Te Kaupapa | About
Kanapu is a six-year programme designed and led by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, Aotearoa New Zealand’s only Māori Centre of Research Excellence. We are funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
We work with Māori researchers, scientists, innovators, and knowledge-holders to design unique initiatives to meet Māori aspirations and build a vibrant RRSIT system.
Te ingoa o Kanapu
‘Kanapu’ is the name gifted by Emeritus Professor and Ruānuku o Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku.
Tohu
The Kanapu tohu encapsulates te ao Māori creation narratives ‘mai te kore, te po … ki te ao mārama’, and balances the fluidity spaces of male (mataora) and female (moko kauae) elements in the tohu.
Metaphoric interface
Kanapu uses metaphorical references across the four pou of the programme in ‘hikohiko te uira, papā te whatitiri, i kanapu ki te rangi, haruru ana te ao’ – the lightning flashes, the thunder crashes, flashes in the heavens, the world reverberates.
Lightning
A lightning bolt is represented in the stylised ‘K’ representing disruption and transformation.
Kanapu means lightning or instantaneous glow – and seeks to bring about system transformation to strike at the obstacles that block Māori pathways into the RRSIT system.
Uematarau
Uematarau is the overarching inspiration for our grassroots Māori initiatives focused on building capability and capacity. The ingoa ‘Uematarau’ was gifted by Kākahurimu Paekau.
Ue
It is about an awakening in oneself or a group, shifting, being urged to make a move, an energy, physical, spiritually.
Mata
It is about te kanohi or faces. It talks about the land, its surface and the landscape that connects people.
Rau
It is about being long-standing. It talks about the past, present and the future, and also the multiples of people.
