Aroha in action hui: Healing through mātauranga Māori

[Animated Graphic: Aroha in Action Family Start Hui 2023 graphic]

[Text on screen: Healing through mātauranga Māori, Koha Aperahama]

[Text on screen: Noel Woods]

Noel Woods:

Whai mai nei, ko Rongomātāne e ngunuru nei, tau ti mai, and welcome into Te Whare o Rongo. Now hailing from the tropics of Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, our next kaikōrero will share a deeper language legacy where the most intricate concepts find clarity. Koha Aperahama will be sharing taonga tuku iho with the thought around what legacy do I leave to my mokopuna. He aha tāku ki aku mokopuna? Koha, tēnā koe, kei a koe te wā.

[Text on screen: Koha Aperahama]

Koha Aperahama:

Āio ki te ao rangi

Āio ki te whenua

Āio ki a tātou katoa

Āio ki ahau

Āio ki ahau

Tēnā tātou. Tēnā tātou, koutou mā kua hui mai nei ki runga i tēnei hui topa ki a tātou e huihui nei i roto i tēnei whare, tēnei rā ka mihi. E kore rā e taea te mutu ngā mihi ki a rātou mā kua huri tuarā mai ki a tātou. E kīia nei kua hoki ki te kāinga tūturu mō tātou te tangata. E tangihia e koutou, e tangihia e mātou nā tā tātou noho tahi i raro i tēnei kaupapa, ka tangihia e tātou katoa. Kotahi tonu te kōrero, haere mai, e haere.

Heoi anō, ka huri rā mai ngā whakaaro ki a tātou te kanohi ora e tau nei, e tau nei a i roto i te hui topa, e tau nei a-tinana ki raro i te karanga o tēnei kaupapa rangatira, tēnei rā ka mihi ki a tātou katoa.

Heoi anō, ko Koha Aperahama tēnei. He uri tēnei, he manu tīorooro tēnei nō ngā ngāherehere o Hineamaru, nō ngā pukepuke rau o Ngāti Hine e tū atu nei, e mihi atu nei ki a tātou. Tēnā rā koutou katoa.

Isn’t technology wonderful? We get to be invited to a conference and expect to turn up with an audience of a hundred, 300 even, and turn up to a studio where actually it’s all online. Tēnā koutou e ngā mātanga o te hangarau e whakarite i te kaupapa nei. What a wonderful opportunity this is.

Heoi anō, ki a koutou mā, e mihi ana ki a koutou. All of those that are on that have connected, and I saw lots of names of places that people have connected in from. I want to mihi ki a koutou hoki.

[Slide on screen: Ngā taonga tuku iho]

Today I was asked to talk about, my brief was Āio me te Aroha; was healing. And I thought, he aha tērā kaupapa ki a au? So, one of the things I started to think about was he aha aku taonga tuku iho? So, tuatahi ake, he uri tēnei nō roto i a Ngāti Hine. 

[Slide on Screen: Ko wai au?]

So firstly, as I was introduced, I come from that beautiful, I believe they said the tropics of Ngāti Hine. What a great way to describe our Ngāti Hine landscape. From a place called Matawaia right in the heartland of Ngāti Hine. If those of you who have never been to Matawaia, you haven’t lived, you must go and visit the beautiful pot-holed roads of Taitokerau. The whakataukī, ‘He pukepuke rau,’ is not unfounded because you go in one pothole it's like a whole puke before you get out of the next.

Heoi anō, ka huri ake au ki taku whakaaro, ko wai au, and this concept around whānau momo. So, mō koutou rawa e mōhio ana, whānau momo is actually a description of what are your whānau characteristics, what are your whānau well-known for. So, I’d like as I’m talking just for you to take a minute to consider, what is your whānau momo, what is your whānau known for? Some whānau are well-known for being the divers or the fishermen. Some whānau are known as the songbirds, or the kaiwaiata, that every hui they’re the ones who have a repertoire that’s never-ending.

Some whānau are known for being the real orators. My whānau are well-known for being those stunning White Māoris that come from Matawaia who can kōrero Māori. But one of our characteristics, one of our momo that we’re absolutely well-known for is our ability to be storytellers. So we are able to listen to whakapapa kōrero, listen to pūrākau, atua kōrero, and retell the story in a really animated way that makes it seem like we’re a part of that story; and that’s what makes us unique.

