A Māori counter-colonial style/gaze – A term used by Bobby Luke in relation to his Whiri Kawe and Colonial Prairie collections (Master's research), describing a Māori-centred way of seeing, creating, and engaging that actively challenges colonial perspectives and representations.

Bricoleur – A bricoleur is someone who draws from multiple methods, theories, and tools to create something appropriate for a particular context.

Epistemology – The study of knowledge and knowing. It explores what knowledge is, how knowledge is acquired, and how we come to know what we know.

Epistemological – Relating to epistemology, or the theory of knowledge. It concerns the nature, sources, limits, and validity of knowledge.

Emic researcher - (Insider's Perspective): Analyzes culture entirely from within, focusing on the subjective meanings, beliefs, and categories used by the local people. 

Etic position researcher - (Outsider's Perspective): Analyzes culture using external, scientific frameworks. The researcher stays somewhat detached to look for global patterns and similarities.

Ethnography – A qualitative research methodology involving the immersive study and systematic recording of cultures, communities, or social groups. It seeks to provide an insider's perspective on behaviours, customs, relationships, and social life.

Hegemony – The dominance or leadership of a particular group, nation, or ideology over others. Hegemony shapes cultural, political, and economic systems by establishing certain values, beliefs, and practices as the norm.

Hau huri mātauranga – A concept discussed by Bobby Luke that refers to the transformation, adaptation, and movement of mātauranga Māori. It acknowledges that Māori knowledge systems are dynamic and evolving, capable of responding to contemporary contexts while maintaining connections to traditional knowledge. Key aspects include:

• Decolonisation – Using mātauranga Māori to challenge colonial systems and practices.

• Application – Moving knowledge from theory into practice across fields such as education, health, and community development.

• Reciprocity – Recognising the reciprocal exchange of knowledge, relationships, and wellbeing.

• Adaptation – Ensuring knowledge remains relevant and responsive to contemporary realities.

Hermeneutics – The theory and practice of interpretation, particularly the interpretation of texts, language, culture, and meaning.

Imperialism – The policy or practice of extending a state's power and influence over other territories, peoples, or nations through political, economic, military, or cultural domination.

Indigenist Research – A decolonising research methodology driven by Indigenous peoples. It centres Indigenous worldviews, knowledge systems, values, and lived experiences while challenging dominant Western research paradigms.

Ideology – A structured set of beliefs, values, and principles that shapes how individuals, groups, or societies understand and act within the world.

Marxism – A social, political, and economic theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that explains society through class struggle and material conditions.

Marxist Ideology – A belief system based on Marxist theory that advocates for the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a classless society.

Ontology – The study of being and existence.

• Philosophical context – The study of what exists and the nature of reality.

• Applied context – A structured framework used to organise knowledge within a particular field or discipline.

Pacifist attitudes – Approaches to resistance that reject violence and instead promote peaceful action, protest, and social change. In Indigenous contexts, this may include non-violent forms of political resistance.

Pedagogy - s the art, science, and practice of teaching.  a teacher may allow creative approaches, such as visual art or interpretive dance, in place of written text analysis. Rather than the teacher guiding students in class discussion, students can take turns posing questions for their peers to consider.

Phenomenology - the idea of the unknown -  phenomenon. Third eye the philosophical study of conscious experience and how we perceive the world from a first-person perspective. Rather than focusing on objective facts, it examines "lived experiences"—how things appear to us, how we interpret them, and the meaning those experiences hold in our minds.

Positivism – A philosophical approach that argues authentic knowledge is derived from observable, measurable, and verifiable evidence. It emphasises scientific methods, empirical data, and objective analysis.

Praxis – The process of putting theory into action. Praxis refers to the relationship between reflection and practice, where knowledge is developed through doing, reflecting, and refining.

Primordial beings – Original or ancestral beings that existed from the beginning of time, such as Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother).

Propositional Knowledge – Also known as "knowledge-that," propositional knowledge refers to factual information that can be expressed in statements capable of being true or false. It is traditionally defined as justified true belief.

Pūrākau – Traditional Māori narratives that transmit knowledge, values, histories, and cultural understandings through storytelling.

Racial epidermal schema - is a phenomenological concept coined by psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon in his 1952 book Black Skin, White Masks. It describes how colonial racism and the "white gaze" reduce a racialized person's sense of self to merely their skin color, stripping away their multidimensional humanity.

Repository – A physical or digital place used for storing, organising, preserving, and sometimes exhibiting valuable objects, information, or data.

Rongo (atua) – In Bobby Luke's work, Rongo is positioned as a mechanism of the counter-colonial style, providing a framework through which Māori ways of knowing, being, and creating can resist colonial structures.

Subjugation – The act of bringing a person or group under the control of another, often through force, oppression, or domination.

Survivance – A term developed by Gerald Vizenor that combines survival and resistance. It refers to the active presence, resilience, and continuation of Indigenous peoples, cultures, and knowledge systems beyond narratives of victimhood.

Temporal – Relating to time, change over time, or the way events, experiences, and relationships unfold across time.