Indigenuity Māori Data Sovereignty Policy

We Truely Value Taonga 

First of all, Indigenuity (& Inez) would like to acknowledge Kirikowhai Mikaere for the inspiration to weave 'Indigenous Data Sovereignty' into our work. Around 2016 I heard Kirikowhai define what this term meant. It blew my mind, was exactly why I wanted to leave valuing under the roof of non-Māori business. That the true taonga for Māori is often intangible, data, relationships, korero. Tēnā koe KiriIt has taken some time to start building my own policy. In attempt to start somewhere before engaging in ventures, I have adopted the Te Mana Rauranga charter as a foundation. Photo credits of our Te Arawa carvings goes to Jamie Rolleston who is a gifted artist and photographer; I have relied on her professional photos for 5 years. Of course credit goes to my iwi, my home Ohinemutu and the ahikaa who maintain our taonga and inspire me to do better.
Please let me know if I have made any error or deviated from giving proper credit. Mauri Ora.

We are adopting the Te Mana Rauranga Māori Data Sovereignty charter.

In simple terms, Indigenuity Limited was established because Inez wanted to ensure that the professional ethics of the company recognises that any Māori taonga is protected throughout the process of a valuation. 

Taonga includes pūrakau, korero, whakapapa, photographs, imagery, tupuna names, hopes and aspirations. 

Before we commence work for you, we will ask you for any restrictions on how your data is to be shared and managed. We also are transparent with how the data will be stored, with whom and that Indigenuity Limited & Inez have access to the file to satisfy the legal requirements for Aotearoa. Professionals often have to maintain records for a minimum of 7 years, so that if we have to go to court to defend our evidence, we can do so.

But apart from that, we do not sell or exchange your data, especially not the data about your Taonga.

Did you know that when a company collects photos, data, information, you may have given them rights to use this data for their gain or to sell?

This is not good tikanga when it comes to any indigenous taonga including the intangible. Indigenuity Limited is operated on a sacred economy, including the limited use and storage of your intangible taonga.

We will explain before commencing what is charged for, such as:

  • Time to inspect
  • Our expertise in understanding the law, the insurance requirements, our relationships that allow us to be experts
  • The education time invested in to becoming a professional expert in this field
  • Administration and costs associated with delivering your advice
  • Other overheads that may come up such as payments to other experts involved in the process
  • Our risk and insurances

These are built in to any fee from modern professionals.

As Indigenuity Limited starts to push forward with some exciting national and international Joint Ventures (finance, lending, valuation, consultancy, e-commerce), it is important that we are able to define our sacred boundaries in indigenous commerce.