[Slide on Screen: Ko wai au?]

Your whānau momo he taonga tērā e tipu iho nei through whakapapa. It’s the beginning of your story, it’s the beginning of the story of your whānau and your whakapapa because no matter where you go in life, you carry your whānau momo with you. And even when you come into your workspace you bring your whānau momo and it actually becomes one of the greatest attributes that complement your practice, and it makes you unique.

[Slide on screen: He aha ngā taonga I tukuna mai ki a au?]

So I started to reflect on aku taonga i tukuna mai ki a au: what are the gifts that I have been given? And there are many. I’ve been fortunate enough to be raised in that beautiful place known as Matawaia, which is right in the middle of nowhere, which is surrounded by acres of native bush on one half and acres of pine trees on the other half. But I was lucky to be brought up surrounded by a big whānau of my extended whānau in my extended community.

[Slide on screen: He aha ngā taonga I tukuna mai ki a au?]

The top photo you see there in this slide that’s my grandmother, Te Paremata o Ngā Momo Kino on Ngā Kopa. She was one of the leaders in our Matawaia community. She was also well renowned as the baby stealer. She used to go around collecting babies in the community and take them home and look after them, feed them. And often my mum would tell stories that, at some point, they would have 50 tamariki. She didn’t know all of them, living in their little whare at one time. But one of the things that my grandmother would always talk about was, ‘Me manaaki, me tiaki ngā pēpi kia tupu ora ai.’ She would always talk about looking after, caring for babies. Even as kids we were always getting growlings from her to make sure we looked after the younger kids, to make sure, even if it was hot, they had to have a jersey. Even if we were taking them outside, they have to have a hat. All of these things she was teaching us without us even realising what she was gifting to us was around te manaaki, te tiaki i ngā uri whakatupu.

She would often have lots of whānau who would come to visit, and especially if they were wāhine hapū she would absolutely nurture and care for them. Whatever they needed they would receive. Whatever kai they wanted she would make sure they would get, because i runga i tana whakapono, because she believed that, me manaaki, me tiaki i te tupu i te kākano e tupu nei.

This was an attribute that was handed onto my own māmā, my own mum and my aunties and our wider whānau, and that’s a picture of my mum at the bottom there, who also started to reiterate the same message, who would talk about the investment in tamariki. It was absolutely about taking care and nurturing whānau, especially wāhine hapū who also talked about stories of making sure, of ensuring that whatever our wāhine hapū needed they would receive so that they could be elevated to the special status that they once held i roto i te whānau. Ko rātou hoki te kaituku i te ira tangata. They are actually the gifters of life itself, the carers, the carriers of whakapapa, and all of those around are invested in ensuring the whakapapa continues hei taonga tuku iho. So all of those whānau would take care to ensure that the next to arrive would arrive with all that they needed to flourish.

I just want to point out this pou that stands on the side of this slide, is actually a depiction of our tūpuna, Hineamaru; Hineamaru te tūpuna o Ngāti Hine. Hineamaru, whenever you see a carving of Hineamaru you will always see a picture of her tamaiti coming out of her armpit, coming from her kēkē. And the reason that was depicted like this, in our pūrākau o Ngāti Hine Hineamaru herself was the first caesarean birth. The investment that the people had in her leadership style saw the decision being made that she was really unwell after the birth of her pēpi so they decided to place that pēpi within a pā harakeke, thinking that that pēpi will not survive and they took Hineamaru to nurse her back to oranga.

Hineamaru’s well-known in our whakapapa kōrero for being invested in ngā uri whakatupu. Her journey, they took her from Waimamaku to Waiomio and everywhere in-between the Ngāti Hine rohe. Talked about different achievements she made and to ensure the people flourished. One of those was growing māra kūmara. She would grow acres and acres of kūmara. So we have a whakataukī, ‘He kūmara, he tangata.’ Because of her investment in her people Ngāti Hine flourishes and stands as an iwi today.

So these attributes of my tūpuna, of my mum, have actually been a taonga tuku iho from our tūpuna, Hineamaru, herself. And the assurance of that legacy was maintained so that when I stand today and talk about the role I play it’s actually attributed to the legacy that’s been gifted hei taonga tuku iho mōku.

