Maramataka research leads to two masters degrees

Graduating with two masters degrees this year brings together a journey that has taken Te Kahuratai Moko-Painting (Ngāti Manu, Te Popoto) from mathematics and marine conservation into Maramataka, Indigenous astronomy, and now a PhD in physics at the University of Melbourne.

On 22 September, Te Kahuratai graduated from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, with a Master of Marine Conservation from the Faculty of Science. He also holds a Master of Social Change Leadership through the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity (AFSE) programme at the University of Melbourne.

But his academic path was not one he expected to take.

“My journey into Maramataka and Indigenous astronomy began with a conversation in 2016 that fundamentally changed the direction of my life,” says Te Kahuratai.

At the time, Te Kahuratai was a Tuākana coordinator in the School of Biological Sciences. Professor Michael Walker had been talking with renowned tohunga Rereata Makiha about observations of tuna, kiore and pātiki that could be accurately predicted through Maramataka, but which contemporary science did not yet understand.

“It was my first real exposure to the idea that there was science within our mātauranga that contemporary science did not yet know.

“Mike and I then spent about two hours nerding out in the hallway of the old bio building, drawing on chronobiology and phenology, that is, biological clocks and life-cycle events, to think about how these observations might work.

“He invited me to join an honours project in mathematical biology, bringing together my studies in biomedical science and applied mathematics. Although that project changed direction when Mike retired, I had fallen in love with Maramataka.”

A new direction for Maramataka knowledge

Te Kahuratai went on to complete his Master of Marine Conservation at Waipapa Taumata Rau in 2022, after joining the first cohort of the programme in 2020.

“My Master of Marine Conservation was a very different experience from what I had originally imagined,” he says.

“I had grand plans to hold wānanga on the moana, paddle down awa on waka, and share kōrero tuku iho under the stars. I was part of the first cohort, which began in July 2020, and within a few weeks we were in lockdown in Tāmaki Makaurau because of Covid-19.”

His research then shifted from being wānanga-based to working largely through desktop research and Zoom.

“While I completed the degree in 2022, there were still skills I felt I needed to develop before I was ready to take on a PhD in the way I wanted to.”

Being selected for the 2025 AFSE cohort gave Te Kahuratai the opportunity to build on his previous research with Indigenous scholars and leaders from around the world while exploring Tātai Arorangi – Indigenous astronomy – and further developing his work on Maramataka and the significance of Puanga. He graduated in August.

The revival of Tātai Arorangi

The growing recognition of Māori astronomy, including Matariki, created an important opportunity to also restore regional astronomical knowledge and tikanga, says Te Kahuratai.

“While the country acknowledges and celebrates Matariki as a marker of the New Year, I saw an important opportunity to restore tikanga for Puanga as the star of the year specific to Te Taitokerau – where I’m from.

“Different iwi and hapū have their own tikanga, whakapapa and relationships with the stars, and it’s important to acknowledge that.”

Te Kahuratai is now a PhD candidate in Indigenous Knowledge through the Burunh Program for Cultural and Indigenous Astronomy in the School of Physics at the University of Melbourne.

“It is the only programme in the world I have seen for Indigenous astronomy in a School of Physics or even a Faculty of Science,” he says.

His research, 'Ngā Maramataka o Te Taitokerau', examines the Māori lunar-stellar-environmental calendar and astronomical knowledge specific to Te Taitokerau, and explores how time can be decolonised across Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa through Indigenous science education, Māori-medium education in kōhanga reo and kura, and wānanga beyond the education system.

Mātauranga Māori on its own terms

Te Kahuratai says his understanding of, and relationship with, Mātauranga has changed over the course of his academic journey too.

“Very early in my research, I was told that Mātauranga does not need to be woven with science, validated by science, legitimised by science, or even assimilated into science. That is an important lesson for all Māori scientists.”

“In Aotearoa, science and scientists have done, and continue to do, harm to Mātauranga that ripples across Māori and Indigenous communities globally. When science operates through colonial structures, it assumes that its own ways of knowing are the superior universal standard.”

“We are also seeing coordinated efforts to discredit or undermine the robustness, depth and international relevance of Mātauranga in education and research by people who do not understand it.”

Graduating with both a Master of Marine Conservation and Master of Social Change Leadership is just the beginning for Te Kahuratai, as he continues to strengthen the place of Mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge within academia.

“For me, that is part of this work: challenging these false narratives through Kaupapa Māori science that advances mātauranga.

“I hope my PhD contributes to transforming the science system for the next generation of Māori and Indigenous scientists.”