Mana Moana
Mana Moana is dedicated to:
remembering, exploring, and reclaiming ancestral and indigenous genius from the largest ocean in the world;
activating the wisdom of this knowledge in service of the world we live in;
prototyping practical change for the benefit of all.
Mana is an Oceanic word that can be found in 26 Pacific languages. It refers to power, energy, abundance, authority. It is the ability to manifest the flow, favour and fortune of the intangible unseen world, with efficacy so that it is recognised and impactful in the tangible world.
Moana is a Polynesian word which means ‘ocean’ and can be found in 35 contemporary Pacific languages.
Mana Moana is the power, energy, vitality sourced to being from the Moana, indigenous to the South Pacific seas, and connected to that unique cultural legacy of knowing and being.
What we do
Mana Moana is a unique research-based kaupapa and movement that restores and vitalises connections to the ancestral intelligence of the South Pacific in transformative ways. We create and curate experiences and resources that engage with the indigenous knowledge of the Moana.
Our framework
Mana Moana explores a repository of seventy widely shared Pacific power words and language, proverbs, narratives, images, metaphors, philosophy and knowledge. These are activated in different ways to to make Oceanic ancestral intelligence accessible so that it continues to guide us in the here and now.
Our offerings
We offer a suite of curated experiences that enable people to engage with Pacific ways of knowing and being: a range of workshops, experiences, retreats, year long leadership programmes and e-learning.
Research origins
Mana Moana was created and founded by Dr Karlo Mila during her postdoctoral fellowship in 2010. Funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, this five year project was focused on developing a culturally cogent intervention tested for feasibility and acceptability. Mana Moana has been continuously evaluated as it has evolved.
Leadership experiences
Mana Moana has run as a leadership programme for over five years with Leadership New Zealand. Between 2018 and 2021 the Mana Moana Experience was delivered annually through Leadership New Zealand, with funding support from Foundation North, Creative New Zealand, JR MacKenzie Trust and Southland Trust, to support the personal and professional development journeys of over 90 Pacific mid-career professionals and community leaders. In addition, the programme has also informed the design and delivery of a public sector scholarship programme Tū Mau Mana Moana, currently funded by MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) for more than 40 mid-career Pacific public service leaders.
Our people
In 2023, an independent by-Pacific-for-Pacific Social Enterprise called Fale o Mana Moana has been formed to continue on the work of Mana Moana. Fale o Mana Moana brings together a commercial arm and a charitable trust: Mana Moana Works Ltd and Mana Moana Trust.
E-Learning
A new offering is Mana Moana Online. It is a six module eLearning experience that dives into the fundamental concepts associated with Mana Moana and its core logic. It is an interactive, reflective, guided, meditative and explorative process, providing insights into Moana worldviews and philosophy: Vā Centred Leadership; the Vete Restorative Process and the Mana Moana Tau tool. The Tau tool activates ancestral wisdom to guide the stages and phases of projects, policy-making, creative processes, and ambitious personal goals that you may wish to achieve. In total, the journey covers 37 definitive, widely shared power words, along with pronunciation guides, proverbs, narratives, exercises, information and wisdom from across the Moana.
What people are saying
“A gift from the ancestors.”
— Apoua Fuatavai-McBrien, Southland Beneficiaries and Community Rights Centre
“Generations of wisdom”
— Timu Sylvia Yandell, Crisis Services Manager, Auckland Sexual Abuse HELP Foundation
“Life changing, both personally and professionally”
— Tuiloma Gayle Lafaiali’i, General Manager, SENZ Training and Employment Centre
“The new / old A.I. Ancestral Intelligence”
— Ted Pogai, Pasifika Learning Advisor, Wintec
“To give up a whole way of seeing... The loss, the loss, it is immense. It is the size of God’s wisdom...
Once all was a circle, a sacred circle, a unity of tree, bird, earth, fire, air, water, man, rock, atua, aitu. All was blessed with mana. Together, dreaming, giving meaning to one another.
Maualaivao Albert Wendt