So when I think about the gifts that I’ve received, aku taonga tuku iho, and I think about the work that I’m engaged in i ēnei rā, whether it’s in education or health, one of the things that I always bring along with me is the lessons that I’ve learnt. So as I said, my grandmother was teaching us as tamariki around nurturing and caring for our tamariki as a way of ensuring our future, and one of the things that became really a non-negotiable was that, actually, no matter who it was, no matter when where or how it happened, mehemea ka hapū te wahine, when they became pregnant they were then brought in and put in this special status kia tupu ora ai ngā hua. 

And one of the ways of practicing that, we’ve started to really become deliberate and intentional around is the application of mātauranga Māori that actually sees us talking to kaupapa Māori, and why do we work in this way.

[Slide on screen: Kaupapa Māori]

Part of that is around looking at how we bring the values of mātauranga Māori and make them intentional. So kaupapa Māori absolutely encourages transformational thinking. So when we become more intentional and when we become more deliberate what we start to see is actually that becomes the way we practice. All of a sudden, we start thinking that way.

They’re based on key fundamentals that are strength-based always. So whakawhanaunga, te reo Māori, manaaki, just a couple of examples. When I think about my grandmother and how I talked about her collecting up all the tamariki in her community, she was absolutely engaging in whakawhanaunga, i runga i tana mōhio ki ana whanaunga katoa. So whakawhanaunga is really a multi-dynamic approach to engaging in relationships whether it’s with people, places, spaces, or the intangible things.

Te reo Māori is absolutely intentional. As I said, one of whānau momo, ko te reo. E kaha mātou ki te whakamahi i te reo Māori i te mea he reo wairua te reo Māori nei. Te reo Māori is an effective tool for communicating beyond some of these conscious thinking. So even if people don’t understand te reo it has the ability to convey a message. It is the conveyor of the worldview of its authors, and it absolutely interconnects us all into our environment. So te reo Māori is absolutely intentional. He taonga tuku iho tērā mai i taku tūpuna ki taku māmā ki ahau. Manaaki. Manaaki is absolutely about maintaining and ensuring that mana is protected.

The mana-a-ki; taking care of what’s being said. Honouring the story that’s shared in this space, honouring people’s views of different kaupapa. And manaaki is also something we were taught without being taught. It’s this story around making a cup of tea. You think, your manuhiri turns up, your mum sends you to go and make a cup of tea, you get hōhā, you pull out a cup – it might be the chipped one – you put it on the bench, then you get the look. Then your mum gives you the look. And I’m sure you all know that look. So the next time your manuhiri turns up you make sure you get the nice cup, not chipped.

You might even put a biscuit on the table, and then your manuhiri’s like, ‘Geez, Moe, your kids are so awesome.’ Then you hear that, and you think, ‘Huh.’ Next time your manuhiri turns up you don’t even know your manuhiri’s there you just see the dust – well if you’re in Matawaia – you just see the dust rise above the trees, you start to cook your kai, you set your table. You might even put a nice little tablecloth on the table. You set your table, your manuhiri turns up and they’re like, ‘Oh, Moe, these tamariki of yours, amazing.’ 

[Slide on screen: Kaupapa Māori]

What that does is it teaches you that it’s not even about that cup of tea, it’s actually about how that person felt when they came into your space. And actually, how it feels for you when you know that that person has enjoyed that engagement. Koia ko te manaaki. Manaaki happens and the understanding of it when we walk away from the engagement both feeling in a great space. Koia ko te manaaki.

It's absolutely about intrinsic connections to intangible things; so these are things that are aren’t seen but absolutely are felt and we know that because it resonates with us, such as te reo Māori. You might hear a waiata that absolutely stimulates something within you without even realising what the words mean, because it creates vibrations which awakens the bodies of knowledge that reside within; unlocking cellular memory. And it’s undeniable because of the response we receive and see this over and over and over.

[Text on screen: Koha Aperahama]

So, one of the kaupapa that I’m involved in that I have been a part of, facilitating, coordinating across Te Taitokerau, ko ngā wānanga o Hine Kōpū. 

