Indigenous Wellbeing Beyond the Limits of Modernity: Indigenous Systems in an Age of Global Malaise
Tracks
Ballroom 1 - In-Person Only
Ballroom 2 - In-Person & Virtual via OnAIR
Ballroom 3 - In-Person Only
Ballroom 4 - In-Person Only
| Monday, October 12, 2026 |
| 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM |
Overview
Professor Meihana Durie, Officer of Maori Advancement, AUT
Three Key Learnings
1. Indigenous Wellbeing Systems Are Not Relics of the Past — They Are Adaptive Philosophies for Indigenous Futures
This keynote challenges the assumption that Indigenous wellbeing systems belong only to history, culture or recovery. Instead, it positions Indigenous wellbeing as a living, evolving and intellectually sophisticated philosophy grounded in relational balance, collective responsibility and intergenerational continuity. Participants will explore why Indigenous systems have endured through disruption, continue to evolve across generations, and remain among the most resilient foundations for sustaining Indigenous identity, belonging and flourishing in an increasingly unstable world.
2. Indigenous-Controlled Education Is One of the Most Powerful Sites of Wellbeing Protection and Regeneration
Drawing from Māori perspectives on lifelong and intergenerational learning, this keynote explores how Indigenous wellbeing is strengthened when Indigenous peoples exercise greater authority over educational systems, knowledge transmission and sites of learning. Participants will be challenged to rethink education not simply as institutional participation or achievement, but as a wellbeing system itself — one capable of regenerating language, identity, leadership, responsibility and collective futures across generations.
3. The Rise of Trans-Indigeneity Signals a New Era of Indigenous Connection, Solidarity and Collective Futures
This keynote introduces emerging thinking related to Trans-Indigeneity and the growing reconnection of Indigenous peoples across nations, knowledge systems and shared global realities. Through the lands, oceans and skies that have always connected Indigenous peoples, participants will consider how Indigenous communities are increasingly shaping new forms of relational solidarity, intellectual exchange and future-building that move beyond the limits of modernity and strengthen Indigenous wellbeing on a global scale.
Presenter
Professor Meihana Durie
Te Toi Aronui - Deputy Vice Chancellor Māori
Auckland University Of Technology (AUT)
Indigenous Wellbeing Beyond the Limits of Modernity: Indigenous Systems in an Age of Global Malaise
Presentation Overview
This keynote explores Indigenous wellbeing as a living philosophy of relational balance developed across generations to sustain Indigenous peoples through periods of profound disruption, transition and survival.
Drawing from an evolving body of work spanning Māori wellbeing, Indigenous futures and culturally grounded systems that integrate leadership, scholarship and practice, Professor Meihana Durie argues that Indigenous wellbeing systems must be understood as far more than cultural models of care. They are enduring systems of Indigenous intelligence grounded in relationships between people, land, water, Indigenous language, kinship, spirituality, responsibility and future generations, recognising language itself as a living carrier of identity, memory, worldview and collective wellbeing.
At a time increasingly defined by ecological instability, social fragmentation, political polarisation, collective dislocation, cultural disconnection and intensifying local, national and geopolitical tensions, this keynote reflects on the significance of Indigenous systems that have survived colonisation, displacement and attempted erasure while continuing to evolve in ways that sustain Indigenous identity, continuity and collective wellbeing across generations. Far from static remnants of the past, Indigenous wellbeing systems remain adaptive, living philosophies whose endurance increasingly stands in contrast to imposed systems now struggling to maintain collective balance, meaning and social cohesion.
From an Indigenous worldview, education is not confined to institutions or stages of life, but understood as a lifelong and intergenerational process through which identity, language, responsibility, belonging and collective wellbeing are continually sustained. The keynote will argue that where Indigenous peoples exercise greater authority over educational systems, knowledge transmission and sites of learning, Indigenous wellbeing is not simply preserved, but continually regenerated across generations.
Touching on emergent thinking related to Trans-Indigeneity and evolving Indigenous futures scholarship, the presentation will further explore how Indigenous peoples are increasingly reconnecting across nations, knowledge systems and shared global realities through the lands, oceans and skies that have always connected Indigenous peoples across time, memory and belonging, in ways that may shape new collective futures beyond the limits of modernity itself.
Ultimately, this keynote argues that in an age of global malaise, Indigenous wellbeing systems remain among the most enduring, adaptive and future-relevant philosophies for sustaining Indigenous flourishing across generations yet to come.
Drawing from an evolving body of work spanning Māori wellbeing, Indigenous futures and culturally grounded systems that integrate leadership, scholarship and practice, Professor Meihana Durie argues that Indigenous wellbeing systems must be understood as far more than cultural models of care. They are enduring systems of Indigenous intelligence grounded in relationships between people, land, water, Indigenous language, kinship, spirituality, responsibility and future generations, recognising language itself as a living carrier of identity, memory, worldview and collective wellbeing.
At a time increasingly defined by ecological instability, social fragmentation, political polarisation, collective dislocation, cultural disconnection and intensifying local, national and geopolitical tensions, this keynote reflects on the significance of Indigenous systems that have survived colonisation, displacement and attempted erasure while continuing to evolve in ways that sustain Indigenous identity, continuity and collective wellbeing across generations. Far from static remnants of the past, Indigenous wellbeing systems remain adaptive, living philosophies whose endurance increasingly stands in contrast to imposed systems now struggling to maintain collective balance, meaning and social cohesion.
From an Indigenous worldview, education is not confined to institutions or stages of life, but understood as a lifelong and intergenerational process through which identity, language, responsibility, belonging and collective wellbeing are continually sustained. The keynote will argue that where Indigenous peoples exercise greater authority over educational systems, knowledge transmission and sites of learning, Indigenous wellbeing is not simply preserved, but continually regenerated across generations.
Touching on emergent thinking related to Trans-Indigeneity and evolving Indigenous futures scholarship, the presentation will further explore how Indigenous peoples are increasingly reconnecting across nations, knowledge systems and shared global realities through the lands, oceans and skies that have always connected Indigenous peoples across time, memory and belonging, in ways that may shape new collective futures beyond the limits of modernity itself.
Ultimately, this keynote argues that in an age of global malaise, Indigenous wellbeing systems remain among the most enduring, adaptive and future-relevant philosophies for sustaining Indigenous flourishing across generations yet to come.
Biography
Professor Meihana Durie is a leading Māori scholar and strategic leader in the fields of Māori and Indigenous Futures, Indigenous wellbeing, and higher education transformation. He is currently Te Toi Aronui, Senior Māori Scholar at Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
, Aotearoa, and served as Co-Chair of the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education 2025, the world’s largest Indigenous education gathering. Professor Durie has held senior leadership roles including Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori at Massey University and Chief Executive of Te Wānanga o Raukawa. His work advances Māori and Indigenous scholarship, leadership, wellbeing, and future-focused educational transformation across Aotearoa and the world.
