New sights for sustainability in social marketing from an Indigenous knowledge system and worldview Open Access

Tēnā koutou (greetings to you all). Let us prepare for a voyage, where the author as your navigator guides you through a scenic tour of the seas of Western knowledge and Indigenous knowledge. To our left, you will see the Western system, which you will recognise, and to our right you will see the knowledge system of the Indigenous people (Māori) of Aotearoa (New Zealand) (Figure 1). The seas of both sets of knowledge systems will push up to both sides of the waka (Māori canoe), and your guide will acutely point out some of the critical differences, similarities and advancement that exist between the Māori (Indigenous) knowledge system, and the Western knowledge system. Your guide is from the land of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, a peaceful place in the middle of the North Island of Aotearoa, with the mighty Tongariro mountain, and Great Lake Taupō. To travel, allows us a new viewpoint to see ourselves in the world, as we are removed from the social construction of our lives on our whenua (land) and ancestral land. The opportunity to learn how the Western knowledge system defines and validates knowledge on foreign land as an Indigenous person has afforded your kaiwhakatere (navigator) the opportunity to truly reflect on these knowledge systems, from a different viewpoint. This haerenga (voyage) represents a journey of seeing and weaving our waka through the seas of Western knowledge and Māori knowledge, towards our destination of the land of sustainability. We will learn along the way how each knowledge system, which sits within its worldview sees the “islands” of social issues, social marketing and innovation. The knowledge sharing and contrasting, will provide the reader with a thought-provoking journey of our assumptions, and how Indigenous knowledge can help us see things differently, and perhaps from a fresh perspective. Nāku te rourou nāu te rourou ka ora ai te iwi,meaning through co-operation and the combination of our resources, our people will live and get ahead.

We must first cover an important point, the important word of validity. The Western “scientific method” has brought much progress but equally has claimed or at least positioned itself as the superior way in which knowledge is valid (Walker et al., 2006; Watson-Verran and Turnbull, 1995). To invalidate other systems of knowledge without yet understanding them, does not seem wise, don’t you think? Māori and other Indigenous people must exist in both their own world and the Western world of knowledge, and their systems. These knowledge systems exist within worldviews and require dual lenses for sight for us to see (Figure 2). The validity of traditional knowledge systems from the lands they were developed, should be understood before deemed “invalid”. As you will see in our voyage, they are equally valid, often deeply embedded in a greater orientation of time and history. Consider this, Polynesians (Māori) had developed systems of navigation and travel from 3,000 BC to 1,000 BC, to travel and survive large ocean voyages. This is no accident, but an outcome of constant learning, and a knowledge system shared and passed down through generations for guardianship (kaitiakitanga), including our ways of being, and ways of knowing for our people. We have adapted over millennia, this is not an accident, but a deliberate outcome of knowledge development and sharing this knowledge. The skills, critical thinking, and desire to learn from the past, and share to the future, embedded deeply in cultural values of Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview). This progressiveness and the achievements of this system of knowledge is the inspiration for this voyage and paper in a new context, as we travel around the islands and depart at our destination, the land of sustainability. Now I need all passengers to pick up their hoe (paddle), as we must work together as a collective to see what we need to see and get where we are going.

To help imagine how we must see the world now is captured through the idea of the dual lenses that Indigenous and non-Western people see the world through (Figure 2). The concept of a lens represents a worldview; it is equally different and runs parallel through the other lens. The notion of two sights to see, represents the reality of many Indigenous and non-Western people, of their own knowledge system and the Western knowledge system they must equally understand, see and reconcile to navigate. The cultural interface is where these knowledge systems meet, often only seen by the non-Western people (Nakata, 2007). These are not merely different paradigms but represent worldviews of knowledge. Although we are only focusing on Māori knowledge as Indigenous knowledge in this voyage contrasted to Western knowledge, there are many other Indigenous and non-Western systems of knowledge which exist under their worldviews. Only through sharing and openness, can we take such a basic concept depicted (Figure 2), to expand its view of parallel validity. The Western worldview and the scientific method are purposely reduced to philosophical paradigms of what constitutes knowledge (Kuhn, 1962), as it often forms the basis of what is considered scientific validity for knowledge publication.

