Nau mai, haere mai to Ngā Waka o Matariki Equally Well Māori health strategy.
Consider how Ngā Waka o Matariki will contribute to the mahi of yourself and your organisation in improving the health care journey of whaiora Māori and whānau.
Experience the audio:
A kuia’s karanga
Experience the video:
Puta hua te rere o te wai
Equally Well Māori health strategy 2020-25
Ngā Waka o Matariki
Strategic overview
Ngā Waka o Matariki is in three parts:
Honour
Honour partnerships
Inspire
The Matariki framework is a matrix of three columns.
Listen, be inspired, develop moemoeā.
Act
Take action
Part 1: Honouring partnerships
Ngā Waka o Matariki foundation is based on Aotearoa’s two founding agreements He W(h)akaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. From these are two prominent messages.
Firstly, Tino Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake – self determination and Māori led. Secondly and equally as important as the first is Partnership – everyone in the waka working together to influence change. The Ngā Waka o Matariki strategy is Māori led and enhanced.
The result is to achieve a healthier quality of life for ALL by unifying our work towards the improvement of Māori lives inclusive of others discovering their pathway.
This view positions Māori at the rudder of the waka in journeying and interpreting the pathways Matariki illuminates for us to follow. Kaihoe, paddlers, are everyone including whaiora Māori, our whānau, our stakeholders, our Equally Well and cultural champions.
Part 2: The Matariki framework
Puta Hua Te Rere O Te Wai, Te Iwa O Matariki and Moemoeā form The Matariki Framework in celebrating Papatūānuku and growing abundance. Papatūānuku, the wellness and wealth of whenua, is vital to oranga and tikanga.
Utilise the framework to transform health practice, to align organisational culture, to cultivate individual and collective mana for health equity of whaiora and whānau. Re-imagine the social and cultural landscapes of Aotearoa. Nurture the whenua – the whenua nourishes us all.
Part 3: Take action
Use the Ngā Waka o Matariki strategy. Empathise. Be inspired. Influence.
Kiki ana te kotahinga mai, ka pahu. Momentum gathers, the river surges. (The strength of unity is our momentum of power)
Matariki framework
Verses 1 – 3
| Puta Hua Te Rere O Te Wai (nā Tui Taurua 2020) | Te Iwa O Matariki (Matamua, 2017) | Moemoeā (customise moemoeā) |
| Puta hua te rere o te wai. The splash of a raindrop, one at a time (an idea). |
Waipuna-ā-rangi is connected with the rain. | Āta whakaronga (listen carefully) to whaiora and whānau. Māori health equity is at the centre of health policies and practice e.g. dedicated early cancer screening, cardiometabolic monitoring and protection against adverse medication effects. Adopt less restrictive practice and sensory modulation. Act with empathy. |
| Ka rere te wai, ka timata te puna. Streams begin, water flows (talk to each other). |
Tupuānuku is the star connected with everything that grows within the soil to be harvested. | Look to Te Taiao, the natural world, for nourishment, haumanu (healing), māra kai, rongoā, nutrition and raranga. Wānanga with tohunga, people of wisdom in research, healing, whenua and lived experience. Reap kōrero. Embrace organic and natural ways of health and healing. |
| Ka rere atu te awa. A course is made, away it goes (knowledge gathering). |
Tupuārangi is the star connected with everything that grows up in the trees: fruits, berries and birds. | Te Waonui a Tāne and the Atua realms are ancient constructs for korikori tinana, pūrākau, kai ora and creation narratives. Migrations of birds and water species link us globally as Indigenous people. Reach out and connect with Indigenous people of the world. Think indigeneity. |
Verses 4 – 6
| Puta Hua Te Rere O Te Wai (nā Tui Taurua 2020) | Te Iwa O Matariki (Matamua, 2017) | Moemoeā (customise moemoeā) |
| Ka hui hui ngā puna kia kotahi ai. Streams join as one (voices merge). |
Waitī is the star connected with all freshwater bodies and the food sources that are sustained by those waters. | Kai abundance and security is important for oranga, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and sharing pūrākau. Prepare for lean times, reach out, act now, advocate for whānau. Strengthen kotahitanga, unite. Practice kaitiakitanga. |
