Tech giant Google is lending a helping hand to East Cape tribe Te Aitanga A Hauiti by lending them some gear usually associated with Street View, so Maori can use data mapping technology as part of a special project.
This past summer the equipment was used by Tai Rawhiti Maori to map trails associated with Tupuna around the East Coast, now the plan is to attach interviews to the imagery and release it on Google's Street View.
Te Aitanga A Hautiti project manager Hera Ngata Gibson told 1 NEWS, "you'll be able to take a cruise up the Kereru river in Te Kaha up Ngarotiri Maunga in Tokomaru and I guess just hear the stories about those places."
"It's a good way to reconnect with all our whanau that live away back home and hopefully inspire them to maybe visit home a bit more," Ms Gibson said.
The project comes as part of Google's Outreach Programme that's working to visualise data and tell stories addressing social and environmental issues.
A spokeswoman for the Google Outreach Programme said, "I think it's incredibly important to preserve culture and history for future generations.
"Tools like Google Earth can be incredibly powerful in that cultural preservation because so many stories and so many cultural touch-points are really connected to the land".
Maori will be hoping the project helps small stories from Aotearoa connect with a global audience.
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