Tīvaevae: connection, collaboration and new directions in Cook Islands research
Introduction
Authors
Ngakuravaru Powell, Emma
Young, Cameron D.
Abstract
It may be surprising to some that this is the first publication to collect reflections on the use of the Tīvaevae in scholarly discourse. Over the last decade, Cook Islands scholarship has grown significantly in volume and many of the graduate research theses and innovative policy frameworks produced over this time have invoked the stitched quilt as a way of Pacific Dynamics 9 Special Issue 2025 1000 conceptualising the relational threads that make up a Cook Islands imaginary. During this time, the Cook Islands world has experienced changes wrought by climate change, neocolonialism, and the transnationalism of its peoples and in this milieu, researchers have turned toward the cultural practices of ancestors to determine modes of thinking that can help make meaning of our relationships with one another as these forces reshape our lives. As a practice and a material object of the Cook Islands and the Eastern Pacific, the tīvaivai is quite simply iconic. Stunning in size, complexity, and aesthetic, the endurance of tīvaivai as a key part of the Cook Islands’ material culture has been driven by its ability to hold a mnemonic power that affirms 'akapapa'anga for each of us, created through the gathering of tā'unga tīvaivai and the stitching of aro'a into each piece of fabric that makes up the whole. There is an irony, then, in the predictable allure that the tīvaivai has had for critical minds over the last (almost) two decades, and the absence of any work that has attempted to cohere what those minds have produced.
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Manako 'o'onu kia 'o'onu atu te manako, thinking deeply and deeply thinking: An interview with Teremoana Maua-Hodges
Authors
Maua-Hodges, Teremoana
Powell, Emma Ngakuravaru
Young, Cameron D.
Abstract
The origins of the Tīvaevae research model/method/methodology have remained somewhat a mystery, including its early history and the factors influencing its development to one of the most iconic and widely used piece of Cook Islands theory and culture in the world today. We sat down with its creator, Teremoana Maua-Hodges, to listen as she generously shared her stories and experiences that shaped her journey with the Tīvaevae. This in-person, nonformal interview was deeply personal and provided meaningful insights to the Tīvaevae, including its original forms of publication and the nuances of its spelling. Teremoana shared her aspirations for Cook Islands communities around the world and left us with a strong sense of hope for the future – one that could be facilitated by the values and principles of the Tīvaevae: love, respect, connection, and collaboration.
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Ko te tumu manako ko te Tīvaevae: Embracing Tīvaevae, enabling Patu Tuatua
Authors
Rota-Solomon, Tereapii
Abstract
The Tīvaevae methodology as a metaphor gives voice to Cook Islands Māori peoples in the area of academic research (Maua-Hodges, 2016). The tīvaevae represents Cook Islands Māori epistemology and ontological worldviews, making it a suitable metaphor to guide the research process for research in contexts focused on the lived experiences of not only Pasifika-Pacific peoples but, more specifically, Cook Islands Māori peoples. This fits in perfectly with my research which is focused on capturing the intergenerational stories of success for Cook Islands Māori students living in Tokoroa, Aotearoa New Zealand. When looking for an appropriate research methodology for my doctorate research in education, I was introduced to the Tīvaevae methodology by my supervisor Associate Professor David Fa’avae. With a desire to use a methodology that was specific to Cook Islands Māori, I was ecstatic to learn of Tīvaevae. Like other researchers before me, I have adapted the tīvaevae metaphor to align with my Aitutaki heritage and my lived experience in 'Ōire Tokoroa. Hence, I use the term tīvaevae, instead of tīvaevae. This paper will discuss the engagement of the tīvaevae in research that captures stories of academic success, as well as providing a context for the introduction of patu tuatua – a Cook Islands cultural practice of storying. Patu tuatua is a conversation and a natural part of the tīvaevae process, and therefore an appropriate method for collecting research data with Cook Islands Māori peoples.
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The Tīvaevae methodology and its application to palliative care research
Authors
Henry, Amy E.
Abstract
Health researchers have an ethical responsibility to ensure their research aligns with the health and wellbeing needs, solutions, and aspirations of the communities they study. This ethical responsibility is often heightened in palliative care research. This article reflects on the use of the Tīvaevae methodology – a Cook Islands research methodology – in a study which aimed to understand what palliative care means to Cook Islands families in New Zealand. There is limited research on the needs and understanding of palliative care for Pacific peoples and a near absence of literature that focuses on the needs of Cook Islands peoples in palliative care. More broadly, there is little documented on Cook Islands cultural understandings and knowledge on death, dying, and end-of-life care. As the majority of Cook Islanders reside in New Zealand, and new generations of Cook Islanders in New Zealand find themselves in the position of becoming caregivers to palliative (and often older) family members, understanding what their needs are will be important for families and clinicians alike. In this article, I argue that the Tīvaevae methodology can be used as a guide in the process of contextualising the concept of palliative care to understand palliative care within a Cook Islands context.
