Māori knowledge is being taken.
Without permission. Without payment. Without protection.
Every year, the stories, the science, the art, the land knowledge, the whakapapa — the taonga — of Ngāti Kahungunu and Māori communities across Aotearoa are accessed by researchers, corporations, governments, and AI systems. Often without asking. Often without acknowledgment. Always without the consent of those whose knowledge it truly is.
This is not a new problem. But it is an urgent one. The digital age has made it faster and easier than ever to extract, replicate, and profit from Indigenous knowledge — while the communities who hold that knowledge remain unrecognised, uncompensated, and unprotected.
"We are the holders, creators and kaitiaki of this knowing. It is not to be used without consent, respect, or acknowledgment of our mana motuhake."
— Ūana Tohu of Protection · Takitimu Ngāti KahungunuPūtiki Wharanui — a Ngāti Kahungunu organisation firmly based in tikanga and kaitiakitanga — has spent years building the answer. That answer is Te Kura Roa: an independent, Indigenous-led taonga governance system that puts Ngāti Kahungunu in full control of their data, their stories, their land knowledge, and their future.
And at the heart of Te Kura Roa sits something visible, powerful, and unmistakable — the Ūana Tohu of Protection. A mark that says: this is taonga. It is protected. You must ask permission before using it.