MATARÄKAU. Ngä körero mö ngä rongoä o Taranaki

Transcription

1 MATARÄKAU Ngä körero mö ngä rongoä o Taranaki A report prepared by Mahinekura Reinfeld Karangaora Dr Leonie Pihama Mäori And Indigenous Analysis Ltd. Funded by

2 MIHI KI NGÄ MATE Kei runga i a Taranaki ngä puna wai mätao, kei roto i aku kamo ngä puna wai wera e i Koropupü tonu a wai matara, engari a roimata, turuturu kau ana Ki a koe Mahinekura, köutou hoki ko Te Rü me Tahuaroa, Tërä te reo ka tukuna ki te marae ätea, Ka rangona, ka riro i ngä hau o Tawhirim!tea Tënä ko tënei, ko o koutou reo ka tuku ki te rau o wh!rangi Ka kitea, ka ü; ka wetengia, ka mou, ka purutia kia tina He huanga nö te hunga ora, ka tahi, ka rua, ka toru ka ngaro ki te pö Ko rätou ki rätou, Tënä koutou, ko tätou e ngä mata ora, ngä mata tirotiro i ä rätou kupu i waiho mai ki te ao nei. Maringanui hoki ko tënei, kia körero a waha kua wahangutia kia whakaaro a mahara kua warea atu e te moenga roa kia märama a ngäkau kua pokia e te pö, pö, pö, ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea ake rä MIHI KI NGÄ KANOHI ORA Taranaki e! i te whänau, i te hapü, i te iwi, he körero ä tätou! Ka takina aua körero i te wairua o tukua kia rere, tukua kia mou, Tukua kia ü ki ngä uri ä muri ake nei. Me te oha a ngäkau ki ngä kaikörero i whai wähi mai i konei, i a te Mataräkau nei. Kua whai t"ranga ake nga püräkau, nga ohäk#, ngä akoranga ki te whai ao, ki te ao märama. Otira i tinana ai a wawata i te tautoko mai a HRC räua ko FORST, i kiko ai a mahara i ngä ringaringa, i ngä waewae, o te tari, o te rangahau, otirä o te whänau o Karangaora. Nä te iti, nä te rahi i rewa ai tënei waka o te ora. Kua pümou tonu mätou ki kupu räua ko körero, me whirwhiri ka tika. We will continue to weave words. 2

3 HE WHAKAARO MÖ MAHINEKURA Mataräkau is a research project that was conceived and undertaken by Mahinekura Reinfelds. As a researcher I have been privileged over many years to be associated with the work led by Mahinekura through Karangaora. I have been honoured to hear of her visions and to see her put those into action. One of those visions was to undertake research with kuia and koroheke from Taranaki about their experiences of the use of rongoä Mäori. Mahinekura was clear that in order for this research to be undertaken it had to be under the auspices of Karangaora and that funding would need to be secured to enable the stories of Taranaki to be told. My role, she was clear to note, was to provide academic and research support throughout the project. Being from Taranaki was also a key to my involvement. Mataräkau she noted would be undertaken by Taranaki people and where possible whänau would interview their own kuia and koroheke. This report is the result of the work done by Mahinekura. It is the outcome of three years work for Taranaki by Taranaki researchers. It is a research project that has been undertaken with the belief that our stories need to be shared in order for us to understand fully our history of wellbeing and healing. It is a project that was forged not by academics but by whakapapa and whänau, hapü and iwi relationships. It is a project that was able to be undertaken because of the fundamental trust that our people had in the integrity and dignity that Mahinekura brought to everything that she involved herself with. This report was written and rewritten in the last six months of 2007, and was near completion at the time of the passing of Mahinekura. What has become clear to me in the past months reflecting upon this mahi, and the work that Mahinekura committed herself to, is that the knowledge of rongoä exists within each of us. It emerges to those who have the passion and who create the time to listen to the stories of our people. It has taken some months to return to this work and I am honoured to complete this report and present it in memory of Mahinekura as a reflection of her lifes work. Nö reira e te tuakana, e te rangatira ko tënei te mihi aroha atu ki a koe. Ka heke tonu mai ngä roimata, e tangi tonu ana te ngäkau. Haere, haere, hoki atu rä. 3

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Mihi ki ngä mate...2 Mihi ki ngä kanohi ora...2 He whakaaro mö Mahinekura...3 Table Of Contents...4 Project Background...5 Introduction...6 The Research Team...8 Research Design...10 Kaupapa Mäori Methodology...12 Mataräkau: A Kaupapa Mäori Methodology...15 Research Methods...16 Data Analysis...18 Rongoä Mäori: Establishing a Context...19 The Context Of Documentation...21 Ngä Körero Mö Ngä Rongoä O Taranaki...41 Te Taiao...52 Te Taha Wairua...62 Tohunga...69 Karakia...78 Rongoä...92 Wairäkau...92 Hauora Whaia te iti Kahurangi Bibliography