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The transformative potential of the Tīvaevae Model in educational and research practices – “Threading the Needle”
Authors
Houghton, Christopher
Houghton, Josua
Houghton, Joseph
Abstract
The Tīvaevae Model offers a versatile approach for researchers, particularly those of Cook Islands or Pacific descent, to address emerging needs or inquiries within a variety of research settings. In this article, we explore its adaptability and expansion, emphasising its capacity to accommodate diverse approaches without imposing rigid structures. As Cook Islands educators, early career researchers, and one of us a creator of physical tīvaevae, we will examine how the Tīvaevae Model can facilitate transformative processes in both research and practice. Our discussion includes reflection on family connections to tīvaevae, highlighting the significance of familial ties and cultural connections and intergenerational knowledge and understanding focusing on the creation of both physical and metaphorical tīvaevae, distinguishing between its tangible craft and symbolic meaning. We will discuss the versatility of tīvaevae, reflecting on the way it can challenge research paradigms and play a role as a continued cultural practice in new environments. By synthesising our insights and proposing to extend the Tīvaevae Model in a diasporic context through such cultural practices as o'ora, this article will demonstrate the transformative potential of the Tīvaevae Model in enriching research and educational practices within Pacific communities.
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Centralising the Tīvaevae research framework: A tapestry of guidance, practice, and clarity
Authors
Kainuku, Yvonne Joan
Abstract
This article presents a reflective account demonstrating how a Cook Islands research methodology was critical in supporting the investigation of an ethnic-specific nursing programme’s impact on Cook Islands Māori tauira (student) attrition and academic success. Being deeply grounded in Cook Islands theories of relationality, the Tīvaevae framework (Futter-Puati and Maua-Hodges, 2019) guided my Masters research project exploring the lived experiences, perspectives, and insights of Cook Islands graduates during their training in a Bachelor of Nursing Pacific (BNP) programme. In this article, I discuss how the four key stages and crucial values of the Tīvaevae framework were implemented during the research process, and how the framework provided both qualitative and culturally specific methods. Utilising the Tīvaevae resulted in research that was culturally cohesive and responsive to the needs of my Cook Islands participants, well beyond what Western methods could achieve alone. This article illustrates the use of culturally safe approaches to mixed-methods qualitative research involving Cook Islands people.
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A Tivaivai research framework: A strengths-based quantitative approach to Pacific health research
Authors
Ruhe, Troy
Bowden, Nicholas
Lucas, Albany
Richards, Rosalina
Kokaua, Jesse
Abstract
Although quantitative studies have a great deal to offer for Pacific health research, many findings have potential for deficit-framing and polarising for the communities they describe. There is a growing body of Pacific research frameworks but still few that focus on analyses that apply to quantitative studies, and even fewer considering a movement toward ethnicspecific research, thus incorporating current understandings around issues of Pacific data sovereignty and other ethical considerations. The aim of this paper is to extend our previously reported Tīvaevae research framework (Kokaua et al., 2020), which was developed to ensure a Pacific worldview was integrated into analysing administrative data. In this paper, we generalise its applicability to an interdisciplinary setting. It is hoped that this paper may provide a starting point for other quantitative Pacific research projects involving administrative or other big data. It also provides a potential blueprint for any researchers, not only Cook Islanders and Pacific researchers, to be explicit about the values, principles, and connections we wish to uphold for the communities we study.
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A Tivaivai Taorei research framework developed for a pan-Pacific mental health study
Authors
Samu, Kathleen Forrest
van der Veer, Anita
Ruhe, Troy
Maua-Hodges, Teremoana
Milne, Barry
Kokaua, Jesse
Abstract
This paper discusses a Cook Islands Tivaivai Taorei research framework from an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional team (UoA, UoO) developed for use in a big data project. The project was funded by the Better Start National Science Challenge and utilised New Zealand Health Survey data within the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) to assess the mental health of Pacific peoples living in Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of this paper is to describe the process of developing the Tivaivai Taorei framework to construct a culturally relevant and nuanced method for quantitative assessment. Through araꞌara and iri'iri kāpua (discussion and networking), we explored the process required for a meaningful undertaking of a quantitative study of mental wellbeing in Pacific adults and describe those findings in a way congruent to Pacific lived realities, understandings, and methods of storytelling. To assess the framework’s applicability, the application to the quantitative methods and interpretation of findings are outlined. Although Tivaivai Taorei is specifically a Cook Islands metaphor, this study demonstrates its applicability across a pan-Pacific (and perhaps extended) context.
