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What You'll Learn
Steeped in kaupapa tuku iho this two-year qualification will add to acquired levels of knowledge concerning the foundations of tikanga, as the first law of Aotearoa. Through inquiry, discussion, debate and response, you will learn to validate and question modern day practices to advise on matters relating to tikanga and kawa in an organisational context, or for your own iwi, hapū and marae.
You will be well supported along the way as you interact with experts in their field and gain extra insight from Carwyn Jones, Ani Mikaere, and others. The inclusion of iwi and hapū research papers and te reo Māori contribute to and compliment the knowledge you will gain from Ahunga Tikanga.
The inclusion of iwi and hapū research papers and te reo Māori contribute to and compliment the knowledge you will gain from Ahunga Tikanga.
Graduates of the Tāhuhu Ahunga Tikanga have the potential to be researchers, teachers and practitioners, particularly amongst their own people.
Course Structure
The Tāhuhu Ahunga Tikanga is a two-year master's qualification. Year One is completed through the Poutāhū Ahunga Tikanga (Postgraduate Diploma). Year Two centres on advanced study and a significant research component.
Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree or have appropriate knowledge and experience for postgraduate study. A level of proficiency in te reo Māori is required, as is support from a hapū or iwi to conduct research. Minimum age of 17 years.
Year one
Course of Study
MANA401 - Te Orokohanga o Te Ao: Māori Theories of Existence
This course examines the role and purpose of creation theory. It encourages students to engage with a range of Māori creation accounts, and to develop an appreciation of their own hapū and iwi theories of existence.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
Poutuarongo Ahunga Tikanga or its equivalent
MANA402 - He Mātāpono: Foundational Principles
This course analyses accounts of te orokohanga o te ao considered in TATA401. It encourages students to examine the implications of creation theory, and ngā mātāpono that emerge from the various accounts considered.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
TAT401 or TATA401
MANA403 - Te Ahunga Tikanga: The Creation of Law
This course examines tikanga as human-made, based upon ngā mātāpono that emerge from a particular account of te orokohanga o te ao. It encourages students to appreciate the distinctiveness of tikanga as an expression of a unique set of understandings about the world and about human existence.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
TAT402 or TATA402
MANA404 - Te Whakaparori i ngā Tikanga: The Distortion of Māori Law
This course encourages students to consider the impact of Western values on Māori creation theories, and the consequent effect on the development of ngā mātapono and the practice of tikanga.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
TAT403 or TATA403
Iwi and Hapū
HAPŪ401 - Ko ngā Kaumātua: He Kura Te Tangata
To explore the depth of the contribution that kaumātua make to the statement ‘Our people are our wealth’.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
Nil
HAPŪ402 - Ko te Marae te Kāinga Matua
To examine active participation on the marae through a study of hapū tikanga, and the contribution those tikanga make to the statement, ‘The marae is our principal home’.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
Nil
Te Reo Māori
REO401 Te Whakatupu I Te Reo I/Te Reo O Ngā Niupepa Māori
Kia whakatupu mātauranga te ākonga mā te ruku i te rerehua o te reo, tōna ngāwari, tōna hōhonu tōna ngahau, me te atamai o ō tātou tūpuna ki te tārai i ō rātou whakaaro i tāngia ai ki ngā nūpepa Māori tawhito o mua, o ngā tau 1840 ki ngā tau 1930.
Credits:
20
Pre-requisite:
REO3, tōna rite rānei
REO405 Te Tū Marae – Karanga Me Te Whaikōrero
He whakatupu i te mōhiotanga me te pitomata o te ākonga ki te tū marae, arā, ki te karanga me te whaikōrero.
