Architecture of Aroha: Wahakura and gietkka - indigenous ecologies of care
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Authors
Reihana-White, Hinewaimarama
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Date
2025-11
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Conference Contribution - Oral Presentation
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Keyword
Sapmi (Northern Sweden)
Sweden
Aotearoa
New Zealand
Māori babies
Sami babies
babies
child health
woven bassinets
bassinets
weaving
indigenous concepts
New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax)
creative practice in cultural identity
Sweden
Aotearoa
New Zealand
Māori babies
Sami babies
babies
child health
woven bassinets
bassinets
weaving
indigenous concepts
New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax)
creative practice in cultural identity
Citation
Reihana-White, H. (2025, November, 16-20). Architecture of Aroha: Wahakura and gietkka - indigenous ecologies of care [Paper presentation]. World Indigenous Conference on Education 2025 (WIPCE), Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/7189
Abstract
Architecture of Aroha is an Indigenous-led collaboration between Māori and Sámi researchers and artists exploring how traditional sleeping vessels for newborn babies, the wahakura of Aotearoa and the gietkka of the Sámi, function as sites of cultural sovereignty, Indigenous ecologies of care, and intergenerational wellbeing. This presentation draws from an international project that included wānanga, co-making, and exhibition at the Luleå Biennale 2024. The research investigates how these taonga serve as safe sleeping spaces for mokopuna while also acting as repositories of ancestral wisdom, connecting people to land, story, and responsibility. Grounded in Tikanga Pā Harakeke and Sámi duodji traditions, our methodology is relational, creative, and grounded in whenua and meahcci, ancestral lands that sustain identity and practice. Findings from this project reveal that the processes of making wahakura and gietkka are deeply relational. Each act of creation reaffirmed connections to land, ancestors, and community. Through engagement with natural materials and customary practices, the making process became a site of knowledge transmission, cultural affirmation, and intergenerational care. The wahakura and gietkka are made using materials sourced within their respective Indigenous landscapes, with harakeke and muka from Aotearoa, and reindeer hide and timber from Sápmi. Each making process sustains relationships with the environment and ancestral knowledge. This work highlights how Indigenous design practices can support the reclamation of birthing practices and cultural futures. They offer pathways for sustaining Indigenous ways of being and knowing. Bibliography: We acknowledge the knowledge holders, weavers, and artists who have contributed to this kaupapa, especially those connected to Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae and Sámi communities in Sápmi. This project is enriched by the teachings of Tikanga Pā Harakeke and duodji, and by the intergenerational care embedded in these practices. Country: NZ
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