About the talk
Over five years and more than twenty thousand kilometres, our small team visited almost every marae of New Zealand to create the first ever map of marae. We aim to reconnect descendants with marae through our web platform – [Maorimaps.com](https://maorimaps.com/) Now 16 years in existence, Māori Maps guides 30-plus thousand monthly visitors to the virtual gate of ancestral marae of Aotearoa. This talk reflects on the genesis of Māori Maps, the establishing ethics that frame our work and the importance of marae to Aotearoa. Taken from the Māori ritual of encounter (powhiri), we will look at a concept ‘to the gate’- a philosophical and literal standpoint, and our own form of protecting indigenous data sovereignty that guides the 30-plus thousand monthly visitors to the site. Lastly, this talk will touch on our recent collaboration with Made Curious in the site refresh, user-framed engagement and connecting to marae and land.
About the speaker
Hirini grew up in the small marae community of Oromahoe in the Bay of Islands, Northland. He completed a doctorate at the University of Otago, Dunedin, exploring the past-present and future of his village. The general theme of his research interests is understanding something of the relationship between people, land and water. Hirini is also kaiwhakahaere Matua for the website www.maorimaps.com.
Agenda:
5:00pm • Doors open, networking + refreshments
5:30pm • Presentation starts
6:30pm • More networking
7:00pm • Event close
Drinks are kindly sponsored by AWS and Canterbury Tech
Also, a big thank you to MadeCurious for providing the event space for us to meet – if you’re interested in what they do, check out their LinkedIn page.
MadeCurious HQ information:
We have a limited capacity, so please only RSVP if you can definitely make it.
