This fluidity and connection weaves itself into all of her research on the oranga (welfare) of whakapapa, focusing on the health and wellbeing of wāhine, pēpi Māori, and whānau with a kaupapa Māori lens.
Kendall (nō Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāpuhi) is a senior research fellow with Te Tātai Hauora o Hine— National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington.
Every year in Aotearoa New Zealand, up to 900 families experience perinatal loss, with a further 13,000–15,000 affected by miscarriage in the first 20 weeks. And 175 New Zealanders are diagnosed with cervical cancer, while 55 people die from the disease.
“Our current maternal-infant health care system requires urgent attention and systemic change,” says Kendall.
“We need to design and deliver care that is both culturally and clinically gold standard, not just the latter.”
Kendall has worked alongside whānau who experience the maternal‒infant health care system, and on kaupapa that aims to inform systemic change from within. She has also engaged in research to strengthen the National Cervical Screening Programme in Aotearoa.
“All of this research matters to me, because without respecting and acknowledging the importance of te whare tangata (the house of humanity), of our wellbeing, and our whakapapa, then we cannot thrive,” she says.
Kendall notes that these systems have often been designed through a colonial lens and not by respecting the mana of the whare tāngata and whānau (in all of its meanings). This, she says, causes continuous systemic harm.
“Research that challenges this and works alongside whānau to inform change is what I find important,” says Kendall.
Kendall’s doctoral research delves into the maternal-infant health care system, arguing that the current system is culturally unresponsive for whānau Māori when they experience the harm or loss of their pēpi—and that urgent systemic change is needed.
She was involved in the development of Tuituia Te Kahu—the National Bereavement Care Pathway for Perinatal Loss, a critical step towards a consistent, compassionate perinatal bereavement approach across our health system.
“We need care pathways in place for whānau when their baby lives. And we need care pathways in place for whānau when their baby dies. Tuituia Te Kahu is a response to this need.”
The pathway was developed by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) that Kendall co-chaired alongside Dr Vicki Culling.
“While my research and experience in this field had a part to contribute to that pathway, Tuituia Te Kahu was the cumulation of the entire TAG’s experience, aspirations, and expertise,” she says.
The pathway is designed to help weave equitable, consistent support for grieving whānau across the maternity system, and to guide how services are planned and delivered across primary, community, hospital, and specialist settings.
Kendall sees an intimate link between this work and her research on cervical cancer screening.
Both, she says, are grounded in the same kaupapa—respecting and acknowledging the mana of the whare tangata—and both require working alongside wāhine Māori and community to challenge systems and care that were not upholding that mana.
Kendall was presented the Emerging Researcher award at the 2024 World Indigenous Cancer Conference for her research with the goal of eliminating cervical cancer amongst wāhine Māori through improved screening in Aotearoa. Her involvement helped inform Aotearoa New Zealand’s National Cervical Screening Programme, a self-test method which reduces barriers for many women, in particular wāhine Māori.
“It’s all connected, all relational, and challenging. We are now in the battle of eliminating cervical cancer, with and within community,” she says.
Through the guidance and mentorship of wāhine—particularly wāhine Māori—Kendall’s research journey has been shaped by those who don’t just study these systems but live within them.
Her dedication to Indigenous health is woven from this, but most importantly, it is woven from her own whānau and upbringing. A constant stream of learnings connected through relationality—the idea that everything exists and gains meaning through connection.
“The core of this research, and perhaps all research I am fortunate to be a part of, is relationality. It is in how we think, how we act, and how we aspire to move within this world.”