5 PROJECT BACKGROUND Karangaora is a whänau of healers who connect to each of the iwi in the Taranaki region. We are a Taranaki Mäori Health Provider specialising in traditional healing practices. As a part of further developing our own knowledge we believed that it was necessary to include a research focus to our mahi. This research project was born out of that need and is named 'Mataräkau'. Mataräkau is a symbolic expression of the eyes of the räkau that oversee our use of rongoä. Whakapapa is a key element in the existence of traditional healing and carries with it the stories of relationships. We seek to reclaim those stories surrounding traditional healing. Mataräkau explores the in depth knowledge of kuia and koroheke of the Taranaki region in regard to traditional healing practices. Mataräkau is a project that has grown from the experiences of Mäori health workers and in particular those that work in the area of traditional healing. Where the research is focused in Taranaki it is our view it will be of wider benefit. The research links to a number of key governmental strategies including He Korowai Oranga; Reducing Inequalities in Health; Te Puawaitanga, as well as more general strategies such as Diabetes prevention and Primary Health care developments. The research has six clearly defined key objectives which are to (i) interview kuia and koroheke in from the Taranaki region in regard to knowledge of Mäori traditional healing (ii) develop a database of information (iii) hold hui/wänanga about the use and development of traditional healing practices in the Taranaki region (iv) Provide research based resources that will inform the future work and healing undertaken by healers (v) support the development of the Mäori Health research sector through the training and mentoring of community based Health researchers in the Taranaki region and (vi) identify ways in which Kaupapa Mäori research is expanded through the project. The research has contributed to the development of the Mäori Health research workforce through a clearly defined strategy of training, supervision and mentoring. The research methodology is that of Kaupapa Mäori research, with a focus on Mataräkau itself as a specific form of Kaupapa Mäori methodology. The key method is that of körero through a qualitative process of interviewing shaped by Kaupapa Mäori. The research was undertaken by Karangaora who developed a collaborative approached with Dr Leonie Pihama who is both an experienced senior Mäori researcher and is also from Taranaki. Dr Pihama sought to support the methodological developments and coordinate the research development aspects. Hui and Wänanga were held as mechanisms for research training and knowledge transmission. The establishment of a Röpu kaumätua enabled a means of direct 5

6 accountability for the research group, as too did the Komiti Kaiwhakahaere that oversaw the research administration. It is noted that the initial draft report was read through by Mahinekura however it was during a time that she was unwell and also it was an earlier draft of the report. As such we acknowledge in advance the potential for error in regards to names of more specific detail within the report and any corrections required may be directed to either Karangaora or directly to Dr Pihama. A publication Mataräkau was developed as a collection of narratives that acted as a mechanism for knowledge transmission and to make the research outcomes more widely accessible. Launched in June 2007, the publication has been widely celebrated by the people of Taranaki. This report is the final output for this project however it is not the end. A number of areas raised require further exploration and as a research team we hope to continue this work and to continue to contribute to the bringing together of healing knowledge that will support the overall intention of Karangaora, to support the healing of our people, both in Taranaki and beyond. INTRODUCTION This project is not about knowledge for knowledges sake. It is about knowledge for the betterment of our experiences as Mäori. It is about recognising the depth of knowledge held by our people, ngä puna mätauranga, and seeing those sources, those springs of knowledge as having the potential to bring real change to the wellbeing of our people. More recently a toxic cocktail of negative social indices have highlighted the inherent disparities in regards to Mäori access to Mäori health. 1 Research by the Eru Pomare Research Centre has highlighted for some time the racism that continues to prevail within the mainstream 2 often hides the very real attempts and successes that Mäori have made in the arena of hauora or holistic health practices. This research seeks to support the interventions being undertaken by Mäori providers, and others, to intervene in those disparities. This has been an objective of the work undertaken by Karangaora. Since the inception of Karangaora we have been aware of the many kuia and koroheke in our whänau, hapü and iwi who hold knowledge of traditional healing forms that enhance our possibilities for healing. As an organization our funding has been targeted to the processes of healing, it has not provided for research or 1 For further discussion of the issues of disparities in Health refer Ministry of Health and University of Otago. (2006). Decades of Disparity III: Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in mortality, New Zealand Wellington. Ministry of Health. 2 We use the term mainstream with some hesitancy to describe the government controlled and funded health system as within a Kaupapa Mäori approach we can invert the notion of mainstream to indicate Mäori healing processes. 6

7 developing research. Where we have spoken informally and in a range of hui contexts with our kaumätua about many aspects of healing we have not had the facility available to us to coordinate a clearly defined research process that would gather together both the knowledge and the people. Karangaora is a Taranaki Mäori Health Provider who specialises in the use of rongoä and mirimiri/romiromi. As a whänau committed to health and wellbeing, we saw the desperate need to bring together the mätauranga that is held by our people in Taranaki as a source of knowledge and expertise in the use of rongoä Mäori for healing. There is a wealth of knowledge held by our kuia and koroheke about Taranaki traditional medicines and their uses. Karangaora whänau have spent a great deal of time with our kaumätua and are aware of the depth of knowledge that exists within the Taranaki region that is specific to the healing processes and properties of rongoä within our rohe. Mataräkau is the first structured and informed process of research that the bringing together of a broader and more fully formed picture of the knowledge of rongoä that exists amongst our own whänau, hapü and iwi. This research project is named 'Mataräkau'. Mataräkau is a symbolic expression of the eyes of the räkau that oversee our use of rongoä. The term is one that is significant for those involved in the healing world of rongoä. It acknowledges that the essence of the traditional healing practice of rongoä is held within and by the children of Tane Mähuta, and that the domain of healing must be treated respectfully and with care. Rongoä Mäori is one form of traditional healing. It is part of a wider whakapapa of healing practices. Whakapapa is a key element in the existence of traditional healing. This is acknowledged within this project. Whakapapa carries with it the stories of each connection, of each generation, of all relationships. This project seeks to reclaim those stories, those narratives, in order to attempt to reclaim the traditional healing powers that are located within a particular domain, that is the domain of the Taranaki region, of the land of the iwi that live around and with Taranaki maunga. Mataräkau explores the knowledge of kuia and koroheke of the Taranaki region in regard to traditional healing practices. We have collected stories from our kaumätua in order to gain deeper insight into the use of Mäori healing forms within specific whänau, hapü and iwi contexts. Mataräkau is research that has grown from the experiences of Mäori health workers in Taranaki. As such it is grounded in the experiences and practices of those involved in the provision of health services that are based in traditional healing knowledge of rongoä and mirimiri/romiromi. The research questions are framed by those working in the area and are based upon a need to seek knowledge to inform and enhance the provision of Mäori healing. Karangaora is a whänau of healers who connect to each of the iwi in the Taranaki region. A fundamental knowledge base for healers is that of those in our communities who are the holders of specific mätauranga Mäori. 7

