Mana mokopuna mai i te waharoa ki te wahakura : activating sacred potential for mokopuna through raranga and tikanga pā harakeke

Abstract

This kaupapa rangahau seeks to establish the application of te reo o te pā harakeke me ona tikanga as a tangible model for oranga whānau and the weaving of wahakura as a way for mokopuna to access rongoā. It is an articulation of raranga epistemology documenting a way of knowing and being that is grounded upon relationships to Papatūānuku, and to te taiao. Tikanga pā harakeke provides a point of access for whānau to connect with te ao Māori. It is the waharoa, the gateway to this rangahau journey where discovery and transformation ignites with the first pattern of weaving, te reo karanga.

Raranga pōwhiri is explored as a woven methodological approach. A framework centred on the premise that the universe is woven, and that we are all part of an epistemological fabric, which is Te Kahu o te Ao (Marsden, 2003). The pōwhiri process enacts terms of encounter, provides a pathway of growth and transition, and guides the weaving together of people to the whenua, to the ancestors, and to Atua.

Wahakura are an embodiment of te reo o te pā harakeke me ona tikanga. They are vessels of wellbeing that give tangible form to all applications and processes of tikanga pā harakeke including the workings of aroha, kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, kotahitanga, whanaungatanga and ngākau māhaki. Wahakura and the mokopuna they house, can be viewed as revelations of tapu – sacred potential, mana – the manifestation of sacred potential and aroha – the breath of Io te Ha Manawa, causing us to have focus in every breath.