Whānau Taketake Māori

This report promotes an understanding of the impact that recessions have on Māori that can only be understood in the full context of history, cultural values and practices.

The report uses examples of resilience to demonstrate the value of investing in Māori economic, social and cultural development in order to return the mana of the iwi to the iwi, of the hapü to the hapū, of the whānau to the whānau and the individual to the individual representing the multitudes who have preceded them.

Whakahokia te mana o te iwi ki te iwi, o te hapū ki te hapū, o te whānau ki te whānau, o te tangata ki te tangata, me tana rau kotahi
(Tibble, W. Submission 58 Hui Taumata 1984)

As part of the role of the Families Commission, this report provides a base to enable the Commission to work with other government departments and relevant private sector stakeholders to:

• assist other departments to understand ‘whānau’ as distinct from ‘family’
• support mainstream government departments to develop frameworks that can assist the implementation and delivery of Whānau Ora across the social sector agencies; this includes research and development on the implementation of whānau-centred practices
• identify potential structural and behavioural changes that may be required across the social sectors to enable the implementation of whānau-based initiatives.

Through these avenues the Commission can support and advocate for the development of crucial pathways by which whänau can maximise their social, cultural, economic and environmental resources for the benefit of whānau and Māoridom as a whole.

The Commission carried out a review of selected literature of key turning points in the Treaty relationship and an environmental scan of existing social, economic, structural and cultural issues that impact on whānau, within a kaupapa Māori context. Kaupapa Māori research and development is grounded in Māori knowledge, values, beliefs and practises, that validate being Māori in today’s world. Consequently this report provides commentary based on both quantitative data and qualitative narrative from the voices of those who lived through these events. A key theme is identified from this process; it is that access to and maximisation of cultural, social, economic and environmental resources by whänau strengthens resilience and is critical for whānau wellbeing.
(Durie, 2003, p. 70)

Certain key factors affect Māori individually and collectively. This report demonstrates that an improvement in any one area, such as employment, will not, on its own, remove or mitigate effects that are intergenerational. The idea that it would reflects an assumption that Mäori and non-Māori start on an equal playing field, and that the problem definition is limited to recession.

This report is structured to tell the history of Māori society in relation to changing social, cultural, economic and structural conditions since 1840. From this analysis, themes concerning Māori resilience are drawn out and related to the development of the Treaty partnership.