Poipoia Te Kākano Kia Puāwai: The Operationalisation of Māori Data Sovereignty in Aotearoa—A Scoping Literature Review
Māori Data Sovereignty and Māori Data Governance are articulationsand expressions of our Māori rights to be self-determining as sovereign peoples. Over the last decade, there has been considerable growth in scholarship, theorising and advocacy around Māori Data Sovereignty with a number of frameworks, models and sets of principles developed. Underpinned by Kaupapa Māori theory and informed by the PRISMA and CONSIDER guidelines, this scoping literature review examined the application of Te Ao Māori concepts, values, principles and/or practices to operationalisation of Māori Data Sovereignty and/or Māori Data Governance. Of the 2413 records identified, 32 full texts met our inclusion criteria. We identified 21 Te Ao Māori concepts, values, principles and/or practices (listed in order of frequency): 'Katiakitanga'; 'Rangatiratanga'; 'Whakapapa'; 'Whanaungatanga'; 'Manaakitanga'; 'Kotahitanga'; 'Tapu/Noa'; 'Mauri'; 'Mana'; 'Hau'; 'Wairua(tanga)'; 'Pūkenga(tanga)'; 'Rāhui'; 'Pōwhiri'; 'Wānanga'; 'Pūrākau'; 'Tika'; 'Pono'; 'Mana Motuhake'; 'Tino rangatiratanga'; and 'Ūkaipōtanga'. We describe their interpretation and application to Māori Data Sovereignty and/or Māori Data Governance. We also identified lesser focus in the literature of the Māori Data Sovereignty aspirations and priorities of specific Māori population groups, for example, tamariki and rangatahi Māori, tāngata whaikaha Māori and takatāpui Māori, and discuss implications for Māori data futures.
Authors
- Bernadette Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1595-016X)
- Tristram Ingham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7087-2531)
- Gabrielle Baker
- Roimata Timutimu
- Claire Kemp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9336-4549)
- Cheryl Davies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5370-3485)
- Paula Toko King (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4978-1349)
- Marama Cole
- Donna Cormack
- Natalie Paki Paki
Institutions
- Statistics New Zealand (NZ)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (US)
- Maori Education Trust (NZ)
- University of Baltimore (US)
- University of Otago (NZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand
- Published
- 2026-03-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/snz2.70029
- Primary Topic
- Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00