This article investigates areas for possible improvement in the governance and management of large New Zealand Māori dairy farm businesses. Building on the innovative practices of their tūpuna (ancestors), Māori are defining their own aspirations, realities and goals in the dairy farming world and their accompanying challenges, as expressed by individuals and collectives currently engaged in Māori dairy farm businesses. The Māori way of doing business is described in this study as having a 'quadruple bottom line' of profit, people, environment and community business objectives. Māori are genuine leaders of dairy farm environmental management, due in part to their attitudes to land ownership, business values and holistic world views. The top tier of Māori farming trusts comprises fast growing enterprises, which are rapidly improving business performance. The expertise and governance of large corporate farms have much to offer other farming businesses.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how a complexity informed understanding of Indigenous–settler relationships helps people to better understand Indigenous social innovation. To do this, this paper uses the attractor concept from complexity thinking to explore both the history and possible futures of Indigenous Maori social innovation as shaped by Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi. Design/methodology/approach This paper frames Te Tiriti as a structural attractor for social innovation in Aotearoa-New Zealand and explores the dynamics at play in the social and economic activities related to Te Tiriti and the ongoing settlement process in Aotearoa-New Zealand. This paper outlines this as an illustrative case study detailing the relevant contextual spaces and dynamics that interact and the emergence of social innovation. Findings This paper suggests that the convergent, divergent and unifying dynamics present in a structural attractor provide a useful framework for building ongoing engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people whereby Indigenous worldviews are given space to be articulated and valued. Originality/value In spite of the increase in research into social innovation, including in Indigenous contexts, the “context” of “postcolonial” context remains under-theorised and people’s understanding of the power dynamics at play here limits the understanding of how the mechanisms of Indigenous–settler partnerships structure social innovation and its impact.

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