Ka nui te whakahau, te whakawai, o ngā tikanga, o

ngā kōrero hitōria, o ngā whakapono o te iwi i ngā

tauwhitinga whakaaro, i ngā whakawhitinga kōrero hoki

o te iwi whai pūtake kōtahi tonu mai. Ko te aronga nui o

tēnei rangahau ko aua kawekawenga whai pānga ki te

whakawhitiwhiti kōrero-ā-rōpu ka tahi, ko ngā pūrongo

rangahau e rua hoki e pā ana ki te whakawhitiwhiti

kōrero-ā-rōpu i raro i ngā tikanga Māori. E toru hāora

te roa o te huinga tuatahi, kanohi ki te kanohi. He

whakawhitinga-ā-mēra hiko te huinga tuarua pēnei i te

'Lotus Notes', e iwa marama te roa, ā, kāre te hunga nei

i whakawhiti kōrero i te wā kotahi tonu. Anei e tāpaehia

nei he tauira whakawhiti whakaaro kia mārama ai te

tangata he aha te wāhi ki ngā tikanga i roto i enei tauira.

Intra-group communication among people sharing a

common cultural context is likely to be strongly shaped

by the cultural protocols, histories, values and beliefs of

that group. This research focuses on factors influencing

contribution to group discussion, and reports on two case

studies of group communication within a Māori cultural

context. The first case describes a synchronous three hour

face-to-face meeting, while the second case describes an

asynchronous discussion over nine months using the

medium of an electronic group communication

environment, Lotus Notes. We present a model for

discussion to assist in understanding the role of culture

in these cases.