Kaupapa Māori evaluation is literally about doing evaluation a Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) way. While the methods we use are often those from western evaluation practice, our methodology and the paradigm within which we operate are Māori. Our use of these methods enables Māori organizations and communities to meet their accountability requirements for the funding they receive to deliver services and programs to their people and to the wider community. At the same time as we are undertaking these evaluations, we are also encouraging those we work with to increase their own evaluation capacity. Part of this is thinking outside of the western evaluation “square” to incorporate traditional decision‐making ways into how they capture outcomes and improve service delivery. The Kaupapa Māori evaluation journey we describe here is about how we currently practice, and our ambitions for the true decolonization of evaluation.

Wairua (spirit) is threaded through the cultural beliefs, practices, and values of Māori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand. It is an inherent part of the daily life and cultural vitality that is embedded in Māori services and programmes. In a wānanga (forum for discussion and learning) Māori and Pasifika (peoples from the Pacific Islands, especially Polynesia, who reside in Aotearoa New Zealand) evaluators were asked to share their thoughts about how they acknowledge, value, and represent wairua in their evaluation work. Seven principles emerged from this sharing: Mauri-feeling connected; Aroha ki te tangata-respect for people; Manaaki ki te tangata-generosity and sharing with people; Kaitiakitangaguardianship; Kia tūpato-taking care; Whakanoa-cleansing of the spirit; and Mōhiotanga, mātauranga and māramatangaknowledge, collective wisdom, and enlightenment. In this article Māori evaluators discuss Aroha ki te tangata, Manaaki ki te tangata, and Mauri. The evaluators examine how rituals of encounter, and the building and maintaining of relationships strengthen the ā-wairua (spiritual) connections with evaluation participants that last beyond the life of any single evaluation; whilst engendering notions of care, respect and obligation. It is hoped that the exploration of these

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