Waewae Taku Haere: Stepping into Belonging in Storied Landscapes

This research essay explores a six-week experimental studio project at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University designed for third-year undergraduate spatial design students.
The project aims to move spatial design away from traditional site analysis toward a process of listening and attuning to Indigenous stories in colonized landscapes, specifically within Aotearoa New Zealand.
The research operates within a bicultural framework led by tangata whenua (Māori) and tangata Tiriti (non-Māori treaty partner) educators, centering on mātauranga and tikanga Māori (Māori knowledge systems and protocols).
The central goal is for students to come to "belong" to a place rather than simply "knowing" a site through Western metric-based data or commodified parameters.

The project is guided by three taonga (treasures):
- The Land (whenua): Seen as the living manifestation of Papatūānuku.
- The Pātere: A Māori chant titled ‘Waewae Taku Haere’, composed by Kura Moeahu (Te Āti Awa) with melody by Ngātaiharuru Taepa. It serves as an oral map of eight significant sites in the landscape around the Pukeahu campus.
- Moana Jackson: A leader in Māori thought whose text, ‘Where to Next? Decolonisation and the Stories in the Land’, provided the theoretical foundation for decolonizing relationships to the environment.

The authors apply Shawn Wilson’s concept of "research as ceremony," where the learning environment acts as a ritual of transformation from outsider to one who belongs.
The pedagogical approach is grounded in ako, a relational concept where teaching and learning are reciprocal.
The studio emphasizes "Indigenous storywork," a methodology defined by Jo-ann Archibald that requires educators and students to become "story-ready" through respect, responsibility, and reciprocity.

The studio followed a schedule based on a pōwhiri (ceremonial) framework to ensure the safety of students and the knowledge being shared:
- Week 1 (Whakatakoto tūāpapa - Grounding): Introduction, site visits (hīkoi), and mapping.
- Week 2 (Whakaeke - Stepping in): Critical research and initial testing.
- Weeks 3 & 4 (Whakatuia - Intertwining): Concept development and reflection-in-action.
- Week 5 (Whakatau - Exchange/Settling): Design refinement.
- Week 6 (Whakakapi - Concluding): Final communication and representation.
Student responses involved immersive spatio-temporal experiences using sound, light, and installation to respond to the atmospheric and historical qualities of the sites named in the pātere.

Jen Archer-Martin (Ngāpuhi, Pākehā): Discusses her journey of reconnecting with her Māoritanga and commitment to equipping students for a Te Tiriti-led future.
Stuart Foster (Tangata Tiriti): Identifies as a fifth-generation non-Māori New Zealander whose ancestors arrived in $1862$ . He focuses on the responsibility of educators to uphold Māori rights and values in a bicultural society.
Kura Puke (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui): Highlights her role as a mauri (caretaker) for the Te Rau Karamu marae and the importance of the pātere in locating the community within the storied landscape of Pukeahu.

Relationality: Understanding humans, non-humans, and natural phenomena as kin connected by whakapapa.
Embodied Listening (Rongo): Using multisensory perception to engage with site histories.
Accepting Uncertainty: Embracing the "sea of uncertainty" as a necessary state for decolonizing worldviews.
Belonging vs. Knowing: Affirming that identity and belonging come from shared experience and respect for local stories rather than objective dominance over information.