The Future of Rongoa Maori: Wellbeing and Sustainability Annabel AhuririDriscoll, Maui Hudson, Virgi

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The Future of Rongoa Maori Wellbeing and
SustainabilityAnnabel Ahuriri-Driscoll, Maui
Hudson, Virginia Baker, Maria Hepi ESR Carl
Mika, Dr Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai Te Whare Wananga o
AwanuiarangiNga Ringa Whakahaere o te Iwi Maori
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Research kaupapa

• Explore the contribution Rongoa Maori makes to
  wellbeing
• Identify issues for ongoing sustainability of
  Rongoa Maori in New Zealand
• Literature
• Healer and stakeholder perspectives

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Traditional Maori healing

• Locally-specific
• Broad range of healing practices
• ritenga, karakia, rongoa rakau, mirimiri,
  romiromi, wai, hauwai, matakite
• Spiritual element/taha wairua
• Maori worldview conceptualisation of wellbeing
• Authenticity
• who decides who a traditional healer is? Many
  Maori are more secular than spiritual, but if
  someone was to seek out a healer they would
  expect the taha wairua.

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Rongoa infrastructure

• Practice of rongoa survived despite the Tohunga
  Suppression Act 1907
• Establishment of Nga Ringa Whakahaere o te Iwi
  Maori, 1993
• Ministry of Health ACC-funded Rongoa Maori
  contracts
• Local initiatives (PHOs)
• Taonga Tuku Iho Rongoa Development Plan (MoH,
  2006)
• Paepae Matua established in 2008

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Contribution to wellbeing

• Health benefits diagnosis and treatment
  (effectiveness) service choice, accessible
  culturally appropriate care
• Employment, vocation
• Cultural retention, revitalisation of matauranga,
  tikanga and te reo Maori
• Tino rangatiratanga/self-determination

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Sustainability of rongoa

• Environmental resources
• the land has supplied the medicine or food.
  There is reciprocity between man and the
  environment. When the language of the country is
  sung or chanted, the plant is revived, the land
  replenished.
• the areas you can collect rongoa are fewer and
  fewer, and the population is growing
• its not just about the people, its about
  Papatuanuku, the ngahere, its all sick.

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Sustainability of rongoa

• Rongoa practice knowledge retention,
• validation and utilisation
• In the past, there was embarrassment about
  tradition, about rongoa. The belief that you
  dont look behind, you go forward, we believed
  the Pakeha way was the one we needed to follow.
  To our detriment as a people, we left some of our
  taonga behind, one of them was rongoa.

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Integration and integrity

• Dilemma inclusion in mainstream services at the
  risk of compromised integrity of practice
• Do we want to subject our taonga to these
  criteria, measures or boxes? You cant fit a
  circle into a square, and thats what were
  trying to do with rongoa in a Western health
  system.
• We want to have our cake and eat it too. We
  want to be recognised and we want to drive it.
  How can you own it yourself but be accepted by
  the mainstream?

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Research and evaluation

• Are we ploughing the wrong ground? What if
  there arent appropriate tick boxes?
• Evidence is not necessarily what we think it
  is, it is not necessarily fitting into science
  boxes.
• In-depth understanding of the properties of rau
  will come from scientist input, it will be
  complementary.

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Research and evaluation

• Healers generally supportive
• Looking for guarantees of protection
• Maori and healer-led
• Wananga to transfer healing knowledge discuss
  political issues
• Mentoring emerging healers
• Efficacy of modalities, resulting health gain

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Reports

• The Future of Rongoa Maori Wellbeing and
  Sustainability
• Full report
• Summary report
• Available on-line at www.esr.cri.nz

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Nga tohu o te ora

• Traditional Maori wellness outcome measures
• Research Team Maui Hudson Annabel
  Ahuriri-Driscoll Zack Bishara Moe Milne Marie
  Stewart

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Project plan

• Stage 1
• Develop outcome measures with healers
• Triangulate with stakeholders and tangata whaiora
• Stage 2
• Test the outcome measures in whare oranga

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He patai