Sustainable finance research has come into its own as an established area in the finance literature. The increased awareness of sustainability and global concerns around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, particularly among institutional investors, has catalysed a shift towards greater research and publications in this area. Accompanying this is the emerging body of work being produced on indigenous investments and indigenous community practices. These nascent strands of literature tell a story of the shift that is taking place within the finance field. To chart this shift and create a harmonised view of these bodies of work, this paper conducts a systematic literature review of the significant nexus between sustainable investments and indigenous approaches to sustainability. We present a framework for conceptualising and characterising the various stands of literature and, in so doing, make the case for Indigenous Sustainable Finance (ISF) as a distinct disciplinary field. This paper argues that ISF is distinct from mainstream sustainable finance and other social and management sciences and constitutes a legitimate, well-defined sub-field of research in its own right.

Iwi, the tribal entities of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand, now manage billions of dollars, a task requiring increasing sophistication in their investment strategies. Asset classes of Iwi have evolved from the properties, fisheries quotas, and cash they received through Aotearoa New Zealand’s Treaty settlement process to now include major investments in private equity, infrastructure, and other financial assets. The literature has, however, been largely silent on Iwi investments. Performance discussions tend to emphasize a western approach focusing on traditional financial performance measures. Using Waikato-Tainui operated Tainui Group Holdings (TGH) as an example, we analyze a sample of corporate disclosure documents. We find the intent of tribal (Iwi) investment firms may not be adequately captured through traditional investment frameworks and classic performance metrics. Drawing parallels between Iwi investment firms and impact investing widens the scope for financial managers to think differently about how we quantify Indigenous investment performance.

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The increased use of te reo Māori by the government and the corporate sector in Aotearoa has created numerous opportunities for te reo translators who are engaged to translate voluminous te reo Māori documents, websites and apps, digital and social media messages and public signage which have been proliferated in recent times. These translation works represent significant economic activity as te reo Māori translators are awarded contracts valued at thousands of dollars. The economic eco-system created by the increased opportunities in the use of te reo Māori translation is a dynamic one that requires detailed study and attention from te reo scholars given the need for quality assurance and maintenance of the standards of the language. To set the backdrop for the paper a literature review on the history and development of te reo Māori translation will be presented. The historical antecedents of the te reo Māori translation economy will be traced and highlighted as the springboard for the current state of the te reo Māori translation economy which will then be discussed. An in-depth analysis of the licensing process for te reo Māori translators will be presented and arguments for an expanded role of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori in providing oversight of translation contracts will be made. We will present a theoretical framework for the economic considerations surrounding the te reo Māori translation ecosystem and provide a narrative and schematic description of a te reo Māori translator’s work as a paid economic activity. In doing this we shed light on the growing economic importance of te reo Māori.

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