Credits:
10
Pre-requisite:
Kia rua o te TREO401, te TREO402 me te TREO404
Year Two
Course of Study
MANA501 - Ka Whawhai Tonu Mātou: A History of Resistance
This course considers the implications of a range of strategies that Māori have utilised to resist the appropriation of tikanga by kāwanatanga, with its laws and values.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
Poutāhū Ahunga Tikanga or its equivalent
MANA503 - Kotahitanga: Strength in Solidarity
This course highlights the importance of working together to reaffirm Māori philosophies, kaupapa and tikanga.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
TAT502
MANA504 - Te Tino Rangatiratanga me te Kāwanatanga: A Constitution for Aotearoa
This course encourages students to envisage a constitution for Aotearoa based on the kaupapa underpinning tikanga, He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tirene and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
TAT503
MANA505 - Ahunga Tikanga Thesis
This course allows students to explore in depth one area of interest related to the use of tikanga Māori or kāwanatanga for the enhancement of whānau, hapū or iwi.
Credits:
60
Pre-requisite:
PtAT
TAT502 - Te Mana Motuhake: Māori Control Over Māori Matters
This course explores strategies for retaining Māori control over Māori matters, and examines the continual erosion of mana Māori by kāwanatanga.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
TAT501
Iwi and Hapū
HAPŪ501 - Ko te Hāpu: Whāia te Tino Rangatiratanga
To examine the expression of tino rangatiratanga in the continued pursuit of mana ā-hapū.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
HAPU401 and HAPU402
HAPŪ502 - Ko Ngā Mātākōrero o Ngā Iwi: He Taonga Te Reo
To examine kura huna contained within oral literature that contribute to the statement ‘He Taonga te Reo’.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
HAPU401 and HAPU402
Te Reo Māori
REO404 Te Reo Ōpaki
He whakatupu mātauranga e tiro mātai ana i te reo kōrerorero o ia rā e kīia nei e tātou ko te ‘reo ōpaki’, otirā ko te wāhanga ōna ka mātua wānangatia ko te hanga nei te ‘kīwaha’ me tōna hiranga ki te reo.
Credits:
20
Pre-requisite:
Korekau
REO504 Te Tū Marae II/Karanga Me Te Whaikōrero
To contribute to hapū and iwi ceremonial events by gaining an advanced knowledge of the specialised language, meaning, appropriate use and performance of mōteatea, karanga and whaikōrero with a particular focus on hui mate.
Credits:
15
Pre-requisite:
PtREO
Year Three
Course of Study
Iwi and Hapū
Te Reo Māori
How You'll Learn
Residential Seminars (Noho) Attend on-campus noho at Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Ōtaki for intensive learning alongside your cohort, including lectures, wānanga, and workshops.
Online Learning via Mūrau Complete weekly tutorials and written assessments through our online platform. Online components begin in the first week of the academic year.
Iwi and Hapū Studies Two dedicated papers per year delivered online with weekly tutor support. Assignments become taonga for your whānau, marae, and iwi.
Self-Directed Research Independent research supported by leading scholars including subject experts in tikanga and Māori constitutional law.
Online Seminars (Noho) Engage in online webinars and tutorials with opportunities for discussion and wananga learning.
Please contact Te Whare Whakatupu Mātauranga for more information.
Is This Course Right For You?
This qualification is designed for those with an existing undergraduate degree (or equivalent experience) who want to deepen their understanding of tikanga Māori as law and advance into advisory, advocacy, or research roles within Māori organisations, iwi and hapū contexts.
Te Reo and Iwi and Hapū Studies
Each year, you will complete papers towards your Te Reo component attending noho on campus (or online as a contingency). This will prepare you for written and oral assessments and add to your kete in the Māori law space! You will be guided every step of the way with tutor support.
You will also study two papers in Iwi and Hapū studies to compliment your learning, these are often the most rewarding part of study for the majority of our students as they gain a deep connection back to their roots. Your Iwi and Hapū papers will require research, writing and critically analysis of two prescribed kaupapa with tutor support to help you through. The assignments that you complete will become a taonga and resource for your whānau, marae, iwi and will be treasured for years to come.
Online components begin in the first week of the academic year, so you can begin your studies before your first specialisation noho. You will also get the opportunity to meet your reo and iwi and hapū pūkenga during your first noho on campus.
