Maui Brennan (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Itāria) has won a $90,000 scholarship to research indigenous economics in Italy. Interacting with the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, inspired him to pursue this field. He hopes to find ways integrate ahurea Māori into Pākehā economics.
“I really want to be part of it. I think with the wellbeing budget we have right now, [sic] like, that was kind of a groundbreaking thing sort of thing for the government. So hopefully we can integrate cultural values,” Mau Brennan says.
Brennan’s mother is Italian, and her whānau hails from a place near Genoa. He was raised speaking Italian, and he grew up journeying to Italy. His studies will be done online this year, and he hopes to move to Milan next year.