He Whakataetae

Tēnā koutou katoa,

The Kai Tōtika me Whakapakari Tinana team is having a competition to see who can provide the best healthy recipes with a traditional or contemporary Māori flavour. The best recipes will be selected and placed on the Te Hotu Manawa Māori website to inspire whānau to get creative with their cooking. But wait there is more; all recipes which are selected will go into the draw to win a fantastic mystery prize!

 

Remember, all recipes must be low in fat, sugar and salt and high in flavour.

 

Click here to read more about the kumara and a tasty sample recipe for you all to try! So get creative and send your recipes to Craig

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This is a poetic expression of ‘look on the bright side’. No matter how gloomy the outlook, there is always something favourable to be found in the background. This whakatauakī reminded me of the Oceania Conference and how some of the speakers compared their situation to this analogy – the clouds (tobacco companies), the stars (the workers), and the Milky Way (the leaders).

 

An interesting email was passed onto me entitled ‘Treatment of Māori Children’ and my immediate association was of “child abuse” especially with the publicity among the media in this past year. But in the subject line it read – Tau Kē! A burst of hope. I opened it and was pleasantly surprised with the content. It was the feeling of Mana Māori that motivated me to share this with you, especially our tāne toa.

 

The email, a power-point, contained exerts from a number of writings by Christian tauiwi of the 1800s. These writings described their observations of the Māori lifestyle of this era, in particular the behaviour of Māori men in these environments raising their children and being with their women. These observational writings provide us with a window to the past, an opportunity to look for answers that our tūpuna have left for us and therefore presenting a way forward to reclaiming Māori well-being, including regaining our Auahi Koretanga of our tūpuna. What are the tikanga that we have stopped practicing that could assist us to reclaim hauora Māori, hauora rangatiratanga in this new millennium?

 

Although in some respects it may look gloomy for Māori today, we must remember that our tūpuna have already shown us the pathway - the milky-way that exists beyond the clouds - and it is our job, our responsibility to protect our whakapapa and to strengthen our identity as a strong, healthy and confident people in charge of our own destiny.

 

Anei taku wero – I ask our men to rise, take the challenge, assist our women to protect our future and eliminate smoking from the time of hapūtanga onwards. I also encourage you all to come to our 
Auahi Kore Update Hui in Rotorua next month and be a part of this movement. 

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The purpose of the hui is to build and provide support for those involved in the Auahi Kore / Smokefree area, to update National and Regional key strategies, and to share initiative updates.

 

The hui has been designed for Māori and non-Māori who are committed to working collaboratively with their communities to achieve Whānau Ora through promotion of Auahi Kore lifestyles and establishment of Auahi Kore environments. Participants do not need to have an in-depth knowledge of the Auahi Kore/Smokefree landscape and should be prepared to explore aspects of Tikanga Māori.

 

Confirmed speakers from both national and regional smokefree and auahi kore organisations will be updating and allowing an interactive engagement around key tobacco control strategies for Māori.

 

It is promising to be a worthy hui for existing soliders and the new recruitments. Full squadron will be present!          Don’t go AWOL!         Register now!

 

The cost to attend the hui is free, but registrations are limited so be quick……. kia tere!

 

To download the programme and registration form click here. 

For further information contact Hemi or call us on 09 638 5805.

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In the lead up to the 2007 Oceania Tobacco Control Conference, a one day Gateway seminar was held to provide an opportunity for indigenous and Pacific Peoples to discuss international, national and regional issues ranging from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control through to tobacco control/use strategies within various nations. 

The seminar was attended by more than 120 delegates from Aotearoa, Australia, US, UK and the Pacific Islands and provided a fantastic opportunity to renew old acquaintances and form new ones. The buzz in the audience from the get-go was electric; fuelled perhaps by the MC Wannabe who called himself the “Big Chief”. We knew we were in for an exciting day!

 Key-note speakers seized the opportunity to highlight the plights and challenges faced by their own indigenous brothers and sisters and how those were being addressed. The common themes to emerge from speakers were of marginalization, over-representation, being under-resourced and in many cases loss of cultural identity. The final speaker for the day, Professor Richard Daynard, provided a legal perspective to Tobacco Control that highlighted, amongst other things, the impact of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control. The presentations generated much debate and discussion and were a perfect launch pad for the Conference proper.

Keynote speakers at the seminar were:

·        Shane Bradbrook – Te Reo Mārama

·        Darcy Vaka – Community and Public Health, Greymouth

·        Dr J Keawe’aimoku Kaholokula – University of Hawaii

·        Viki Briggs – National Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Tobacco Control, Australia

·        Caleb Otto – Republic of Palau, Palau

·        Professor Richard Daynard – Northeastern University, USA

Photos and powerpoint presentations will be available at www.smokefreeoceania.org.nz shortly.

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Smoking during pregnancy remains the priority for THMM Auahi Kore service especially with the astounding rates of smoking amongst our wāhine during hapūtanga. Not only is it damaging for the pepi, māmā, her whānau, hapū and iwi but also for the future of Māoridom and our whakapapa. 

Our babies are being born mauiui and iti, with many complications! some babies die from smoking related causes. Did you know we have the second highest SIDS rates in the world!

 

Our understanding of Te Whare Tangata, Te Whare Tupuna, He ihi iho e will be strongly promoted to highlight the reverence we have for these concepts. Marae and wāhine hapū are the focus as we work towards reducing and even eradicating tobacco from our culture.

THMM have aligned their services to address some of the key Māori organisations that are at the “flaxroots” working with wāhine Māori and their whānau. Developing links with major Māori roopu, such as MWWL, National Te Kohanga Reo Trust, Māori SIDS & Ngā Maia Māori Midwives National Body, has been identified as a way of assisting the reduction of tobacco consumption and related illnesses. These roopu have opened their doors to address this issue and we mihi to them for that.

 

For more information please refer to our resources supporting wāhine hapū.