Our journey now, seeks to share and contrast the knowledge of the Māori knowledge system, and the Western knowledge system through “the islands” of social issues, social marketing and innovation. This is a scenic tour through knowledge. We will uncover new insights, through a critical and respectful comparison that sit on both sides of our metaphorical waka, for an evolved sustainable social future. I am using a traditional Indigenous Māori method of storytelling (Drawson et al., 2017; Henry et al., 2018), sharing knowledge with insights, in ways which are at times entertaining and deeply symbolic. This is our traditional way of knowledge sharing as it is highly contextual, practiced in other Indigenous cultures (Kovach, 2021; Nakata, 2007; Raciti, 2023), and has endured centuries. It is deeply important Indigenous knowledge be shared by Indigenous people, and not for them such as been done historically (Allen, 2012; Kovach, 2021). This is why this paper contains a single Indigenous author. Western knowledge has brought us scientific progress; however, it has meaningfully brought us challenges to our world against social sustainability, environmental sustainability and economic sustainability. Perhaps you might be surprised that Indigenous knowledge is much more grounded in sustainability, this is no accident, but a lesson learnt many centuries ago which we still try to practice today. Our voyage may surprise non-Indigenous and inspire other Indigenous researchers to share their knowledge through such a critical and respectful comparison of storytelling. Our oral history and storytelling teach us lessons from the past, to help “tangata whenua” (people of the land) now, and into the future, as we all come from the land, and return to the land, we are one. This addresses a call for more sharing of research on Indigenous knowledge systems (Salmon et al., 2023).

Our voyage in this paper will travel through knowledge to answer three questions from a Māori perspective:

Let us consider this sea of knowledge, is it for discovery and ownership, or part of a developing process to share? Across the two seas of knowledge, we have the Western knowledge system, its scientific method and validity claim, and superiority over all other knowledge systems (Watson-Verran and Turnbull, 1995). Consider this, if you only know one knowledge system, this may be an easy thing to believe, it is valid. Knowledge systems represent our values and beliefs and our worldview. Everyone now look over to the sides of the waka, as we see this show up in our seas of knowledge (Figure 3). Within the Western knowledge system, its supremacy is legitimised with the scientific method, and thus the marginalisation of Indigenous knowledge as unscientific and “local” knowledge (Watson-Verran et al., 2005). Let us stop for a moment and think about this. Despite claims of rationality and objectivity within Western knowledge systems through the scientific method, why has it created such social issues of gender inequality, environmental degradation, social inequality and economic inequality? Our values, beliefs are embedded in our knowledge system, it is not as objective as we thought, it is relative.

Let us now consider an example of Western knowledge and Western claims of knowledge. Critical theory (Horkheimer and Horkheimer, 2002; Morrow and Brown, 1994), a claimed Western theory of questioning, often of the positivist paradigm that is prevalent within Western knowledge systems. Critical theory’s “discovery” occurred in the Frankfurt School of thought in the 1930s and 1940s (Morrow and Brown, 1994). Often considered inspired by Karl Marx’s work and critique of class struggle and capitalism, which he saw through the late 1800s. As a Māori woman (wahine), when I heard this for the first time in my researcher training, I was amused. Did it really take the Western world that long to be critical? Perhaps if Karl had taken a long boat ride down to the newly “colonised south” in the 1800s, Karl would have found an evolved system of critical thinkers. The critique Karl Marx had of the Western world he saw, perhaps was a man who did not realise that his idea of socialism was alive and well in Aotearoa and had endured a millennium or more. I suspect he and his family after some suspicion, would have been welcomed to our land. Perhaps if Karl had joined us for some “ethnography”, which is a “scientific method” of cultural immersion and having a korero (chat), his writings could have documented strong and enduring execution of “socialism”. Instead, his writings remained theoretical in the Western view of the world, so the interpretation of his writings sometime after were executed upon largely Western values and beliefs. In these different executions, we have a “scientific experiment” in Eastern Europe, The Americas and parts of Asia, the findings have helped “capitalism” claim supremacy of all economic systems. However, let us not forget this happened during a period of battle between these systems, and to undermine each other. Without adequate comparison to a successful system over time, can supremacy really be claimed? That story is a long way in the wrong direction, so we will push on from here, so we finish our journey.