8 This research recognises and acknowledges the depth of knowledge held by our kuia and koroheke in regard to traditional healing practices. As healers from the hapü and iwi of Taranaki we are ourselves both the initiators and the end-users of this research. We are aware as practitioners that much knowledge remains with certain people within our community. It is also our experience that with the growth of the use of rongoä and mirimiri/romiromi there has also come a growth of the numbers of our people who are willing, and who wish to, share their knowledge of traditional healing for the well-being of our people. As such they are also both the holders of the knowledge and the end-users of that knowledge in the form of the practice of traditional healing. The key objective of this research is to provide further insight into the use of rongoä in Taranaki to those who seek healing in the form of traditional Mäori healing. We have no doubt that the expansion of knowledge in this area is of great benefit to all. The expansion of healing possibilities and opportunities for our people can only be beneficial. We are seeking ways to bring wellbeing to our people. That is the key focus of Karangaora and that is also the key focus of this research. We sought, in this research, knowledge that will provide insight into ways of healing that may provide access to health and well-being that are otherwise not that readily available to our people. The research is entirely about whänau, hapü and iwi wellbeing. It will also provide research-informed knowledge that may be utilised by a range of Mäori health providers in the provision of their services. The research will enhances our knowledge of healing, and as such provide knowledge that we hope will transform the ways in which we traditional healing practices are viewed and the ways in which health providers engage issues and practices of rongoä and other traditional practices such as mirimiri/romiromi. THE RESEARCH TEAM The lead organisation for this research is Karangaora. Karangaora came out of a request from our elders to rekindle the knowledge of rongoä at a hui in Our focus was on wänanga until 2001 when we were successful in obtaining a MOH contract. Karangaora is a Mäori womens initiative committed to the provision of traditional Mäori healing and wänanga. We are affiliated to Tuiora Ltd through Te Whare Punanga Körero who are recognised organisations promoting Mäori health for whänau hapü iwi in Taranaki. We work within the realms of Taranaki reo tipuna me 8

9 öna tikanga. We are an inclusive provider supporting all people who choose our services. Karangaora provides quality innovative educational wänanga, self-awareness programmes and very involved in health regionally nationally and internationally. The organisation has an impressive record of successes in its development. For example, Karangaora are the first provider traditional healing in Aotearoa to attain QHNZ accreditation for 3 years, which is a international benchmark for health. The process of accreditation covers all aspects of policies and procedures relating to health, business and financial well-being. We have been successful in winning recognised Business and Training awards within Taranaki region. Titiro maniaroa, our vision is that by the year 2025 we will have touched 100,000 people who will have touched another 100,000 people. The Principal Investigator for this project is Mahinekura Reinfeld. Mahinekura has extensive iwi connections and networks in the Taranaki region. She also has extensive networks with national and international healers. She worked as iwi liaison person for the Taranaki Polytechnic for many years and is highly respected in the community. Mahinekura has also been a practitioner of traditional healing for many years. She grew up around the use of rongoä and mirimiri/romiromi with her own kuia and has seen the role of traditional healing in many contexts. Mahinekura is the founding member of Karangaora and is the current CEO. She has also provided iwi input and support for a number of research organizations both within Taranaki and nationally, and has been a member on the Taranaki Regional Ethics committee and has been a part of the Mäori ethics network, for Mäori people who serve on Regional Ethics committees. Mahinekura has also been active in the Mäori museums networks, and is the iwi representation on the Pukeariki Museum development in Ngamotu (New Plymouth). As such she has strong links with the Mäori museum and library networks, which will be of importance to the literature review element of this research. A critical collaboration on this project has been forged with Dr Leonie Pihama. Leonie is from Taranaki and has committed to providing research support, training and mentoring to the research team as well as contributing herself to key objectives. At the time the project commenced she was the Director of the International Research Institute for Mäori and Indigenous Education and is involved in an HRC/FRST project being led by Professor Linda Smith. Her involvement in this project has been at the request of Karangaora and other whänau member in Taranaki and therefore is undertaking this project in line with her whänau, hapü and iwi responsibilities. Leonie has brought to the project both knowledge and experience of Kaupapa Mäori research. She is currently a Post Doctoral Fellow with HRC on the Hohua Tutengaehe Fellowship. 9

