Some Maori activists are trying to impose a moral imperative that no one is allowed to do research that pertains in any way to Maori without having Maori in the team.

No group is entitled to demand control over all studies of topics that relate to it. Rather, every human being is morally entitled to investigate any subject.

For some kinds of studies, it is important to have an expert on Maori culture. Most of those experts are Maori. But that doesn't apply to chemical testing of ice cores.