One last thing, a worldview is important to understand and compare. Western knowledge exists within the Western worldview, as those important elements of values and beliefs exist within it, where the individual is the focal point in the now. Contrast this to mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) is built on generational kaitiakitanga (care or guardianship) for the present and the future. These two views of knowledge contrast self and the individual on our left in the now, compared to the collective of people now and into the future on our right, now and for the future. To claim knowledge feels strange, don’t you think? This brings us to discussing Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview).

Te Ao Māori represents Māori’s worldview; it is the equivalent to a Western worldview. We often do not know what our worldview represents, until we compare it to another. Māori through whakapapa (lineage) hold strong links to where we come from, as people, our land, and immense respect of this knowledge. We see ourselves as “people”, not only as a person. We also seek to preserve and help those who follow once we return to the land, as those before us have done. There is a deep connection to past, present and what we do for our children (tamariki) and their children’s future (mokopuna).

Within Te Ao Māori, there is kaupapa Māori, which represents Māori ideology as philosophy, knowledge, skills and values, often critically compared to Western ideology to demonstrate how they contrast (Curtis, 2016; Haitana et al., 2020; Pihama et al., 2002). Kaupapa Māori is found in education and research, where this ideology is embedded and passed on. Through the process of critical comparison, some might say it is consistent with critical theory, yet grounded in the way Māori see and view the world (Smith, 2000, Smith, 2021). The critiquing of knowledge and beliefs is universal, but this is only understood when we can compare it to another. If we only exist in one worldview or see through one lens, our vision is impaired, or is it short sighted?

Kaupapa Māori research represents our version of indigenist research (Boyd, 2014; Raciti, 2023; Smith, 2021). It is done by Māori, for Māori, with Māori (Smith, 2000). This voyage represents kaupapa Māori to some degree, I am Māori, this is for Māori, with Māori, but also to help teach non-Māori (how Māori!). Going back to the knowledge in the sea, it is central to our worldview and shapes our values and beliefs. Māori, like other Indigenous peoples’ struggle for self-determination and to claim agency over how we are “researched”, has brought many Māori and Indigenous scholars into the Western knowledge research domain, as we seek to have our voice in research with us, rather than on us without consultation (Bishop, 1994; Enari et al., 2025; Kovach, 2021; Sione et al., 2023). I place no claim of discovery of knowledge here; I do however enjoy the opportunity to share this knowledge with Māori, other Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people.

To start our voyage around the islands of social issues, social marketing and innovation, we must first define then contrast them across both worldviews (Figure 4).

Western knowledge tells us that social issues represent ideas of interest to many individuals within society (Fine, 1981). These issues come from social problems such as crime, poverty, hunger and disease (Andreasen, 2006; Ashik et al., 2025). Regardless of this definition coming from Western knowledge, it is equally valid in Māori’s view of the world. These are universal problems that we all face, however the root cause of how it came to affect us and represent a social issue is much more nuanced. This is where we hit a rough patch in the sea of knowledge, they call it colonisation. The courageous Linda Tuhiwai Smith has created decolonising methodologies to address this (Smith, 2021); let us leave her and the others to address this and focus on our journey ahead.

The Western definition of social marketing is defined as the practice of using marketing principles to achieve socially desirable outcomes and not profit (Kotler and Zaltman, 1971; Ling et al., 1992). A clear delineation is made between not just doing marketing but using marketing for socially desirable goals (Andreasen, 1994; Donovan, 2011). Donovan (2011) further stresses the importance of motivation for public good, as the central or only motive of true social marketing. This is a shift from Western individualism towards collectivism (Redpath and Nielsen, 1997). Socially desirable outcomes go to the core of Māori values and beliefs in our seas, where decisions and governance are made for the social good of the people. Given what we have discussed thus far on social marketing, are Māori or Indigenous values coming to decolonise marketing, or has it already begun? Unlike mainstream marketing, social marketing prioritises social sustainability and environmental sustainability over economic sustainability. It simply draws upon marketing to achieve better outcomes in these socially desired areas; profit does not matter. This island looks quite Māori, don’t you think?