10 RESEARCH DESIGN The primary goal of this research is to bring together mätauranga Mäori from the Taranaki region in regard to Mäori traditional healing practices and their role in healing and wellbeing and discussion of general health uses through the gathering of narratives and oral histories. In the initial research proposal to HRC/FRST the key objectives were as follows; (i) (ii) interview kuia and koroheke in from the Taranaki region and develop a database/publication of their narratives in regard to knowledge of Mäori traditional healing; develop a database of information regarding the views of kuia and koroheke on the role of Mäori practices in the healing of specific illnesses in the Taranaki region; (iii) hold hui/wänanga where the use and development of traditional healing practices in the Taranaki region can be discussed and knowledge shared; (iv) provide research based resources that will inform the future work and healing undertaken by healers in Taranaki and which is available to other whänau, hapü and iwi healers across the motu; (v) support the development of the Mäori Health research sector through the training and mentoring of community based Health researchers in the Taranaki region and; (vi) identify ways in which Kaupapa Mäori research is expanded through the application of specific hapü and iwi based frameworks. Each of these objectives have been met to varying degrees within the research project. It is noted that the budget reduction for the project has meant that the focus of the research has been the gathering of the interviews and the workforce development/ hui components of the research. Objective (ii) noted the desire to develop a database of specific healing, this objective has been met in the form of the discussion in this report however a separate database has not been completed due to funding constraints. 10

11 Further to that the research team have identified potential research developments that have been raised throughout the course of the project and recommendations to be made in regards to the wider need for the development of research capacitiy and support mechanisms within whänau, hapü and iwi. The following table provides a brief overview of the outputs that have supported the meeting of each of the nominated objectives: Objective Interview kuia and koroheke in from the Taranaki region and develop a database/publication of their narratives in regard to knowledge of Mäori traditional healing Develop a database of information regarding the views of kuia and koroheke on the role of Mäori practices in the healing of specific illnesses in the Taranaki region Hold hui/wänanga where the use and development of traditional healing practices in the Taranaki region can be discussed and knowledge shared. Provide research based resources that will inform the future work and healing undertaken by healers in Taranaki and which is available to other whänau, hapü and iwi healers across the motu. Support the development of the Mäori Health research sector through the training and mentoring of community based Health researchers in Taranaki. Identify ways in which Kaupapa Mäori research is expanded through the application of specific hapü and iwi based frameworks. Outputs Interviews completed and shared with whänau. Selection of narratives published in first publication Mataräkau Presentations undertaken at hui by research team. Research Report created. Rongoä information provided within final research report and Mataräkau publication. Hui and Wänanga held throughout the research project as a means of training; knowledge exchange and sharing. Wänanga held with kuia and koroheke Mataräkau Publication Video narratives completed for whänau Final Report to HRC/FRST Körero to hui/wänanga/conferences Training Hui held Wänanga with kuia and koroheke Senior Researcher involved in project Ensure that clear processes were followed in line with Taranaki determined methodology. 11

12 KAUPAPA MÄORI METHODOLOGY Mataräkau has been undertaken in line with Kaupapa Mäori research methodologies as determined and defined by the research team and whänau based within Taranaki. The methodology of Kaupapa Mäori research has been shaped and informed by ngä tikanga me te reo o Taranaki. The context within which this research was undertaken is particularly significant in that Taranaki has a particular and specific historical experience that has shaped the way in which we view notions of wellbeing and health. Within the region there are eight iwi groupings, and significantly more hapü groupings. Within each hapü and iwi are healers that are working with our people in creative ways to seek wellbeing and good health. There are many health organisations that operate in both Iwi and community capacities, some are considered Mäori providers, others are considered Iwi providers. Whatever their designation, each has committed themselves to the wellbeing of the people of Taranaki. Many of those organisations affirm the need to reclaim and come to understand more fully the use of traditional forms of healing within the Taranaki area. This is a Kaupapa Mäori process. It is a process of affirming the need to seek traditional knowledge as a means of understanding our present and in the area of healing and wellbeing, to draw upon that knowledge as a basis for seeking creative solutions to what is fundamentally a health crisis within Mäori society more generally. Kaupapa Mäori is, in our definition, the development of philosophies and frameworks that inform our work and that are distinctively Mäori. Kaupapa Mäori is not merely an academic exercise but is a process of drawing upon those foundations of Mäori knowledge that enhance the possibilities for our people. As such we agree with the works of Mäori academics 3 and others who argue that Kaupapa Mäori is a basis from which we affirm te reo and tikanga Mäori as possessing vast knowledge from which we can draw upon to make change. 3 Nepe,Tuakana (1991) E Hao ne e tenei Reanga: Te Toi Huarewa Tipuna, Kaupapa Maori, An Educational Intervention, Unpublished Master of Arts thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland; Smith, C.W. (1994) Kimihia Te Maramatanga: Colonisation and Iwi Development, Unpublished Master of Arts thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland; Smith, Graham Hingangaroa (1997) The Development of Kaupapa Maori Theory and Praxis. Unpublished PhD thesis, School of Education, University of Auckland, Auckland; Mead, LTR, (1996) Nga Aho o Te Kakahu Matauranga: The Multiple Layers of Struggle by Maori in Education Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, Education Department University of Auckland; Hohepa, M.K (1990) Te Kohanga Reo Hei Tikanga Ako I Te Reo Maori, Unpublished Master of Arts thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland; Jenkins, Kuni Elaine Hineatauira Kaa (2000) Haere Tahi Täua: An Account of Aitanga in Mäori Struggle for Schooling, Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, The University of Auckland, Auckland ;Walker, S. (1996), Kia tau te rangimarie. Kaupapa Maori theory as a resistance against the construction of Maori as the other. Unpublished Masters Thesis, The University of Auckland. 12

