Innovation as Necessity: Te Rarawa and the Challenges of Multi-Purpose Research

One of the major factors affecting not only iwi (tribal) research but also iwi development generally is compartmentalisation of – for example – funding, service provision, service and research contracts, government agencies and policy making.  This article shares some of the research stories and lessons arising from the integration of those individual projects into a single research programme – Ngā Tāhuhu o Te Taiao – and reflects on the methodological quagmire that it invoked. It discusses Ngā Tāhuhu from a practical point of view, and is concerned with how the problem of compartmentalisation was dealt with, the challenges faced, and the strategies and innovations that were developed in response.