I have joined the Whakauae research team as a Summer Studentship (2020 -2021) recipient under the mentorship of Dr Tanya Allport.
‘Ngā manga iti, ngā manga nui e honohono kau ana, ka tupu hei Awa Tupua' - The small and large streams that flow into one another form one river.
The context of this whakatauki, voiced by Te Awa Tupua (a singular entity composed of the many sacred waters and elements of Te Awa Whanganui) and its people explains the natural lore and value systems reflected in the relationship between river and our Iwi. Where the awa is the pūtake (source) of our waiora (wellbeing), I start here with Whakauae on a journey, hoe-ing my way through the rohe attempting to understand how the large streams and the sometimes obstructed or hidden smaller streams intertwine and feed the waiora of Tāne Māori here in this rohe.
Growing up with granny at Te Kaihau-o-Kupe, and my brothers near Kai Iwi, I am privileged to have deep roots here at home for nearly 20 years. A childhood spent making friends with the Tīwaiwaka and Tuī, digging up spuds in the maara, of long kauhau with Koro Ruapehu and long afternoons of freedom observing the realm of Tāne, I think I might have been a part of the last generation of free-range kids without cell phones, internet, or helicopter parents. I was called back to my papakāinga at the end of both my grandmothers' lives, which allowed me to be a part of their journey to the next realm (as they had called and nurtured me into this one). This began a reclaiming of what it meant to live not only in or on the rohe of Whanganui, but how I might live with taiao—as a source of waiora, a tūpuna, a guide and an extension of me.
However, whilst coming home I noticed the many men in my life were actively trying to be well, yet this was largely not reflected in the deficit-laden narratives and statistics on the health and wellbeing of Māori men in contemporary Aotearoa. This did not match what I was seeing around me- a kāhui of resilient, hardworking, and flourishing men who practice a broad range of wellbeing rongoā and ceremonies- tātai, karakia, taonga puoro, tā moko, Maramataka kōrero, going bush, mahinga kai etc. I also reflected on how beautiful and broad the diverse spectrum of Tāne Māori of home are too- different whakaaro, korokoro, hāhi, roles, mita, aspirations... yet all underpinned by the nurturing shared whakapapa of Te Awa Tupua.
With the tautoko of Dr Tanya Allport, I will be writing a literature review of what I can only describe as ‘Bro-ora'- a movement of well Tāne Māori managing their wellbeing based on kōrero tuku iho ō Whanganui. This will include a scan on what other Tāne Māori around the motu and Indigenous men around the world are doing, which hopefully will lead to a research project.
Whakauae- Thank you for being a part of the karanga home, for making a space in your kāinga for me, to Dr Amohia Boulton for encouraging some bravery and try out research, to Dr Heather Gifford for bringing Whakauae to fruition and ngā kaihoe o te tari ō Whakauae, steeped in their Hauiti-tanga for giving this guy a chance. Ngā mihi nui.