13 As such a Kaupapa Mäori approach provides the overall methodology to this research. Kaupapa Mäori research locates Mäori understandings as central to the research design, process, analysis and intended outcomes 4, and within the context of this research is informed by whänau, hapü and iwi understandings and practices within Taranaki. Researchers involved with this research have been active in advancing Kaupapa Mäori as a positive and proactive form of enhancing Mäori development. The establishment of Karangaora and the commitment to the utilisation of traditional healing as a means of seeking greater wellbeing is a direct example of Kaupapa Mäori. The research collaboration has been undertaken between Karangaora and Dr Leonie Pihama, which has meant that the research is informed by highly regarded healers and by a researcher that has been actively engaged in the development of Kaupapa Mäori theory and Kaupapa Mäori research over a long period of time. 5 Kaupapa Mäori theory is a framework for enabling us to theorise and practice Mäori research that validates Mäori knowledge, Te Reo Mäori me öna tikanga, and the multiple Mäori ways of doing things and for designing interventions that can make a positive improvement for Mäori people. Kaupapa Mäori research provides for distinctive cultural methodological developments. This is argued by Dr Linda Tuhiwai Smith 6 who states "The concept of kaupapa implies a way of framing and structuring how we think about those ideas and practices". Dr Graham Smith argues that Kura Kaupapa Mäori is a successful intervention for Mäori. One of the key elements is that the development originated from and is driven by Mäori 7. He has argued that key elements within Kaupapa Mäori theory are (i)the validity and legitimacy of Mäori is taken for granted (ii)the survival and revival of Mäori language and culture is imperative (iii)the struggle for autonomy over our own cultural well-being, and over our own lives is vital to Mäori survival. These features speak not to content per se, but to Mäori aspirations, philosophies, processes and pedagogies, which are consistently found within successful Mäori interventions. In the development of Kaupapa Mäori Research there has been a focus on providing a clear methodological foundation. Kaupapa Mäori Theory has provided key elements in the development of Kaupapa Mäori Research, however it is noted that such developments are ongoing and should not be considered exclusive or deterministic. For example, undertaking Kaupapa Mäori Research alongside/with Mäori 4 Pihama, L. (2001) Tihei Mauri Ora: Honouring Our Voices. Mana Wahine as a Kaupapa Mäori Theoretical Framework. Unpublished PhD, The University of Auckland 5 Pihama, L., (1993)Tungia te Ururua, Kia Tupu Whakaritorito Te Tupu o te Harakeke: A Critical Analysis of Parents as First Teachers, RUME Masters Theses Series Number 3, University of Auckland, Auckland 6 Smith, L.T. (1996). Kaupapa Mäori Health Research. In Hui Whakapiripiri: A Hui to Discuss Strategic Directions for Mäori Health Research. Wellington School of Medicine: Te Röpü Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pömare. p Smith, G.H. (1990). Taha Mäori: Päkehä Capture. In J. Codd, R. Harker & R. Nash (Eds.), Political Issues in New Zealand Education. Palmerston North: Dunmore Press. p

14 organisations that are clearly whänau, hapü or Iwi based demands a clear understanding of the need to recognise and acknowledge the specific ways in which those groups operate. That is the case with this research project. Within this research project the whänau will develop a Kaupapa Mäori research methodology that is specific to the experience of Taranaki whänau, hapü and iwi. The collaboration of Karangaora with Dr Pihama will bring a particular strength to the project and provide for a strong methodological development that is founded in Kaupapa Mäori generally and Taranakitanga specifically. Kaupapa Mäori Research is a growing and expanding field. A critical part of the develoment of Kaupapa Mäori Research is the acknowledgement and recognition of the diversity of iwi contexts and experiences. It has been argued that Iwi need to be developing their own specific forms of Kaupapa Mäori Research methodologies. Te Ahukaramü Charles Royal highlights a need for Mäori to take control of definitions and to develop research methodologies that are located within Mäori worldviews. In doing so he refers specifically to definitions that are being developed at Te Wänangao-Raukawa. 8 This work is one example of the multiple ways in which Kaupapa Mäori can be expressed when drawing on the diverse positioning of Mäori people including whänau, hapü, iwi or urban Mäori knowledge and experiences. Jenny Bol Jun Lee (2003) also reminds us that as Indigenous researchers we have specific obligations within a Kaupapa Mäori framework. Kaupapa Mäori is located as part of a wider struggle by indigenous academics and researchers who have begun to seek ways in which to make transformative change in the wider framework of self determination, decolonisation and social justice (Bishop, 1996; Smith, G., 1997; Smith, L., 1999). Decolonising methodologies as coined by Linda Smith (1999) involves researching back, investigating, analysing, understanding, and feeling the ways in which western scientific research was codified within ideologies such as imperialism and colonialism. As indigenous researchers in our own communities we too have to be vigilant against reproducing a discourse that continues to oppress, or perpetuate what Jo-ann Archibald (1997) calls a new act of colonziation. The challenge is not only to undertake rigorous academic research but to meet the criteria set by our own communities. 9 An example to of iwi specific developments can be seen in the model of healing processes employed by Karangaora in the provision of their services. This model is based upon the conceptual framework of Poutama, in recognising the pathways to healing and Powhiri processes, in recognising the complexities of relationships and how to relate on the many levels of wairua, tinana, whänau, hinengaro and in acknowledgement of mana tangata. This was developed in consultation with 8 Royal, Te Ahukaramü Charles, (1998) Te Ao Märama A Research Paradigm in Te Pümanawa Hauora, 1999, Proceedings of Te Oru Rangahau: Mäori Research and Development Conference, School of Mäori Studies, Massey University, Palmerston North, pp Lee, J. (2005) Ngä Tohutohu: A Püräkau Approach to Mäori Teacher Narratives, A presentation to TEFANZ Conference, September 2005:4 14

