KĀRE Ā-TINANA, ENGARI, Ā-WAIRUA: TE MANA O TE KARERE: Re-thinking Indigenous postgraduate whanaungatanga

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns in Aotearoa New Zealand have been a source of change, of uncertainty and of anxiety. The ways in which we engage with each other as Indigenous people have had to change drastically and suddenly; our ways of being, of sharing space, of being present, have all had to be adjusted. For Indigenous postgraduate students, COVID-19 and lockdowns have meant a re-shaping and re-thinking of how we come together as a community that supports each other within Westernised institutions and along our academic and research journeys. This situation report delves into some of the Indigenous postgraduate students’ realities and experiences, and the ways in which (whaka)whanaungatanga has been fluid during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. This discussion highlights the resourcefulness of Indigenous postgraduate students and the ways in which we operate from spaces of aroha ki te tangata.