Course Code
TAT
Credits
240
Duration
2 Years
NZQA Level
Level 9
Delivery
Residential seminars, self-directed learning, and online delivery
Locations
Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Ōtaki
Mode
Bilingual (Māori/English)
Next Intake
16 Feb - 25 Oct 2026
Tuition Fees
Year 1: Refer to Poutāhū tohu
Year 2: $4,223.10 (approx.)
"For graduates of the Ahunga Tikanga programme, I hope they will have the ability to engage in critical thinking and be able to ask the hard questions. It is important they think of Tikanga as the first law of Aotearoa and to debate and contest ideas from a basis built on principle and reason. It is all those techniques of critical analysis and thinking that I hope students will develop and more importantly be able to connect that with their own lives as Māori.”
Carwyn Jones
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa
Kaihautū, Te Whare Whakatupu Mātauranga
We are wanting to turn out critical thinkers. As a critical thinker or someone who thinks critically about Tikanga you will have a set of skills that you can literally take anywhere. Not only can you take it anywhere, but you should take it anywhere and everywhere and with that set of skills you can make a real difference.
Ani Mikaere
Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou
"It's made me a more critical thinker so whether it's a story community story, government policy, I look at it like, how does this protect the mauri of our people the wellbeing of our people? Does it enhance our mana? And does it honour our relationships and our whakapapa with each other?"
Te Aramau Adam White
Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira
Ākonga, Ahunga Tikanga
"For graduates of the Ahunga Tikanga programme, I hope they will have the ability to engage in critical thinking and be able to ask the hard questions. It is important they think of Tikanga as the first law of Aotearoa and to debate and contest ideas from a basis built on principle and reason. It is all those techniques of critical analysis and thinking that I hope students will develop and more importantly be able to connect that with their own lives as Māori.”
Carwyn Jones
Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa
Kaihautū, Te Whare Whakatupu Mātauranga
We are wanting to turn out critical thinkers. As a critical thinker or someone who thinks critically about Tikanga you will have a set of skills that you can literally take anywhere. Not only can you take it anywhere, but you should take it anywhere and everywhere and with that set of skills you can make a real difference.
Ani Mikaere
Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Porou
"It's made me a more critical thinker so whether it's a story community story, government policy, I look at it like, how does this protect the mauri of our people the wellbeing of our people? Does it enhance our mana? And does it honour our relationships and our whakapapa with each other?"
Te Aramau Adam White
Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Toa Rangatira
Ākonga, Ahunga Tikanga
Fees & Funding
Year
Year 1 (Poutāhū)
Year 2
Year 3
Total (Year 2)
Tuition (Approx)
Refer to Poutāhū Ahunga Tikanga fees
$4,223.10 (approx.)
$4,223.10
Fees are approximate and may be subject to change. Additional costs may apply for course materials and travel to noho.
Scholarships
Support is available through scholarships to make study more accessible. Find out more.
Additional Funding Options
You may be able to access student loans, allowances, or Fees Free to support your studies. Learn more.
Entry Requirements
Applicants must hold an undergraduate degree or have appropriate knowledge and experience for postgraduate study. A level of proficiency in te reo Māori is required, as is support from a hapū or iwi to conduct research. Minimum age of 17 years.
Academic Requirements
Personal Requirements
A strong commitment to developing te reo Māori me ōna tikanga
Ability to attend residential noho at Te Wānanga o Raukawa, Ōtaki
Technology Requirements
-
Regular internet access
-
Email address
-
Computer, laptop, tablet, or suitable mobile device for online learning via Mūrau
Full Requirements
-
For complete entry requirement details, see Appendix One of the Academic Regulations.
Where This Qualification Takes You
Completing this qualification can lead to a variety of career opportunities, including:
Researcher and Presenter of Waitangi Tribunal Claims
Senior Advisor / Advocate for Indigenous Rights Issues
Senior Policy Advisor / Analyst
Senior Tikanga / Cultural Advisor
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