Research must do more than identify problems. Research must create solutions.
That was a central message from internationally respected Māori scholar Distinguished Professor Graham Hingangaroa Smith of Massey University in Aotearoa New Zealand during his presentation, Transforming Research: Ringa-Raupā, at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) on Oct. 8.
Smith described Ringa-Raupā, meaning “blisters on the hands,” as an Indigenous approach to applied research that connects knowledge with action and tangible change.
Drawing on more than four decades of experience in Indigenous education, scholarship and activism, Smith reflected on how research can challenge systems that have historically marginalized Indigenous peoples and contribute to meaningful social, cultural and educational transformation.
“Professor Smith’s work reminds us that knowledge carries responsibility,” said TRU President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Airini. “Research has the greatest impact when it honours Indigenous ways of knowing, strengthens communities and creates actual change. His message challenges us to consider not only what we learn, but what we do with that knowledge.”
From understanding inequities to transforming systems
Smith traced the history of Māori education in Aotearoa New Zealand, examining how colonization, land dispossession and assimilation policies contributed to generations of educational inequity.
“There was a need to accurately understand how things were going wrong in order to be able to create more effective solutions and interventions,” Smith noted in his presentation.
He reflected on the social movements of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, when Māori activism intersected with broader struggles for civil rights, equality and self-determination. These experiences helped shape his approach to scholarship, which brings together critical theory, Indigenous knowledge and practical action.
Smith also emphasized the importance of moving from individual awareness to collective consciousness, recognizing that lasting transformation requires communities to challenge inequities and help shape their own futures.
Research grounded in lived experience
Another central theme was the importance of researchers understanding their own relationships to the communities, histories and questions they study.
Smith discussed positionality, encouraging researchers to recognize how their lived experiences, cultural identities and responsibilities inform their work.
Rather than treating researchers as detached observers, this approach recognizes personal and community knowledge as valuable sources of understanding.
His presentation challenged conventional assumptions about academic objectivity and explored how scholars can work as researchers, activists and agents of change.
Connecting Indigenous research and practice
The event also featured Dr. Petera Hudson and School Principal Karleen Marshall, whose work demonstrates the application of Indigenous knowledge in emerging technologies and education.
Hudson, a postdoctoral researcher at Massey University, focuses on Indigenous methodologies for artificial intelligence, including Māori data sovereignty, cultural well-being and culturally aligned technologies.
Marshall, a Māori educational leader and doctoral researcher, brings more than 28 years of experience in education. Her work explores how the Kura Kaupapa Māori education movement can inform conventional education.
Together, the presentations offered perspectives on how Indigenous-led research can influence practice, strengthen communities and create new possibilities across education and technology.
Recognizing a lifetime of contributions
The lecture took place one day before Smith was scheduled to receive an honorary Doctor of Letters degree at TRU’s Fall Convocation on Oct. 9.
The university is recognizing his transformative contributions to Indigenous education, scholarship and self-determination in Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada and internationally.
Smith developed Kaupapa Māori as a transformative educational framework grounded in Māori knowledge and self-determination. His work has influenced generations of Indigenous scholars and educators, including those in British Columbia.
His presentation reinforced a central principle of his life’s work: Indigenous research has the power not only to deepen understanding, but to transform the systems and circumstances affecting Indigenous communities.