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Reflecting on the use of Tīvaevae research methodology in mathematics education: A multi-dimensional perspective
Authors
Hunter, Jodie
Abstract
Ongoing challenges have been reported in relation to representation of diverse communities in mathematics education and related careers including those of Pacific heritage. This article maps reflections on how Tīvaevae as both an art form and research methodology can be used to disrupt deficit theorising towards Pacific students in mathematics classrooms with the goal of healing what Naepi and colleagues (2019) term the “broken pipeline”. This includes considering how Tīvaevae can be used as a basis for mathematical task design to integrate the everyday experiences and knowledge bases of Pacific peoples as well as a means to connect to Pacific values during mathematics teaching and learning. A second example provides a view of how the use of Tīvaevae research methodology coupled with a participatory research methodology (photo-voice) facilitated Pacific children and their families to become researchers of their own life-worlds. The article concludes by highlighting how culturally grounded research methodologies such as Tīvaevae offer opportunities to consider different ways of thinking about mathematics education.
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Unpick. Re-stitch: Tīvaevae
Authors
Futter-Puati, Debi
Abstract
This paper discusses the experimental use of the Tīvaevae research framework and how it was applied as a pedagogical tool within secondary education classes. In extending the use of the Tīvaevae framework as a tool for education, the author queried whether the Tivaevae could be unpicked, re-stitched, and reworked to be used in other ways. Could the process be used not only within research space(s), but as a culturally appropriate pedagogy and reflection tool in classrooms? This paper explores the use of a cultural philosophy enmeshed within the Tīvaevae research framework and its application to education designed specifically for māpū (youth) in te Kūki ꞌĀirani (Cook Islands) secondary schools. The author experimented using these values and ideas within the development of a sexuality resource, as well as pedagogical tools for teachers and māpū. Reflected visually, classes design a ‘sexuality tīvaevae’ as a guide ensuring their classroom is safe mentally and emotionally as they critically explore potentially sensitive topics such as sex. Using squares, akin to tivaevae tāꞌorei, key learning is documented. These squares can be stitched together providing an imagery to convey each student’s ‘learning tivaevae’ from their unit of study creating a metaphorical sexuality tivaevae. This story provides testimony of the ongoing legacy of the Tīvaevae research framework and shares how the seeds sewn through relationships in the 1980s influence education in Kūki ꞌĀirani classrooms in the early 2000s, evidencing the enduring impact created through connection and context.
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Cook Islands values and epistemologies in biological anthropology research: Case studies of historic human skeletal collections
Authors
Young, Cameron D.
Abstract
The Cook Islands has been a popular site for archaeological digs and excavations in past decades as biological anthropologists seek to better understand the migration of ancestral Polynesians out of Southeast Asia and the Polynesian colonisation of the Pacific Ocean. As a result of these excavations, several historic human skeletal collections exist of Cook Islands kōivi tangata (ancestral remains), although these are largely unknown because they are not displayed publicly and remain in storage. It is imperative that Cook Islands communities become aware of these so that they have the power and autonomy to decide what they want to do with their ancestors. This paper reflects on two case studies where Cook Islands values, principles, and processes were used to engage with historic human skeletal collections. Firstly, I discuss how the Tīvaevae methodology was used to reconstruct the identities of human skeletal remains that were part of a historic anatomical skeletal collection. Although these remains were of South Asian ancestry, and not kōivi tangata, the Tīvaevae methodology promoted an environment of respect where the cultural identities of the remains could be discussed. Secondly, I reflect on how the Cook Islands values of community, collaboration, and connection were essential for driving the repatriation of 142 Mangaian kōivi tangata back to Mangaia after four decades of being displaced. These case studies demonstrate the value of Cook Islands cultures and processes in advancing the field of biological anthropology. In turn, it is the duty and responsibility of biological anthropologists to assist, empower, and advance Cook Islands communities.
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Community inquiry, wellbeing and the Tīvaevae Method: Findings from Dunedin’s Ora'anga Meitaki 'Iri'irikāpua
Authors
Kokaua-Balfour, Stacey
Taripo-Walter, Inano
Moeroa, Keni
Abstract
In 2021, Te Vaka Cook Islands of Dunedin Incorporated (Te Vaka) facilitated a series of workshops exploring concepts of “wellbeing” from a Cook Islands Māori community perspective. Te Vaka represents the main administrative organisation for te ꞌŌire Ōtepoti (a name for the Dunedin-based Cook Islands community) and has led a range of community initiatives. This paper reflects on the planning and delivery of a Te Vaka workshop named te Ora'anga Meitaki 'Iri'irikāpua (te 'Iri'irikapua). The project was funded in partnership with Pacific Trust Otago, a local charitable trust supporting Pacific communities in Dunedin, who suggested the Tīvaevae Method be used to ensure a culturally embedded research approach. Throughout the project, there were strengths and weaknesses in applying the Tīvaevae Method to a very specific demographic and community setting, revealing that perceptions of tīvaevae varied within te ꞌŌire Ōtepoti according to age, gender, and individual experience, and these perceptions ultimately shaped how the Tīvaevae Method was applied in this project. The main outcome of te 'Iri'irikāpua was a shared community-led vision for how wellbeing is understood from the perspective of 'Ōire Ōtepoti and demonstrates the potential of community-centred and community-initiated research produced by and for the community.