Following the Kuaka: Global Indigenous collaboration takes flight
09 June 2026
Scholars from Aotearoa, Canada and the United States launch collaboration at Waipapa Taumata Rau.
Scholars have taken their lead from the kuaka (bar-tailed godwit) and its remarkable migration journey from Alaska to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland welcomed international guests to campus last week to launch Kuaka Pedagogies: Long-Haul Strategies for Relational Learning, Leadership, and Exchange - a global collaboration grounded in Indigenous knowledge, relationality, and shared learning.
A pōhiri held at Tūtahi Tonu marae on 26 May brought together scholars and partners from the University of Auckland, Unitec, Carleton University (Canada), and Middlebury College (United States), marking the beginning of a programme that will span Aotearoa and North America.
The global collaboration, named after the kuaka and its extraordinary 11,000-kilometre migration across the Pacific, reflects a commitment to connection, reciprocity, and collective movement across cultures and places.
Associate Professor Kristin Bright, an anthropologist from Middlebury College, is co-leading the initiative with Associate Professor Daniel Rosenblatt from Carleton University, also an anthropologist.
Collaborating partners include Darlene Cameron, Marcella Williams and Veronika Iloilo from Waipapa Taumata Rau and Hohepa Renata from Unitec.
Dr Bright says the initiative brings people together in ways that foreground relationship-building, mutual learning, and the exchange of knowledge across place.
Indigenous and settler scholars will explore how whakataukī (proverbs) and rākau rongoā (medicinal plants) function as interconnected sites of knowledge transmission, cultural continuity, and rangatiratanga (self-determination).
Through wānanga, fieldwork, and exchange, the collaboration centres Māori and Pacific principles such as whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, and relational learning, alongside shared engagement with First Nations communities in North America.
“This initiative brings us together to study, learn, listen, and exchange in community,” says Bright.
“Like the kuaka, we are following a shared pathway across the Pacific - creating opportunities for wānanga, student exchange, and leadership development that uplift Indigenous identity and ways of knowing.”
Following the visit to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, the programme continues later this year with a three-week exchange across Turtle Island (North America), beginning in Vancouver and moving through Toronto, Ottawa, Vermont, and New York.
Turtle Island is an Indigenous name for North America, rooted in creation stories where the land rests on a turtle’s back.
Like the kuaka, we are following a shared pathway across the Pacific - creating opportunities for wānanga, student exchange, and leadership development that uplifts Indigenous identity and ways of knowing.
Building relational pathways for future generations
For Te Fale Pouāwhina and Leadership through Learning at the University of Auckland, the collaboration reflects a commitment to relational, culturally grounded education and leadership development.
Darlene Cameron, Kaitiaki (Team Leader), Māori & Pacific, says the kaupapa is about strengthening connections that extend far beyond the classroom.
“Kuaka Pedagogies is about building and nurturing relationships grounded in Indigenous values and shared responsibility. Through this collaboration, we are strengthening connections across Aotearoa and North America in ways that honour mātauranga Māori and Pacific knowledge, while creating opportunities for our students and communities to lead with confidence in who they are.”
Cameron says the pōhiri and wānanga at Tūtahi Tonu marae set the tone for the work ahead.
“Beginning this journey on the marae was important - it situates the partnership in tikanga, in relationship, and in a shared commitment to learning together in respectful and meaningful ways.”
That will also include extending the manaakitanga beyond Tamaki Makaurau adds Cameron.
“It is proper tikanga that, in reciprocity for our haerenga to Turtle Island, we extend our manaakitanga to our manuhiri before they return home at the end of July.”
“In that spirit, our team is now planning a four-day trip to Te Taitokerau - a region renowned for its deep ancestral histories, breathtaking coastlines, and significant cultural landmarks, including the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, ancient kauri forests, and the meeting point of the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea at Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga). Watch this space.”
A journey that continues
The next phase of the programme will see Darlene Cameron and Veronika Iloilo travel to North America to continue the Kuaka exchange, deepening relationships with First Nations scholars, students, and communities.
The initiative is expected to:
• strengthen international Indigenous networks
• support student leadership and identity
• inform future curriculum and programme development
• foster long-term partnerships grounded in reciprocity and respect
Guided by the whakataukī:
He kuaka mārangaranga - the flock of godwits rises together; one lands, and others follow.
The programme reflects a collective journey - one where learning, leadership, and connection unfold across oceans, communities, and generations.