Meri Haami received her Ph.D. from Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka studying the relationship between the Whanganui River, her Indigenous communities, and their Indigenous songs. Meri belongs to the Indigenous Māori tribal nations of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngā Rauru Kītahi, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa and has regional and ethnic affiliations across Southeast Asia, specifically Singapore. Her fellowship called, He Whiringa Māramatanga: Indigenous Māori music and healing examines how Indigenous Māori creative expressions through song interconnect to the health and well-being of Māori by drawing on international archival material of customary Māori music knowledge. Indigenous Māori music is considered both casual and sacred, containing unique key elements of its own musical theories through forms such as waiata (songs), karakia (prayers), ruruku (incantations), haka (posture dances), pūrākau (stories), whakapapa (genealogies) and many more. These oral forms, which have been recorded and archived across the globe, have the potential to benefit Māori in reconnecting to their music traditions and identities, thus improving their overall well-being. Meri works in a range of interdisciplinary Kaupapa Māori research that includes, health, the environment, decolonisation, ethnomusicology, and ecomusicology. Meri works for a development and liberation organisation based in Waitara, Aotearoa/New Zealand called Tū Tama Wāhine o Taranaki focused on healing Māori.
