Govt Spends $360K on Research into the Existence of Taniwha
November 7, 2022
A study celebrating Māori experiences and perspectives using the narratives of the taniwha has been given a financial boost in the latest Marsden funding round.
Dr Kirsty Dunn (Te Aupōuri, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) of the University of Canterbury has been given $360,000 for her research project Taniwha: A Cultural History, which uses the taniwha to explain complexities and challenges both in Aotearoa and around the world, and find out who they are, rather than what they are.
Though taniwha are usually depicted in the supernatural sense, Dunn says, “When we look at various pūrākau, these are often our relations that challenge us, help us and guide us at times. So we really want to elevate those kinds of ways of thinking about taniwha.”