Tangongitanga represents the word for innovation in Te Reo Māori. There are several meanings to this word such as difference, variation, divergence, innovation or variant (Ryan, 2012). It is an extension of tangongi, which again represents turning aside, deviating or diverging (Ryan, 2012). These meanings suggest a level of connectivity to their origin. There is a distinct difference between the English definition of a new idea, method or product (Oxford, 2025). Within Western knowledge systems and the broader social science literature, this term can have many iterations of how it is articulated. We only wish to set up the definition here to see our island, we will explore it further a little later. The key takeaway is the English definition appears to show minimal relationship to what was there before, whereas the Māori definition shows connectivity and a relationship to what was there before. Now, as we move beyond our dictionaries, we cast our net wide on how this meaning has shown up in our knowledge systems over time, embedded in literature and our lives as we move through these seas of knowledge around our islands. We have the two seas coming together up ahead, let’s get ready to see what happens, paddle faster everyone, as we speed up and see if the seas can combine.

Māori believe we must understand history, to effectively navigate the future. Social issues are often understood through historical terms. Contemporary social issues, such as poverty, hunger or health problems, have varying effects across all countries rich or poor. There is significant research and literature on this, as they are problems to solve, but are we finding their true origin to effectively link them back to their source? Contemporary social issues through a Western worldview and knowledge system, first must prioritise self and family unit. To firstly engage in work, manage cost of living, gain economic sustainability of self and family unit, then have varying levels of social interaction, environmental exploration (holidays) and sometimes environmental preservation. When the individual becomes a corporation in the Western worldview, this shifts things further, where the environment and its resources are for monetary gain, the shareholder is the beneficiary, above all else. Climate change, environmental degradation and fair employment rights are the responsibility of the government, not the corporation. Where Indigenous worldviews such as Māori, prioritise people and environment as relational, it inevitability diminishes the creation of social issues (Henriques et al., 2020; Kennedy et al., 2020; Redpath and Nielsen, 1997).

A relational worldview connects deeply with Māori practice of whakapapa. Whakapapa although a funny sounding word to the Western folk, is a beautiful practice which shows we are connected to the past and the future, the land, we are one. This practice involves knowing our ancestors or lineage, the citing of it back, some over 1,000 years, it is a sacred practice. To understand and know where you come from, and who came before you, gives you power in knowing who you are, and context of your place in time. It shifts focus from oneself to that of those who came before, and those who will come after. When we contrast this to the Western world, most cannot cite further back than their grandparents, some do not know how they came to the lands they live on. It is unclear whether this is by choice, or the legacy of imperialism. When knowledge in the Western worldview, focuses on the whakapapa of royal families, and the importance of their families in the discourse of history, and not all families, does this shape the values and beliefs of individuals to simply just survive? There is no tomorrow for that individual, if they cannot survive today… Values within the Western worldview are based largely on the individual, desire for economic prosperity and attainment of monetary success to gain prosperity, then perhaps these links of past and future do not matter? Then social issues are inevitable, and not of the individuals direct doing, it is accepted and unavoidable. Māori see us all connected as we are our ancestors, and our future descendants. We value longevity, and believe we must care for our future descendants, as our ancestors have for us. There is respect and aroha (love) in our whakapapa, it links us to many other families, these links exist, we see and know them, we cannot deny them. To place our personal gain ahead of future generations, means we have not thought hard enough on how to solve the problem. If our ancestors had done that, we would not be here, therefore we need to problem solve more until we find a way.

Culture holds values, and are inherent in organisations, as we see this through many corporations focused on shareholder returns only as it is required for stock market performance, at the expense of social and environmental wellbeing. Organisations provide a new way of addressing social issues, they call it corporate social responsibility (Brundtland, 1987; Fatima and Elbanna, 2023). Within the Western worldview we see an entity made of people, yet is it is not for all people. It prioritises economic prosperity first, then social and environmental sustainability later. What is important here to note that these organisations often disproportionately value individuals, not the majority of people. Social efforts to fix this in Western knowledge such as stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984; Harrison et al., 2010; Kolk and Pinkse, 2006) attempt to create greater equality within a Western worldview and way of being. Stakeholder theory is slightly more socially orientated and stresses the importance of more stakeholders than just shareholders, yet have social issues reduced, or increased? A stakeholder focus requires a Western company to review its fundamental beliefs and values in its worldview, to consider equally prioritising other stakeholders, not just shareholders. However, as the values of individual success remain the priority of many people in these corporations, it makes it very hard to create enduring change in these corporations towards collective prosperity over invidvidual prosperity. Equally if that corporation is not a person, can we ask it care about humanity?

