Teacher, Waiata Moteatea (Traditional Chant) scholar and researcher Dr Wayne Ngata attended the recent Kei Tua o te Pae conference held at Te Wananga o Raukawa, Otaki. In tackling the subject matter of Innovating Matauranga and Re-searching Rangatiratanga, the ideas of his keynote speech did not come to mind easily. But for this keynote korero, Dr Ngata talks about the challenges he encountered when he was part of the Independent Adjudication Panel that oversaw the Central North Island (CNI) iwi collective and the allocation of land, mainly in the Kaingaroa Forest. As a Rawaho (an outsider) from the eight iwi that formed the collective, there was a fine balancing act of adhering to the rules and guidelines of his role whilst maintaining tika (doing what is right). According to Dr Ngata the process and the end result, in which an allocation model was agreed upon by the collective is a form of Matauranga Maori. Highlights from his keynote speech feature in this week's Te Ahi Kaa.