Ka mua, Ka muri | Walking backwards into the future: Nurturing children through a mātauranga Māori lens

A new report by Dr Joni Māramatanga Angeli-Gordon (Ngāpuhi | Ngāti Whātua | Te Roroa) from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, and member of the Community Economies Research Network, serves as a bridge between the past and the future by exploring ancestral Māori parenting and contributing to the growing body of work that seeks to reestablish Māori ways of nurturing tamariki (children).

The report, Taku Waipiataata, Taku Hei Tāwhiri - Cherishing Tamariki Through Tūpuna Child Rearing has been written in partnership with Tūpuna Parenting, an organisation that builds on the legacy of Helen Mountain Harte M.A. (1942-2019) who in collabortion with Professor Kuni Jenkins wrote the influential text An Historical Review of Literature of Traditional Māori Child Rearing Practices in Pre-European Times (Jenkins & Mountain Harte, 2011). 

Dr Angeli-Gordon says “It is an honour to build upon the significant work of these wāhine Māori who championed the reclamation and assertion of pre-colonial Māori childrearing practices as gentle, engaged and nurturing.” 

“Alongside the template left by these esteemed scholars and other writers, the report incorporates mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), and especially the knowledge that has been transmitted orally through the richness of pūrākau (stories), whakataukī (proverbs) and mōteatea (traditional Māori songs).”

“The values and practices surrounding child-rearing from our ancestors offer vital solutions to the ongoing issues of violence against tamariki, particularly Māori tamariki, who are among the most vulnerable and victimised in our society.” 

Underpinning the report is the understanding within the Māori worldview of the inherent mana (esoteric power) and tapu (sacredness) of children, and that tamariki are born with their own unique mauri (life force) deserving of the utmost respect and care. 

This is reflected in practices such as recognising mauri ora, the time when a child’s mauri is developing, and the role of caregivers (both immediate family and the wider whānau and hapū) to nuture a child’s mauri ora by fostering conditions to emotionally, physically and spiritually support the child. 

Dr Angeli-Gordon says, "When these types of concepts, deeply embedded in Māori cosmology, guide the nurturing and development of tamariki this helps to ensure that they grow up with a strong sense of identity and connection to their heritage; that their intrinsic worth and potential is affirmed; and that intimate relationships with the environment, spiritual practices, and the collective well-being of the community are cherished.”

She adds, “Nurturing all our tamarki in the sorts of ways that are central to mātauranga Māori provides the basis for imagining child-centric and loving economies that cherish children. Surely the prosperity of a nation is evidenced through the thriving of its children.” 

Dr Angeli-Gordon is Senior Research Fellow, Te Manawahoukura Rangahau Centre, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

Mahi toi by Jessica Thompson Carr (Māori Mermaid) 

Jenny Cameron