Tom&rsquo;s research is based in the region of Te Awa Tupua and focuses on the wellbeing rituals and tools T&#257;ne M&#257;ori use to manage their wellbeing.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I want to demonstrate the diversity of roles we can play in Te Ao M&#257;ori- where every life form (the human and the-more-than-human) has a valued place for our unique experiences, preferences, and abilities all contribute to the whole&rdquo;, he says. &ldquo;It takes all of us in our diversity of backgrounds and lived realities to re-orient our energies toward imagining flourishing futures. In taking an Indigenous orientation to a career in research, I aim to listen and observe and allow the research (t&#257;ngata and taiao) to guide me&rdquo;. Tom&rsquo;s PhD focuses on the intersection of preventative health and knowledge revitalisation as part of a worldwide movement of Indigenous knowledge re-application and ways-of-being in the world. &ldquo;Applying and testing ancient concepts (rituals, ceremonies, philosophies) in new applications by M&#257;ori is an exciting arena of growth which requires critical evidence to be built&rdquo;, he says.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Beyond the human narrative there is extensive storytelling in the living natural world. The reclamation of regional rohe-specific knowledge has been occurring for decades by our knowledge holders who resurrect, decipher and reapply the tools of our t&#363;puna.).</p>

<p>He says &ldquo;This scholarship would not have been possible without the unwavering support I receive from the people at the core of Whakauae, descendents and friends of Ng&#257;ti Hauiti. This forest of giants who surround me here are the root systems which nourish, warn and shelter me. Thank you Luke Enoka, P&#257; Utiku Potaka, Vicky Mcleod-Tuere, Dr Amohia Boulton, Aunty Mel and Gill Potaka-Osborne, Kiri Parata, Lynley, Stacey Ruru, Aneta Cram and Dr Tanya Allport&rdquo;.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I hope my contributions in research firstly creates more welcoming, resourced, and supported space in the academy for future and diverse indigenous minds who will continue to expand on novel insights and avenues of investigation. I hope to leave in my path some k&#257;kano which could be harvested by our teina in this great inter-generational continuum of intellectual knowledge expansion. Thank you to the Health Research Council who is advocating for shifting resource into communities (to places like Whakauae, an Iwi owned research institution) and for recognising the potential in young Indigenous researchers to re-interpret and re-apply our k&#333;rero tuku iho.&rdquo;</p>

<p>He ends, &ldquo;I am privileged to work alongside some great local minds who understand m&#257;tauranga-a-rohe is never static but ever-evolving. I am lucky to hang this mahi between two steadfast pou, my supervisors. On the left I have my ira w&#257;hine, Dr Tanya Allport (Te Ati Awa (Whanganui-a-Tara), Germany), a Senior Researcher at Whakauae Research and the project lead for TUI: Translation, Uptake and Impact of knowledge. And on my right, I have my ira T&#257;ne, Dr Isaac Warbrick (Ng&#257;ti Te Ata, Te Arawa, Ng&#257; Puhi), who is an exercise physiologist, Senior Research Fellow and Director of Taupua Waiora Centre for M&#257;ori Health Research at Auckland University of Technology. Like te aho tapu, the research is woven between the taughtness and strength of these two pou, and without their firm connection to whenua, t&#257;ngata and t&#363;puna, and consistent encouragement, I could never have made it this far.&rdquo;</p>
