Māori medical students: ‘It was just blatant, dumb-arse racism’

Māori students studying medicine at the University of Otago say they’re fed up with the ignorance they face over the way they’re selected into their second year of study, writes Te Aniwa Hurihanganui for RNZ. There are limited spaces in the second-year program and everyone in their first year has to reach a grade threshold. … Read more

The Māori lawyer fighting for indigenous rights all over the world

With a career that has taken her from Whakatāne to Otago, to the hallowed halls of Harvard, to the front line of Standing Rock, lawyer Natalie Coates has fought for Māori and indigenous rights wherever she’s been needed.  She has appeared in the Supreme Court for the Urewera ‘anti-terror’ raids case, and volunteered in ‘war-like’ … Read more

Otago University’s Selwyn College ends its ‘sexist and bullying’ tradition

“Both the board and college leaders have been crystal clear this behaviour cannot continue.” Otago University halls of residence Selwyn College has shut down its controversial tradition of second years secretly voting on and publicly awarding nicknames to freshers at their AGM after previous recipients accused the awards of being “sexist and bullying”. Among the … Read more

Critic editor: why we made the Menstruation Issue

Yesterday the University of Otago seized thousands of copies of its own students’ association’s magazine. The editor of Critic Te Arohi, Joel MacManus, talks through the genesis of the menstruation issue – and yesterday’s extraordinary events. Two months ago, the Otago Women’s+ Club approached me about the idea to do a menstruation themed issue of … Read more

Otago’s Māori students are raising their voices

As the University of Otago Māori student body grows, so too do their aspirations for a space to call their own. In March, the University of Otago’s Vice Chancellor Harlene Hayne announced a 10% increase in Māori students, and over a decade of uninterrupted year-on-year growth in both Māori and Pacific enrolments. The university says its … Read more

Power to the people: finding a cure for healthcare inequity

Māori, Pacific and low income groups have health outcomes well below the rest of the population. In Dunedin there’s a community that’s come up with the medicine to treat itself.  On the grounds of an old school in the South Dunedin suburb of Caversham, there’s a village of healthcare services that’s a vision into a … Read more

The new Dunedin Sound

Over the past two years a movement of Dunedin bands have played sold out gigs in all the major centres, riding a wave of hype unseen since the glory days of Flying Nun. Don Rowe kicks off his shoes and gets into the thick of it. On a peerless afternoon in late January, 250 people … Read more

Teaching water safety the Māori way

Māori are continually over-represented in Aotearoa’s drowning statistics. Simon Day spoke to University of Otago’s Dr Anne-Marie Jackson about using traditional techniques to help teach water safety and reconnect Māori with their awa. In te ao Māori water is considered the source of all life. We are descended from the water, and it provides a … Read more

If the hills could sue: Jacinta Ruru on legal personality and a Māori worldview

New Zealand led the world with the recognition of the legal personhood of the Whanganui River and Te Urewera ranges. Otago University professor of law, Jacinta Ruru, says this needs to be the start of a Māori worldview contribution to our legal system and the way we look after our environment. Professor Jacinta Ruru doesn’t … Read more