PhD Researcher: Aramoana Mohi-Maxwell (Ngāti Rangiwewehi, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāti Whakaue, Tapuika, Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāti Ranginui, Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Ruanui)(UoC)
Primary supervisor: Professor Carl Mika (UoC)
Project summary:
The whakatauakī - 'Ko au ko koe, ko koe ko au,' stands as a determining principle behind the legacy created by Mita Hikairo Mohi and his teachings of the discipline of mautaiaha. Many from across the motu have attended these wānanga held on Mokoia Island. The intention of Aramoana’s research is to explore this legacy and its impact on Māori Male well-being in relation to cultural reclamation, resilience and affirmation. In doing so, an indigenous model of well-being has been created from a Māori specific space that lies beyond the parameters of westernised methodology. This model of Indigenous well-being has the potential to help other Indigenous cultures frame their own journeys of well-being. This model of Indigenous well-being consists of three strands; 1) the use of whakataukī as life principles to provide an ethos that informs a blueprint for living; 2) the use of both esoteric and exoteric knowledge handed down through kōrero tuku iho through a whare tū taua (school of weaponry) that is about growth, life and sustenance; and 3) the acquisition and subsequent transmission of knowledge that emerges from the sacred lores of learning where wānanga and the pedagogy thereof occurs in a context that is unequivocally Māori yet inclusive of other cultures. The research undertaken is the culmination of traditional knowledge and peoples' stories and involves gathering kōrero from mātanga, wānanga participants, stakeholders, and composers to shape the Indigenous model of well-being.