The relational view, and the connectivity of everything, provides one further insight as we look at both seas around our island of social issues. To understand this connectivity often helps trace to a source, to then make the change or innovation. Social issues in Western knowledge, focus less on the source, and more on the treatment of the issue. Let us consider the social issue of obesity, affecting more and more people, including many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and children. How did we get to such high rates of this? Diet, lifestyle and genetics, right? The modern Western diet is now full of ultra-processed food, made by machines, but it is very tasty and moreish. This is very different to how we ate even 60 years ago. Replacing food we have collected from the earth or sea, forgetting our family recipes and not preparing our kai (food), has meant we are not linked to it anymore, our relationship with our food has an intermediary. We now outsource to industrial machines to prepare our food, often without knowing where it came from. The Western worldview might tell us the solution to obesity is medication or new processed food to solve this issue, often at a much higher cost. My Māori worldview sees the issue in us being removed from gathering our fresh kai, touching it, knowing it and cooking it. To outsource our food collection and preparation to a machine, does not appear to be doing any of us any good. Or have I missed something?

Social marketing represents the desire for social good; its values and beliefs are consistent with Māori values and beliefs. Māori social marketing toolkit of storytelling, word of mouth, product/process innovation and distribution of our learnings and knowledge by people, is not as developed as the Western social marketing toolkit, but we do have some similarities. These similarities cross over more in relation to sustainability.

Sustainability in the Western worldview which is a core value of social marketing, specifically defined and organised by the United Nations sustainability goals, to enhance sustainable practices, which we draw upon in social marketing (Güngördü Belbağ and Belbağ, 2025). These goals have been defined by all nations as important to work towards, but how they affect nations can be different. The origin of some of these issues which require “sustainable goals” will extend our voyage for too long, through many challenging waters. Let us focus on the knowledge systems from our worldviews.

Indigenous and Māori worldviews focus on sustainability of people and the environment (Crowshoe and Lertzman, 2020; Henriques et al., 2020). We have never forgotten this, despite our integration into the Western world, and dual lenses. The idea that Indigenous knowledge is separate in how sustainability is understood (Kohn et al., 2020), legitimises different worldviews and knowledge systems as separate. Rather than the foundational logic of social and environmental preservation, potentially preventing many of our contemporary social issues. Remember when you look at the world through a relational worldview, everything is connected. The idea that social issues can be avoided by tracing them back, moves from idealistic fantasy to a longer research project, with a potentially more sustainable end.

How we define value, and what that means, is central to how we can then move forward as a collective and inclusive society. There is contrast between how value is seen through the Māori worldview and Western worldview, it is seen through the collective wellbeing over the individual’s self-interest (Mika et al., 2022). Hau (vitality of people) in combination with mana (power, authority and dignity) is deeply important to Māori (Mika et al., 2022), for longevity and for collective prosperity. These beliefs go very deep, which is the point of how this relates to social marketing. Western social marketing fundamentally seeks to address social issues for the better of people. It looks and feels very Māori, is this primitive or a state of evolution?

One last point, before we head over to our last island. Consider this, climate change and our adaptability and resilience with mātauranga taiao (environmental knowledge) has allowed Māori people to adapt and survive (Johnson et al., 2022). As Māori, we understand our land, and what it is telling us, we have been on it a long time. Let this be a point of reflection, if we are on land that our ancestors have only recently arrived (300 years is recent), then those who have been here longer hold this knowledge and wisdom. This could assist us in understanding and respecting the land to reduce some social and environmental issues and perhaps inform how we practice social marketing locally.

We are now looking at the island of innovation. Within Te Ao Māori, our beliefs mean we look to the past to move forward, while Western beliefs appear detached from the past. Māori draw upon our culture, and values as sources of inspiration in business innovation, which embraces more sustainable practice (Mika et al., 2017). Our view of innovation is embedded in our worldview, and whānau ora (well families, people) (Mrabure et al., 2021). We have adapted to include corporations in our world; however, economic sustainability can only be achieved after social and environmental sustainability.

Western business literature as a place of knowledge, which represents the Western worldview see innovation as “the successful exploitation of new ideas” for economic growth (Adams et al., 2006; Verspagen, 2006). The process of innovation is framed around organisational performance, while managing environmental contingencies (Crossan and Apaydin, 2010; Lüdeke‐Freund, 2020; Tidd, 2001). Entrepreneurial success focuses on the individual’s success in achievement, not the collective (Schumpeter, 1983). It appears knowledge is viewed as an economic driver and source of competitive advantage (Hidalgo and Albors, 2008). If there is a competition, there is ultimately a loser, is that loser society, the environment or both? If we are competing, how many social issues will this create? How can social marketing ever keep up?

