Rate My Professor Inano Taripo-Walter

Her doctoral thesis, V'enua ora: A va'ine taripo perspective of well-being through 'enua, examined the wellbeing of Cook Islands women in the Taripo family and their enduring connections to ancestral land. This builds on her 2017 MA thesis, He Wahine, He Whenua I Ngaro Ai? Māori Women, Māori Marriage Customs and the Native Land Court, 1865-1909, which investigated Māori customary law, land legislation, and the historical impacts of marriage and divorce on Māori women. In her current postdoctoral research with the Coastal People: Southern Skies project, commenced in 2026, she explores how coastal communities in the Cook Islands and Tahiti draw on Moana narratives, stories, and traditional ocean knowledge to sustain resilience and wellbeing amid climate change. Taripo-Walter has taught Pacific History courses including Pacific World 206 and Te Pū o te Ora 206, as well as Māori Physical Education and Health, incorporating Indigenous historical perspectives on wellbeing, society, and community. Key publications include: Taripo-Walter, I. (2023). "Tracing the intersections of wāhine Māori, whakapapa and mana in the Native Land Court, 19th century Aotearoa." MAI Journal, 12(1), 25-35; Richards, R., Walter, I. et al. (Eds.). (2023). Proceedings of the Pacific Postgraduate Symposium: Pacific Voices XX. Dunedin: Pacific Islands Centre, University of Otago; Kokaua-Balfour, S., Taripo-Walter, I., & Moeroa, K. (2025). "Community inquiry, wellbeing and the Tīvaevae method: Findings from Dunedin's Ora'anga Meitaki 'Iri'irikāpua." Pacific Dynamics, 9(1), 1199-1216. She is a member of PacNet, the Pacific Thought Network.