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Nā te ūnga rawa maio te pūnaha mātauranga o tauiwi,
ka āhua ngaro atu te mātauranga pāngarau o ngā mātua
tīpuna, me ngā āhuatanga whakaako motuhake 1
tukuna iho ai taua mātauranga ki ngā whakatipuranga.
Ōtīrā, i roto i te ngahuru tau kua pahure nei, kua tīmata
te whakatū haere i ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori me ngā
whakaakoranga rūmaki, ā, kua hoki anō te Māori ki te
āta kimi atu i ngā āhuatanga motuhake o te pangarau
Māori, e angitū ai ngā tauira o enei tūmomo kura. Ka
tika, me mātau ēnei tauira ki ngā āhuatanga e whai
wāhi atu ai rātou ki nga tūranga ngaiotanga o te ao
hou, engari, me mau tonu te hā Māori, kaua e
whakamāori noa i tā te Pākehā whakaako i te pāngarau.
I tēnei tuhinga ka tirohia te whanaketanga o te
pāngarau Māori, me ētahi o ōna āhuatanga motuhake
e tangatanga ai te eke a ngā tauira i ngā taumata.

Imposition of colonial education has interrupted the
inter-generational development and passing down of
Māori mathematical understanding, knowledge and
skill. Māori have also not achieved well in the mathematics
of the imposed education system. The advent
of Kura Kaupapa Māori and other forms of immersion
schooling, and the publication by the Ministry
of Education of a mathematics curriculum document
for those schools provides an opportunity to reclaim
Māori mathematics. It is important that Māori
children are equipped with the mathematical skills and
understanding necessary for entry into a wide range
of contemporary professions, at the same time as ensuring
that the Māori pedagogy of the schools is not
compromised. Simply translating existing school
mathematics practice and resource material (which has
not served Māori well in the past) into Maori may be
inappropriate. This paper reviews the development
of contemporary Māori mathematics, and discusses
some of its important features.