Reframing innovation to respect the past for the future, as opposed to innovation for monetisation over all else is necessary. This reframing will bring us all closer towards what represents sustainable innovation which does not jeopardise our imminent future. We only need to look at the great invention of social media, and how our youth feel greater depression, anxiety and loneliness. How can an innovation with social in its title be so antisocial? It represents a divide between us as people connecting in the physical realm, as we are divided by a screen or machine, we are physically disconnected. It seems these machines interfering with our food and social connections are creating social issues, are these the only ones? Knowing this, could taking it away completely define progress? It depends on who you ask, their worldview and their knowledge system.

We can see the land of sustainability just ahead of us, we are coming to the end of our voyage. Let us lastly paddle over to say hi to our pacific cousins and friends of Moanaroa (Enari et al., 2024), a collection of pacific people doing important work for the broader pacific. They appear to be trying to pull a giant fishhook from the water, let us join and help them. I want half of the waka to pull, the other to paddle away, GO……. Look at that, the islands from our travels, they are not really islands, there is hononga (connection). Social issues, social marketing and innovation do not exist in isolation, they are connected. The idea of connection, relationships, whakapapa, land and environment is embedded in Indigenous weaving, yarning and all that we are. Is this an Indigenous only worldview, or is it all of ours should we wish to see it? As we are concluding our journey, let’s bring together some of the knowledge and sights we have travelled through. Social marketing, although it has Western origins, its values and beliefs are firmly about helping others and social good and has many similarities to Te Ao Māori.

Western knowledge could benefit from other knowledge systems, particularly Indigenous, if we are to reverse some of the social issues created in the last 100 years. Indigenous worldviews and knowledge systems can help Western knowledge researchers reexamine their beliefs, values and see beyond a single worldview, by understanding ours. This dual lens for Westerners could help them create sustainable change, not a fix for now, resulting in a new issue to fix later.

Western values are embedded in the Western organisations, separate from self, and separate from social and communal responsibility (Hess, 2025), it is thus a barrier to hide individualistic greed at the expense of others. We have new social issues on the horizon with AI, and its quest for all knowledge. From the Te Ao Māori worldview, AI and chatbots such as Chatgpt and their quest for all knowledge, Western and non-Western, hints to lessons of the past with social media. We are at risk of detachment from our knowledge. The values and beliefs that are embedded in the organisations which own these tools, and how they take knowledge, to then reframe it, are profit aligned over socially aligned. They serve their shareholders, not us, our knowledge is the product. The social issues this could create without intervention, threaten the self determination of all of us. We are all at risk of a new wave of colonisation.

You may still be scratching your head and wondering, how is this social marketing? This story represents social marketing of how embedding Indigenous knowledge and worldviews in a story can serve to share the past to shape the future. We have innovation in thinking towards messaging as communication, story as a product of knowledge towards social values in addressing social issues. Perhaps this is innovation in this literature you have just witnessed?

Should you have made it this far he kotuku rerenga tahi (a white heron’s flight is only seen once, denoting a rare occasion), something very special has happened. You have read a paper so out of place in your world, so out of place in its publication. Yet if you rub your eyes, you may see, there is perhaps the fuzziness of a new sight to see your worldview, and perhaps the faint sight of another. Understanding and respect for what we do not quite understand and desire to learn more, can bring us closer to unity and prosperity for all. It helped us reach our destination, the land of sustainability, until our next voyage ka kite anō au i a kōrua (see you again).

This waka voyage was written on the land of the Gadigal People of the Eora nation (Sydney, Australia). The author thanks the Gadigal People for hosting her on their land, and the teachings it has provided. A warm thank you to Catherine Sutton-Brady, who helped with editing the story to land these important messages. The author also wishes to thank her whānau in Aotearoa, who share their knowledge with her, and her international whānau at Sydney Indigenous Research Network (SIRN) for inspiration as we yarn and weave our knowledge together. Lastly, the author extends her gratitude to her dear cousin Zarahn Southon, who shares his knowledge and courage daily as a warrior for social good.