[Slide on screen: Ngā wānanga o Hine Kōpū]

So, what I’ve learnt from my grandmother, from my mother, from my tūpuna a Hineamaru, understanding the value of kaupapa Māori and being intentional, saw this kaupapa when it came to fruition being absolutely grounded in those very lessons that I’ve learnt along the way. Ko ērā aku taonga tuku iho e kawea nei ki taku kaupapa i tēnei wā.

So what are the gifts that I bring forward from what I’ve been taught? What are my responsibilities to all of the things that I’ve learnt, and how do I gift that forward to those that I then engage with? Ngā wānanga o Hine Kōpū is our kaupapa Māori, ante-natal wānanga that we run across Te Tai Tokerau, mō ngā wahine hapū me ō rātou whānau. This is a kaupapa, ko tana tūāpapa, what you see on the side there is the curriculum, me kī, ko te wānanga tērā. Based on the original instructions it absolutely affirms all the lessons I’ve been taught.

What you’re looking at there in the animated pictures is my and my whānau’s interpretation of a creation narrative as it relates to hapūtanga. Ka timata i roto i te kore kei reira te potentiality me kī. So whakatōhia te kākano rangiātea ki roto i te whare tapu o te wahine, ki roto i tana āhuru mōwai, kia tupu ngātahi ko te wairua me te tinana o te tangata. So when life is desired Io, the source, will then clear away the spiritual pathway so that that kākano, that seed, can be planted into te whare tapu, the womb of our mums, where the tinana and the wairua get to grow together and become infused with all of the great things and the potentiality of what they bring forward.

Ka haere ki te pō ka wānangahia te pō, all of those different realms of te pō then are engaged. The ebb and flow of mauri, the ebb and flow of emotions and that everlasting wānanga around what do I know, what don’t I know, what do I need to know, what do I need to stop doing. All happens in te pō. How do I feel about it, how do I feel about my thoughts, how do my thoughts affect my feelings and what does it all mean. Kei reira te pō, kei reira te pō e huri nei. 

Te Kōpipiri talks to awakening the senses. How do we awaken the senses to be present in the moment? So what are the things that are stimulating my senses? All of the senses, all ten of them. What do I need to do to bring me back to balance? What rongoā do I need to access to bring my rongo back to balance?

Te Wheiao talks about the moment of transition where potential gets to be realised. Te Wheiao is the transition space, mai i te ao wairua ki te ao kikokiko nei. From not being a mum to being a mum; from not being a dad to being a dad. Maybe the second time, third time, tenth time. From being a whānau that have two tamariki to being a whānau that have three tamariki. What does it mean? What is this potential that we’re starting to realise. Te ao mārama kua tau. We now understand that this is a new journey, a new learning, what do we need to learn? What have we learnt from our past? What do we bring forward, and what do we aspire for in the future? Kia tihewa, kia mauri ora, so that we can infuse ourselves with the essence of life, the exuberance of mauri ora, the essence of life.

[Slide on screen: He aha tāku ki aku mokopuna kāhore anō kia whānau mai? What legacy do I leave my mokopuna?]

So when I asked the question: he aha tāku ki aku mokopuna kāhore anō kia whānau mai? I have to think about generations ahead of myself, just like my tūpuna Hineamaru did for our people of Ngāti Hine. How do I consider all of my mokopuna that are coming that aren’t even thought of yet? What kind of legacy do I lead for them? What kind of teachings do I leave for them? What is my responsibility to all that I’ve been taught? And what is my accountability to those that are coming? 

[Slide on screen: Tupuna, Mokopuna]

Because when we think about it we are the accumulation of all that’s gone before us. We are our tūpuna’s wildest dreams come to light. We are the embodiment of all of their dreams and the aspirations. We carry it all with us to whakapapa and then we become the superconductors of that whakapapa. So, we have a responsibility to our tūpuna and an accountability to our mokopuna around our taonga tuku iho, and how do we hold to the essence of what we’re being taught so that we can actually pass it to all of those that are coming after us? And what does that look like?

[Slide on screen: Me whakapapa te ora]

Me whakapapa te ora. This is the moment. This is the moment where we get to retell our narratives. Our whakapapa at the moment is infected with disease, stories of poverty, of deprivation, of poor health outcomes. It is time to retell the story. We need to actually start retelling the story so that we can celebrate the uniqueness that we bring so that we can honour the kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea, so that we can realise the potential of what our tamariki bring forward and all of the legacies that we are leaving for our mokopuna to come, ‘Me manaakitia te māhuri, he tūpuna kei roto.’

