Tanya Ruka
Rorohiko: An Indigenous Pathway to Emergent Intelligence
How might Indigenous relational knowledge systems, particularly whakapapa, whanaungatanga, and wairuatanga reframe the design and learning of artificial intelligence through kaupapa Māori principles of relationality, accountability, and spiritual integrity?
This research investigates how mātauranga Māori, particularly the principles of whakapapa (relational structuring of knowledge), whanaungatanga (relational practice), and wairuatanga (ancestral and spiritual connection), can provide ethical and epistemological foundations for the design, learning, and interpretation of artificial intelligence. These Indigenous knowledge systems are positioned as generative frameworks, guiding AI development.
The study adopts a kaupapa Māori, creative design-led methodology that is iterative, practice-based, and relational. Intelligence is approached as relational, embodied, and ecological, rather than purely computational, supporting co-creation, collective learning, and ethical engagement with communities and more-than-human worlds.
Through this methodology, the thesis develops AIRI (Agentic Indigenous Relational Intelligence) as an AI interpretability architecture and educational framework. AIRI will be realised through phased prototypes, including publicly accessible AI tools, and an immersive VR ecological installation centred on bat environments. The VR component enables more-than-human perspectives as a mode of relational learning, demonstrating how AI and digital environments can move beyond narrative representation toward experiential and ecological engagement.
By framing AI through mātauranga Māori systems thinking, this research demonstrates how technological systems can embed relational values at the architectural level, shaping how intelligence operates rather than merely how it is used. Because AI systems can operate at speed and scale, embedding relational and ecological values within their core architectures offers the potential to extend Indigenous-informed principles of care across diverse digital contexts without abstracting them from their cultural grounding. In doing so, this work offers a pathway for AI systems that uphold mauri (lifeforce) and support Indigenous-led futures in environmental restoration.
Iwi affiliation
Ngāpuhi
Supervisors
Qualifications
Master of Art & Design, AUT 2013
Publications
Kilford, A., Withers, S., Ruka, T., & Kane, F. (n.d.). Mapping the benefits of collaborative textile research in Aotearoa New Zealand. DRS Digital Library.
https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/textileintersections/textileintersections2023/researchpapers/20/
Center for Humans and Nature. (2023, May 23). Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka | Center for Humans & Nature. Center for Humans & Nature. https://humansandnature.org/tanya-te-miringa-te-rorarangi-ruka/
Kane, Faith; Brorens, Peter; Guen, Marie Joo Le; Kilford, Angela; Ruka, Tanya (2019). Exploring a Place-Based Approach to Materials Design: Harakeke Nonwovens in Aotearoa New Zealand. Loughborough University. Conference contribution. https://doi.org/10.17028/rd.lboro.9724661.v1
Conference Presentations
Kane, Faith; Brorens, Peter; Guen, Marie Joo Le; Kilford, Angela; Ruka, Tanya (2019). Exploring a Place-Based Approach to Materials Design: Harakeke Nonwovens in Aotearoa New Zealand. Loughborough University. Conference contribution. https://doi.org/10.17028/rd.lboro.9724661.v1