Whānau

The beauty of te ao Māori is the pragmatic fluidity of many of our concepts. Generally employed to explain our genealogical links and connections to land, whakapapa can also be applied within the context of rangahau to organise, structure, analyse and understand information, experiences and relationships. This article introduces Te Waka Pounamu, a whakapapa-based framework developed as a methodological research model for my doctoral studies. Included in the whakapapa framework is a tikanga Māori model I have named Te Tuamaka.

The removal of a Māori child in May 2019 led to widespread protest and the launch of four inquiries into the Ministry for Children, plus an urgent inquiry through the Waitangi Tribunal. Tamariki Māori are over-represented in the child welfare system, but the issues are not just about the system itself. The legacy of colonisation continues to have an impact, not just on individual whānau, but also on the loss of tikanga in relation to whānau. It is the tikanga of whānau that many protesters seek to protect.

Lifecourse research examines people’s trajectories through life and factors that influence those trajectories. It has the potential to build an evidence base around programmes that are effective for Māori. This paper describes the development and initial stages of Te Kura Mai i Tawhiti (TKMT), an innovative long-term research programme run as a collaboration between Taranaki Māori community organisation Te Pou Tiringa and the University of Otago’s National Centre for Lifecourse Research.