15 kaumätua in the Taranaki region. This model has informed the specific Kaupapa Mäori processes that were undertaken in the research. As noted previously, Kaupapa Mäori research provides processes of research with, by and/or for Mäori framed by and within Mäori understandings and approaches 10. A Kaupapa Mäori approach does not exclude the use of a wide range of methods but rather signals the interrogation of methods in relation to tikanga Mäori. 11 MATARÄKAU: A KAUPAPA MÄORI METHODOLOGY The term Mataräkau is one utilised by Karangaora in relation to the use of wairäkau within the healing process. In the context of this research project Mataräkau expands beyond wairäkau to encompass the wider notion of traditional Mäori healing in all of its many forms and processes. We are comfortable in positioning all forms of healing under the concept of Mataräkau in that the research has clearly indicated that healing is interconnected and therefore is more complex that talking about isolated forms of healing. The idea that we can isolate physical illness out from spiritual or emotional wellbeing is one that is a clear contradiction to concepts such as hauora and mauri ora. Mäori constructions of wellbeing have always been articulated as being interrelated on all levels; physical, spiritual, emotional, mental and more recently economic. There is no desire to affirm any notion that one form of healing can happen in isolation as that is clearly not what is articulated by participants in this research. Rather we hear many stories and reflections on how healing was interconnected. The term Mataräkau may be translated in literal terms as the face or eyes of the trees. The term mata itself is used both literally and figuratively. Literal meanings for the term mata are, as with many kupu Mäori, multiple and include the following; edge, blade, face and eyes. During an early hui held at Oakura Marae that include Taranaki elders we asked what mataräkau meant to them. Those present, Awanuiarangi Black, Huirangi Waikerepuru, Te Ru Kokiri Wharehoka, Makere Wano, Keri Opae and Alice Doorbar discussed the term in some depth. Huirangi and others communicated that the symbolism could be likened to the notion of te mata o te whenua and the notion of journey across the whenua, and could be seen as the eyes of the räkau that see all, cross over all and have no boundaries. The term was also discussed in relation to matakite as having vision and foresight. Mataräkau was also discussed in relation to karakia. It was noted that mataräkau is a form of 10 Smith L.T. (1996) op.cit 11 Smith, L.T. & Cram, F. (1997). An evaluation of the Community Panel Diversion Pilot Project. Commissioned by the Crime Prevention Unit, Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Wellington. 15

16 karakia in relation to taiaha. Awanuiarangi Black also spoke of the mata of the taiaha and the concept of räkaumatarua, the two faces of the taiaha that symbolise Te Kore and Te Ao, thus indicating the power of life and death. A further connection to the term Mataräkau is to the whenua of Rekohu (Chatham Islands). Principal Investigator, Mahinekura Reinfeld has lived on Rekohu and is of Moriori and Ngäti Mutunga descent, and therefore the area and the name has significance to her and her whänau. It was agreed that Mataräkau would be the overarching title for all of the research undertaken. Directly linked to Mataräkau are many other concepts that relate. The relationship of räkau is clearly identified in the term ngähere which itself indicates an interlinking, a binding between the various räkau within a given area. This may well be seen as a process of whanaungatanga. Whanaungatanga within a project that is defined within iwi or rohe is clearly an essential element. This project was defined as a Kaupapa Taranaki, as it is defined, undertaken and controlled by the iwi of Taranaki. As such it was very clear that whanaungatanga would define all processes and methods undertaken. The research team was developed and selected by Taranaki people. All researchers were from Taranaki and there was always a whänau, hapü or iwi connection between interviewers and interviewees. Whanaungatanga took precedence within the project and as such those that participated knew that their körero was being held, interpreted and protected by their own whanaunga. Returning to our earlier körero about ngähere it became very clear that the whanaungatanga that bound us all together was the determining factor in the gathering of the knowledge and experiences of our whänau. It also provides a clear accountability to those being interviewed. When working within your own iwi areas and with your own whänau that accountability is direct and, if necessary, swift. It is much more difficult to hide from your own whänau, hapü and iwi, and therefore the mechanisms of accountability and reciprocity are required to be stringent and clear. Karangaora are very clear about their accountability to whänau, hapü and iwi. As such kaumätua have always provided support and advice to the organisation. This project was no different. Mahinekura Reinfeld, as Principal Investigator, established an advisory group who she met and discussed the project with. This was not necessarily through formal meetings, although that did occur, but was often through körero at hui and other contexts as required. Research Methods The key activities in the research included; the conducting of four workforce development hui; three regional hui and one national hui for knowledge transmission; 16

