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About this talk

In a rapidly changing world, many communities face profound ecological, economic, and social challenges. For Ngāti Manu, a Māori tribal community in the Bay of Islands, navigating disruption and adaptation is nothing new. Generations ago, immense change reshaped their lives: forests and gardens gave way to pastures and European farms, traditional exchanges became market-driven trade, and territorial rivalries transformed into ongoing struggles for existence. In this talk, I detail our recently funded Marsden project that seeks to understand how Ngāti Manu sustained collective well-being and continuity amid such transformation, employing the concept of collective continuance: a people’s enduring, adaptive capacity to maintain complex networks of relationships and responsibilities. Drawing on an innovative mix of archaeological investigation, historical research, and Ngāti Manu’s own Mātauranga (ancestral knowledge), the project traces their journey from pre-European to post- contact eras, across significant sites and landscapes. I detail how, in partnership with the community, we seek to co-create new knowledge, ensure cultural safety and meaningful community engagement, and open new possibilities for understanding Indigenous resilience and thriving futures.

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