That whakataukī talks to taking care and nurturing the sapling that’s growing because for one day they stand as a tūpuna. And so just like the small kauri tree that grows in the forest, it starts off, te māhuri o te kauri starts probably about that big. But when it’s provided with the right whenua, it’s surrounded by the right ngahere, it’s nurtured and cared for, the potential is that it stands like Tāne Mahuta in the Waipoua forests. Those big kauri trees that you can’t help but stand in awe of them.

So, I leave you with this message: me whakapapa te ora. It’s time to retell our stories, it’s time to think back to your whānau momo. What is your whānau known for? And how do you bring that forward? Because that is your greatest taonga tuku iho. Tō whakapapa is your greatest taonga tuku iho. And the original instructions as I described within our creation narrative affirms that; what that pūrākau is telling us is that he aha te mea e tū atu i te whakapapa? The very story itself describes the creation of the Māori world as we know it with all of the facets that are in it. The same story can be used to describe the process of conception, growth right through to birth and beyond, and our tūpuna in their infinite wisdom had both these stories running parallel so that we would hear the message that, what is the most important thing? Ko tēnei mea ko te whakapapa. And we honour and take care of whakapapa and the uniqueness that we bring.

I runga i tērā, heoi anō, ka waiho ki reirā. E mihi ana ki a koutou, e mihi ana ki a koutou e noho mai rā i te kāinga. Kia ora, tēnā koutou.

[Text on screen: Noel Woods, Koha Aperahama]

Noel Woods:

Āe, nau mai, hoki mai anō. Aroha in Action. Of course, mihi ana ki a koutou ngā kaimahi of Family Start, thanks for joining us today, and tēnā koe Koha for your valuable insights and in fact that waiata tautoko was from Sianne Dougherty with her original waiata, Azaelea. A waiata dedicated to all of our mokopuna, tamariki. Pretty much to love them, eh, mō ake tonu, and no doubt a trait from her whānau to carry on that beautiful reo, te reo o ngā korokoro tūī.

Heoi anō, loved that angle in terms of the momo. When I think of my whānau, I think of my sporting whānau, you know, so we’re carrying on that through the many sports. Good to see a taonga Māori, tākaro Māori being revived as well. 

I think of Te Whiti and Tohu, you know, with the peace movement mō ngā uri o Te Ātiawa. And, in fact, I also think of the late Uncle Kara Puketapu with his mahi he’s done for Māoridom, in fact, for all of Aotearoa. I loved the whakaaro around carrying on those so that those momo from our tūpuna so that your mokopuna can continue those on forever.

[Slide on screen: Pātai?]

An important pātai right now is: thinking of te ao Māori, those beautiful kupu that you shared with us today, and when we dive into that space, you know, āhua tapu, so my pātai is, how do we keep our whānau safe?

Koha Aperahama:

So I suppose, hei tīmatatanga ake, the infinite wisdom, I keep talking about the wisdom of our tūpuna. We have practices that we can engage with immediately to keep us safe in this space because what we actually know is, he wānanga te wānanga. It’s a continuum of learning, and it actually starts wherever you are at. So mātauranga Māori, and I talked a little bit about being an intrinsic body of knowledge just sits there and resides and waits, and waits for you to be ready to engage with it, at whatever level you’re ready to engage with.

If you think about it a lot of karakia we do for hui it’s actually the first step around that might be thinking about, so what are the words I’m using? What does a karakia mean? Why would I use that karakia for this hui? And why do I do karakia in this hui to open and close? What is it I’m trying to open and what it is I’m closing off? So thinking about being intentional helps to keep you safe because then you’re clear around why you’re using it, what is your intention; it always begins with intention. Koia te mahi o te rongoā nei, nē.

Noel Woods:

Just thinking about kaimahi from Family Start, and the obligations to Te Tiriti, when you think of mātauranga and some people think it’s just more ngā kaimahi Māori. But it’s important to build the capability of kaimahi Tauiwi, our Tiriti partners, and giving them the confidence to weave into te ao Māori.

