He Oranga Poutama ki Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa

The Kaiwhakahaere for He Oranga Poutama at within Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa has been working collaboratively with our internal research unit to form the foundation of this plan. An Iwi based philosophy that utilises kaupapa Māori research and ancient observations of the environment is being developed, to support the growth of Taonga Tākaro within Rangitīkei and Te Ranga Tupua.

Ngā Reo ki te Taiao:

All wellbeing and healthy rhythms come from connecting to and understanding the natural world and ancestral knowledge. Our wellbeing is enhanced when we follow these natural rhythms that come from nature (te taiao).

Four of these imbalances, disconnections have occurred with our western life styles:

• HĀ; The breath is a sign of health and western living impacts the breath, especially if we are stressed or ill. What is the breath of Tumatauenga?

• TINANA; Our bodies are less mobile, we are more likely to be sitting, not walking every day

• NOHOPUKU; Our peace of mind is disrupted as we no longer know how to sit within a peaceful connectedness to our natural world,

• KUPU; We have lost the language of speaking directly to the ancestor environments that we live within.

In the Māori world these above four reo with the environment and ancestral domains are very direct relationships. We were born of the natural world, ancestors, deities and we can communicate directly with them. Environments also speak to us through tohu or signs that we can read for weather, food readiness etc.

These are not instantaneous however, they are similar to learning in languages – some people can learn them easily and others will take time and lots of practise. We now find ourselves in a time where we are needing to not only reconnect people to the environment that a western lifestyle has removed us from, but we also need to revive the reo or the ways of opening up communication channels between ourselves as humans and our ancestral environments.

Taonga Tākaro assists us to reconnect to these four reo, or the natural rhythms that come from nature, which flows to & from Te Taiao/ Whakapapa. The image below depicts a basic model of our philosophy of wellbeing.

Model: Ngā Reo o te Taiao

Te reo tuatahi:
HĀ

• Te reo o te ha ki taiao/tupuna – Hauora
• Te reo o te taiao/tupuna ki te ha – Mauri ora

Te reo tuarua:
TINANA

• Te reo o te tinana ki te taiao/tupuna – Waiora
• Te reo o te taiao/tupuna ki te tinana – Oranga

Te reo tuatoru:
NOHOPUKU

• Te reo o te puku ki te taiao/tupuna – Whakarongo
• Te reo o te taiao/tupuna ki te puku – Rongo

Te reo tuawha:
KUPU

• Te reo o te kupu ki te taiao/tupuna – Whakapapa
• Te reo o te taiao/tupuna ki te kupu – Mana

All of the above are drawn from korero with our taiao and tupuna and we are constantly affirming each other through waiata, haka etc. Within certain forms of Taonga Tākaro these four reo are occurring all at once. In other forms, one area may be being strengthened. For example; Aka is a locally developed form of Māori Martial Arts and is a unique application of this concept.

Aka is a taonga to be revitalised which has the potential to create a positive social movement regionally, nationally and internationally. In relation to the model above, it is tool that can be shared alongside all forms of Taonga Tākaro to empower whanau, hapū, iwi and within hāpori settings.

The Ngā Reo o te Taiao model gives the Kaiwhakahaere a solid foundation to implement this plan and guidance when aligning activities with the Te Whetu Rēhua model.

Contact Us

Address:
Te Rūnanga o Ngā Wairiki Ngāti Apa
Te Poho o Tuariki
85 Henderson Line, Marton
Phone: 063275594
Freephone: 08002272494
Email: info@ngawairikingatiapa.iwi.nz