| Kiki ana te kotahinga mai, ka pahu. Momentum gathers, the river surges (he tāngata he tāngata he tāngata; join and flow as one). |
Hiwa-i-te-rangi is connected with our wishes being realised and reaching our aspirations for the coming year. | Look to Te Taiao, the natural world, for nourishment, haumanu (healing), māra kai, rongoā, nutrition and raranga. Wānanga with tohunga, people of wisdom in research, healing, whenua and lived experience. Reap kōrero. Embrace organic and natural ways of health and healing. |
| Ko tātou te awa. We are the river. |
Pōhutukawa is the star connected to those who have passed. | Tūpuna are honoured in stories of whakapapa, whenua and ngā taonga tuku iho. All life is tapu, all people are rangatira. Cease premature loss of life. Collaborate to improve lives and living. |
Verses 7 – 9
| Puta Hua Te Rere O Te Wai (nā Tui Taurua 2020) | Te Iwa O Matariki (Matamua, 2017) | Moemoeā (customise moemoeā) |
| Ko te awa ko tātou. The river is us. |
Ururangi is the star connected to the winds. | The natural elements represent organic rhythms of communication. Share ideas, challenges and achievements. Cultivate and interface with Mātauranga Māori. Ignite wairua. Gaze onto the land, face the winds. Become a force. |
| Ka puta ko awa ngā roto me to moananui. The flow of streams combines; into the great ocean they flow (we come together and join our voice one with another). |
Waitā is associated with the ocean, and the food sources within it. | Hua moana (fruit); harvest partnerships for social, cultural, political and economic equity. Generate local, regional and national movements in transforming the landscape. Be a change warrior. |
| Papatūānuku ē, whakarongo mai i ōkū ngākau, waipuku ngā roimata, auē auē auē. Papatūānuku hear our hearts full with tears of joy. |
Matariki is the star signifying reflection, hope, connection to the natural world and the gathering of people. It is the health and wellbeing of people. | Mark this time every year to reflect, learn from challenges, acknowledge achievements, acclaim personal and collective success. Re-energise and re-connect. Whaiora Māori. Whaikaha Māori. Whānau. Tāne. Wāhine. Takatāpui. Kuia. Rangatahi. Tamariki. Allies. Celebrate – auē auē auē. |
Ka puta ko awa ngā roto me te moananui
The flow of streams combines; into the great ocean they flow (we come together and join our voice one with another) nā Tui Taurua 2020 Ngā Waka o Matariki Equally Well Māori health strategy’s aim is optimal mental and physical health of whaiora Māori and whānau.
Across the health sector it is imperative to prevent and support the multiple-existing health conditions impacting adversely on whaiora Māori and their whānau.
He W(h)akaputanga (He W(h)akaputanga o Te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni/Declaration of Independence of New Zealand 1835) and Te Tiriti O Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi 1840) ground Ngā Waka o Matariki Equally Well Māori health strategy.
Collectively, the principles are tino rangatiratanga, equity, the right to live as Māori, to be accorded the same protection as every citizen of Aotearoa and the intertwining of Māori with whenua and Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho (ancestral treasures).
Ngā Waka o Matariki represents the many in the Equally Well collaborative navigating mental and physical health equity in partnership with Māori. In the autumn of each year, Ngā Waka o Matariki Equally Well will hui to review this strategy.
Matariki star cluster names
Hover over stars to see more
Acknowledgments
To the Ngā Waka o Matariki rōpū – Tui Taurua, Reena Kainamu, Helen Lockett and Kahurangi Fergusson-Tibble. Ngā mihi.
Also Te Pou kaimahi – Meghan Mappledoram, Olivia Risi, Rachel Kapeli, Wendy Donaldson, Ashley Koning, Allan Drew and Emma Wood, along with Wise Management Services for ongoing support. Ngā mihi.
To Te Hiringa Hauora Health Promotion Agency for the grant to support the launch of Ngā Waka o Matariki. Ngā mihi.
Special gratitute to Simon Kozak, Ember’s Marketing and Communications Manager for bringing Ngā Waka o Matariki to digital being. Ngā mihi nui.