Koha Aperahama:

Hm, absolutely. And I think that’s the opportunity at the moment is to start to do some whaiaro whakaaro, is that self-reflection. So, why I talked about momo in the first beginning, and your taonga tuku iho and he aha wō taonga tuku atu was really to talk about the reflection on self. Because actually when we’re in the practice space, whether we’re engaging with whānau in homes, whether we’re engaging with colleagues at work, it actually talks about starting to consider where am I at with myself. Because once you know and are clear about what it is you need, what starts to happen is you go into te pō and you start to analyse where are my gaps. And that can be a process that kaimahi Tauiwi are also able to engage with because reflection helps us to self-reflect, but actually the next step of that is to be reflexive. So, it actually becomes about, what is my contribution, what is my contribution to this whānau’s whakapapa o te ora? What is my contribution to supporting our team ki te whakapapa i te ora for the team? So there’s multiple layers of where you can engage with, and that’s the beauty, dynamic nature of mātauranga Māori.

Noel Woods:

Kia ora. We’ve got some pātai for Koha online here. 

[Slide on screen: Pātai for Koha Aperahama]

Do you believe kaupapa Māori, whakaaro Māori is supported enough by the systems around us to be effective in practice?

Koha Aperahama:

That’s an interesting question. We’re currently in a space of, hm, what’s the word? Te Tiriti is at the forefront of a lot of conversations we’re having, especially in policy spaces. There’s a lot of emphasis on mātauranga Māori and its application in practice. There’s a lot of, I’m trying to think of a better word… not permissive, but it’s very much, it’s a hot topic right now. And I think when I start to reflect back on systems, systems are driven by people. And if we build synergies around people, we have the ability to shift systems. 

So currently the answer to that question is, not yet, but e haere ana te wā. The time is coming.

Noel Woods:

Kia ora. And, finally… oh, and we’ve got another pātai here from Michaela, tēnā koe Michaela.

[Slide on screen: Pātai for Koha Aperahama]

Do you believe that the whole kōrero of momo, taonga tuku iho and taonga tuku atu will help build confidence in our whānau and also how do we begin to implement this whakaaro?

Koha Aperahama:

Absolutely. Absolutely, one hundred percent. Because what it is, is again, it comes into a space of manaaki. Me pēhea tō whakamana i ngā kōrero e tukuna nei. So when we’re sharing kōrero and engagements what are our processes around honouring that kōrero? Even if it’s not kōrero that you like to hear or that’s good. How do we honour the kōrero, and then how do we then start to engage in whakawhanaunga to build on that. And, actually, in my experience in the wānanga over the many years that I’ve run, we have a lot of whānau that come in knowing nothing and really our role in that space is to facilitate this space and the access back to their own story, back to their own identity. And actually when you start to ask the question, because this is a question we use in our Hine Kōpū wānanga, it’s amazing what comes from that and the shift in the engagement that happens when someone has an opportunity to talk to what their whānau is known for, and how does that contribute to you today, i tēnei wā? And how does that then make you consider what you want for your tamariki?

Noel Woods:

Kia ora. And you’ve used the word mokopuna and of course our Māori language, tino ātaahua, with sort of deeper meanings. And I suppose when people start to understand our kupu they get a sort of a deeper sense and importance of the kupu. Kia whakamārama ai te hunga e mātakitaki ana tēnei a kupu mokopuna, he aha ōu whakaaro.

Koha Aperahama:

So, I guess what I will say to that is, actually, I’m not going to answer that. This is a great way of starting your journey around developing your level of understanding. Mokopuna is a word we use quite a lot. I do think that there’s an opportunity here to begin your learning journey and Google it. Ehara tērā i te whakahīhī. This is how it begins; this is how we shift and become more intentional. If you want to know what it means, haere te rapu. Similar to how we do in our Pākehā streams, when we need to know something in our clinical spaces or in our practice spaces, we go and do our rangahau, we research, we find out what are these models of practice, what are these different frameworks that we’re supposed to use. My challenge to you all is to also do the same if there’s a kupu that you haven’t really understood, i runga i te pai.

[Text on screen: Noel Woods, Koha Aperahama]

Noel Woods:

Kia ora. Yeah, rangahau, research e te whānau. Koha, thank you very much for your kōrero today.

Koha Aperahama:

Tēnā koe, tēnā koutou.

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