17 undertake 60 interviews with kuia/koroheke of Taranaki; undertake a literature review and provide clear pathways for the sharing and implementation of research findings. Each of these critical activities are outlined below. Literature Review: A literature review was conducted to draw out references to rongoä and traditional healing practices. The review was reduced in line with the budget reductions for the project and became a process of focusing on documentation of the use of rongoä in Aotearoa as opposed to looking at international materials. As such there remains a need for a more comparative review to be undertaken. It beame clear that whilst publications existed in Aotearoa that relate specifically to rongoä Mäori 12 there are few published books that have been developed by Mäori for Mäori. 13 It is noted that over the past three years there has been a growth in Mäori writings in regard to rongoä Mäori and that this is an exciting prospect and it further affirms the appropriateness of the support given by HRC/FRST to this project which itself has been a part of developing a growing awareness of the validity of rongoä Mäori and other forms of traditional healing practices such as mirimiri/romiromi and romiromi. Workshops/Hui: Hui were held as a process of (i) research development and (ii) for the transmission of knowledge. 14 (i) Research Development: Four hui were held as workshops to provide research workforce development. These were run as one-day facilitated training days where established/ experienced Mäori researchers were invited to facilitate a training day with the research team. Mäori health providers in Taranaki were invited to send participants to these research development hui as a means of supporting the wider agenda of health research workforce development and a range of individuals attended who were later to take on roles as project interviewers. (ii) Knowledge Transmission: There were four hui held to provide for knowledge transmission. These hui provided for the sharing of the research to whänau, hapü and iwi from Taranaki. Presentations have also been undertaken on a national level including the holding of a healing wänanga as a part of the Parihaka Festival where the research findings were shared more widely. It is the intention of the research team to attend the next HRC Hui Whakapiripiri to provide further feedback about the project and its findings. 12 Such as McGowan Robert (2000) The contemporary use of rongoä Mäori, traditional Mäori medicine, Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton; Riley, M Mäori Healing and Herbal, Viking Sevenseas, New Zealand; Williams. P.M.E., 1996 Te rongoä Mäori : Mäori medicine, Reed, Auckland 13 We note that a thesis by a Mäori Doctor was completed on t his topic Jones, Rhys (2000) Rongoä Mäori and primary health care, Unpublished Masters thesis in Community Health, The University of Auckland. 14 Refer Pohatu, Taina (1996) I Tiipu Ai Taatou I Ngaa Turi O O Tatatau Maatua Tiipuna: Transmission and Acquisition Processes Within Kaawai Whakapapa. Unpublished Master of Education thesis, University of Auckland, Auckland for discussion of Hui as a process of knowledge sharing and creation 17

18 Interviews: 60 individual interviews were undertaken as a primary source of data collection. These interviews were facilitated by trained interviewers and the senior researchers involved on the project. All interview participants were Mäori. All participants had a whakapapa connection to Taranaki. On the whole participants were identified by the researchers through whänau, hapü and iwi networking and connections. This is a clear example of whänaungatanga in action as a research method, which is often something that western research methods is classifed as snowballing or networking. This process of whakawhänaungatanga within the region highlights that people are aware of 'who is doing what' in their own communities. This has been noted by Cherryl Smith as a critical component to iwi based research from a Kaupapa Mäori research paradigm. 15 The process of interviewing and analysis was always linked to the wider methodology of Mataräkau and was viewed in line with the process of Püräkau. Püräkau is a form of storytelling or narrative that is grounded within körero Mäori. It is a form that has been used by Jenny Bol Jun Lee, and she describes püräkau as follows: Püräkau literally refers to the base (pü) of the tree (räkau). According to Wiremu Doherty (2002), a native speaker of Mäori, and someone who grew up in the heartland of the Urewera ranges of Tühoe, püräkau is about recounting experiences. He explains the relationship between telling stories and trees in this way; Native trees lived for hundreds of years. In their lifetime they held all their experiences, felt through their branches and leaves, at the base. It is significant that story telling derives its meaning in Mäori language from words that relate to the räkau, since the imagery of trees often reflect our cultural understandings of social relationships, our inter-connectedness with each other and the environment. For instance, ngähere (bush) literally means ngä the and here ties, or binds, all trees and vegetation were inter-related. Kauri, the most majestic native tree, can be read as two words ka uri. Uri translates to descendants (Doherty 2002). Our understandings of puräkau in relation to the trees, show the importance of stories in Mäori culture, it signals the way in which story telling was viewed as central in the connecting, nurturing, sustaining and flourishing of our people. The use of püräkau further contributes to the wider kaupapa and maintains the focus of the narrative approach within the realm of Mataräkau. Data Analysis The research process included the collection and analysis of different kinds of qualitative data; transcripts of hui, interviews, and literature reviews. As with the 15 refer to Smith, Cherryl Interview in Pihama, L & Daniels, N., (2007) Tikanga Rangahau, Mäori And Indigenous Analysis Ltd., Tämaki Makaurau 18

19 methodological approach, the data analysis has been founded upon Kaupapa Mäori, and in particular the framework of Kaupapa Mäori theory. Where permission was granted, the oral data was recorded either by audio or video tape. Video tape was used only with a small number of people and provides those whänau with a video narrative. Analysis of the interviews has been undertaken collaboratively within the research team, where each of the interviews was read and the content discussed and debated in regards to the relevant themes and subthemes within the material. It became clear to the research team that a content and holistic approach needed to be undertaken and therefore the first publication Mataräkau was completed as a collection of narratives that maintained the holistic nature of the interviews and the report would provide the content analysis that saw the material located thematically. This became a viable and exciting process in that it enabled a two-pronged approach to the analysis of the material to be working side by side. On completion of the research analysis hui the key themes and sub-themes were identified and it was then the role of the senior researchers to provide the initial analysis for feedback from the wider Karangaora whänau. RONGOÄ MÄORI: ESTABLISHING A CONTEXT A central concern highlighted by the literature is that discussions of rongoä Mäori is encompassed by an interest in well being. Indeed the term rongoä denotes a focus on responses and remedies which Mäori would consider appropriate to their respective realities, values and beliefs. Anyone looking into this area of Mäori wellbeing and health would also need to take account of the social significance of the material cultures which might also be used in conjunction with these diverse realities, beliefs and value systems. A second consideration for recorders in this area emerges with respect to the spirituality. Using a Western scientific approach in an effort to record phenomena with an intimate relationship to spiritual considerations often rendered what was recorded outside of an embedded cultural context. At best these works provide a typology of plants, herbs and other material rituals. At times the focus reflects the specific colonial gaze unencumbered by the need to evaluate to what extent their own personal context shaped and influenced what they imagined they were looking upon. Finally, it is clear from the shifts in approach from the earliest non-mäori recorder to more recent ones, that challenges by Indigenous peoples globally and those which have taken place locally have served to re-assert more clearly that ethno-cultural 19

