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Further reading and frameworks

MāoriGIS.nz is a practical guide, not the final authority for every kaupapa. Māori Data Sovereignty, AI governance, privacy, data ethics and technology are developing fields, and different iwi, hapū, whānau, Māori organisations, researchers and public agencies may have their own requirements and tikanga.

Use this page as a research starting point. Follow the source organisations, look for updated material, compare frameworks, and consider whether what you learn changes how your own GIS or AI mahi should be designed.

Māori-led sources​

Start here where Māori data, Māori authority or AI use involving Māori information is part of the kaupapa.

Do not assume one Māori organisation's decisions automatically transfer to another iwi or hapū context. The value of these sources is partly in the questions and governance approaches they provide.

Data ethics and public-sector guidance​

For work in or with government, councils or Crown-funded programmes, consider the current official guidance as well as Māori-led sources.

If you work inside an organisation, its own approved policies, security standards and risk processes may be more restrictive or more specific than public guidance. Check those before adopting software or processing organisational information.

Privacy and personal information​

Māori data and personal information overlap but are not the same thing. Privacy law does not answer every Māori Data Sovereignty question, and Māori Data Sovereignty does not remove Privacy Act obligations where personal information is involved.

For GIS, remember that a location, address, small-area geography or combination of attributes can make apparently de-identified information identifiable again. See Inference risk.

Indigenous data governance beyond Aotearoa​

International Indigenous frameworks can broaden the research without replacing Māori authority or local tikanga.

Use these comparatively. They can offer useful concepts and practical tools, but they arise from different Indigenous nations and legal, political and cultural settings.

Research and scholarship​

Useful academic work includes Indigenous Data Sovereignty, Māori algorithmic sovereignty, critical cartography, GIS ethics, Indigenous mapping and the social effects of automated systems.

A starting point for AI is Brown et al. (2024), Māori Algorithmic Sovereignty: Idea, Principles, and Use.

For wider reading, search recent work by Māori data researchers and Indigenous data sovereignty scholars rather than relying only on technology vendors or generic AI commentary. Check publication dates carefully because AI product behaviour, policy and governance guidance can change quickly.

Project-specific sources​

The most useful source may not be a national framework. Depending on the mahi, also look for:

  • iwi or hapū data and mātauranga policies
  • trust, rūnanga or Māori land organisation policies
  • relevant settlement legislation or statutory acknowledgements
  • research agreements and ethics approvals
  • data-sharing agreements and licences
  • marae, whānau or knowledge-holder expectations
  • agency information-security and privacy policies
  • contractual restrictions from data providers
  • current vendor terms, data-processing documentation and retention settings
  • current software security advisories and release notes

The purpose of this research is not to accumulate paperwork. It is to understand whether a source, tool, analysis or publication creates obligations or risks that should change the design of the mahi.

Revisit your decision​

Research is not only something to do at the start. Recheck the position when:

  • new datasets or document collections are added
  • a public output is proposed after initially private research
  • AI is introduced into an existing GIS workflow
  • a local application starts using cloud features or plugins
  • model or vendor terms change
  • more precise locations are derived
  • information from several ordinary datasets becomes sensitive when combined
  • new Māori-led guidance or organisational policy is released
  • mana whenua, whānau, hapū or iwi provide new direction about the information

A sound result of further research may be to continue as planned. It may also be to reduce precision, change software, remove a dataset, require additional review, keep the result internal or not map the information at all.

Last verified: 2 September 2026

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