Rate My Professor Inano Taripo-Walter

Dr. Inano Taripo-Walter, a Cook Islands Māori scholar, serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Va'a o Tautai, Centre for Pacific Health, within the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences. Specializing in Māori and Pacific history, she bridges humanities and health sciences by integrating Indigenous histories, knowledge systems, and lived experiences into discussions on Pacific health and wellbeing. Her research underscores the essential connections between land ('enua), ocean (Moana), culture, and community as pillars of resilience and wellbeing for Pacific peoples. Taripo-Walter holds a BA (Hons) in History and Māori Studies, an MA in History, and a PhD in Pacific Studies, all from the University of Otago, completed in 2025. She also acts as the Pacific Postgraduate Support Adviser at the Graduate Research School, supporting Pacific Island postgraduate candidates through their journeys, representing them on the Postgraduate Committee, and engaging with networks such as the Pacific Academic Staff Caucus and Le Moana.

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.