20 boundaries have always existed. That these boundaries were continuously ignored is beyond the scope of this review. Today Mäori everywhere; young and old, are setting clear guidelines down. The terra nullius approach of last century is generally considered unacceptable. This literature review explores a range of authors and their works a dimension of Mäori social realities called rongoä Mäori or Mäori healing. Mäori were not the early print recorders of these dynamic relationships. Rather, the interest initially came from Päkehä looking to record, to understand and satisfy their own aspect of rongoä Mäori. Many early Päkehä recorders created records which reflect their own interests, cultural influences and biases. Many were sincere in their desire to record what they imagined they saw. Later Päkehä recorders entered into ethnographic styled relationships with the people within their own cultural context. However, Päkehä still tended to focus on what was of interest and potential profit to the Päkehä recorders and their own society. The story of the re-assertion of rongoä Mäori has also been identified by McGowan (2000) as a search for identity in the wake of colonial imperial dispossession and encroachment. 16 Later Päkehä recorders during the past thirty years have been challenged to change the ways in which Päkehä might develop relationships within rongoä Mäori communities. This includes a priority for Mäori ourselves being active in presenting this unique dimension of our realities to the local and global world uppermost in the willingness of Mäori to share what they knew as far as was practicable. Today this literature gives us valuable clues to the many ways that our tipuna attempted to maintain their relationships to each other and to our whenua and wider environment. Much of the early period of recording generally focussed on what was of personal interest to each writer. As a result of indigenous challenges regarding cultural and intellectual property rights, a new period of non-indigenous recording began. More recently, indigenous peoples ourselves have re-asserted our central position as kaitiaki (guardians) and repositories of our own intellectual and cultural estates. This research is reflective of that movement. This is not to deny the role of non-mäori in the ongoing resurgence of healing and rongoä Mäori, but is an acknowledgement of a Kaupapa Mäori view that asserts the need for Mäori to take control of research related to mätauranga Mäori. Today, interest in all areas of indigenous knowledge and language reproduction is healthy and vibrant. The recording, transmission and dissemination within Mäori communities of our respective healing approaches and practices marks a special turn in the liberation of ourselves and, to draw on a Native American term, all our 16 McGowan, Robert (2000) The contemporary use of rongoä Mäori, traditional Mäori medicine, Unpublished M.Soc.Science. Thesis University of Waikato 20

21 relations. 17 At the centre of Mäori healing is a focus on direct unmitigated relationship to mana atua, mana whenua, mana moana and mana tangata. 18 This focus centralises our belief that we descend directly from our Great Creator through our primal parents Ranginui raua ko Papatüänuku. We believe we descend directly. Our elders; the descendants of Rangi and Papa, are all our elder relations. Maintaining healthy relationships includes the role we have as kaitiaki as guardians and advocates of these elder relatives. We are the foreshore and seabeds. We are the land. We are spiritual inheritors on a physical landscape which mirrors the Great struggle of the primal offspring to separate their parents embrace within Te Pö so that Te Ao Märama could be established. The Context Of Documentation. The history of recording Mäori knowledge dates back to the first contacts with Päkehä for whom print and data collection was part of their intellectual heritage. Writing had gained a privileged position in Päkehä culture and was often credited with having a greater level of reliability than the spoken word in terms of accurate recall. For Mäori however, centuries of oral knowledge transmission remained in tact. Integrity of recall was evidenced in an interwoven system of physical markers such as carving, weaving and performing arts that serve as reinforcers for the sacred and transcendental knowledge each contains. 19 As shown in our discussion of the term Mataräkau, kupu Mäori or the word is of significance to our people. Within the word is also the life breath of the Creator, our beginning and our end. 20 To speak the word authentic and unmitigated gives direct access. 21 This is highlighted in the many whakataukï related to kupu Mäori such as; Toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te whenua. The permanence of language, prestige and land. He tao huata e taea te karo he tao ki e kore e taea. The thrust of a spear can be parried but not the thrust of words. 22 The context in which a writer/ recorder of rongoä Mäori gathered their information from learned and experienced kaumätua needs to be considered alongside the information about the material culture, which attends the healing rituals. For 17 La Duke, Winona, (1999) All Our Relations: Native Struggle for Land and Life, South End Press, Cambridge, M.A 18 Pihama (2001) op.cit. 19 La Duke (1999) op.cit. 20 Pere (1982) op. cit. 21 ibid. 22 Mead, H.M & Grove, N., (2001) Ngä Pëpeha a ngä Tïpuna Victoria University Press, Wellington 21