A Yale PhD candidate moved to Whanganui to investigate what nearly a decade of legal personhood has meant for Te Awa o Whanganui and its people.

Raffaele Sindoni is writing a book that uses Te Awa Tupua as a lens on the 'global boom' of legal personhood initiatives for rivers, mountains and forests.

May 2026 | New paper published offering a perspective on democratic innovation in Aotearoa | New Zealand and Indigenous peoples' rights.

4 May 2026 | New Zealand’s proposed overhaul of Treaty of Waitangi clauses has come under international scrutiny.

23 Apr 2026 | Three wāhine Māori warn the review of 18 laws could weaken Te Tiriti o Waitangi and echo UN concerns over Māori rights.

30 Nov 2025 | Health leader Lady Tureiti Moxon headed to the UN in Geneva, to present a claim that the government has escalated discrimination against Māori.

1 Jul 2025 | The Land Back movement is supporting Indigenous people who want to take back their ancestral land.

1 Dec 2023 | Critics say nation ‘under attack’ as coalition plans to review Te Tiriti o Waitangi and other policies that provide for Māori

Discover our media archive 2014-2026.