

<p><em>I wh&#257;nau mai au i raro i te maru o te Koro Ruapehu.</em></p>

<p><em>Ko au te taitama o te waiu oranga o Te Awa Tupua.</em></p>

<p><em>E mau ana au ki te kak&#299; o te hoe o Takitimu me Aotea,</em></p>

<p><em>He k&#257;kano ahau o Ng&#257;ti Hauiti, Te &#256;ti Haunui a P&#257;p&#257;rangi, Scotland &amp; Yorkshire,</em></p>

<p><em>He uri ahau o Tamatea-Pokai-Whenua,</em></p>

<p><em>Ko Tom Johnson t&#333;ku ingoa.</em></p>

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<p>I have joined the Whakauae research team as a Summer Studentship (2020 -2021) recipient under the mentorship of Dr Tanya Allport.</p>

<p><em>&lsquo;Ng&#257; manga iti, ng&#257; manga nui e honohono kau ana, ka tupu hei Awa Tupua&rsquo; - The small and large streams that flow into one another form one river.</em></p>

<p>The context of this whakatauki, voiced by Te Awa Tupua (a singular entity composed of the many sacred waters and elements of Te Awa Whanganui) <em>and</em> its people explains the natural lore and value systems reflected in the relationship between river and Iwi. Where the awa is the p?take (source) of our waiora (wellbeing), I start here with Whakauae on a journey, hoe-<em>ing</em> my way through the rohe attempting to understand how the large streams and the sometimes obstructed or hidden small streams intertwine and feed the waiora of T&#257;ne M&#257;ori here in this rohe.</p>

<p>Growing up with granny at Te Kaihau-o-Kupe, and my brothers near Kai Iwi, I am privileged to have deep roots here at home for nearly 20 years. A childhood spent making friends with the T&#299;waiwaka and Tu&#299;, digging up spuds in the maara, of long kauhau with Koro Ruapehu as I sat at the back of the farm on the fence, and long afternoons of freedom in and observing of the realm of T&#257;ne, I reckon I was part of the last generation of free-range kids without cell phones, internet or helicopter parents. I was called back to my papak&#257;inga at the end of both my grandmothers&rsquo; lives, which allowed me to be a part of their journey to the next realm (as they had called and nurtured me into this one). This began a reclaiming of what it meant to live not only <em>in</em> or on the rohe of Whanganui, but how I might live <em>with</em> t&#275;nei whenua- as a source of waiora, a t&#363;puna, a guide and an extension of me.</p>

<p>However, whilst coming home I noticed the many men in my life were actively trying to be well, yet this was largely not reflected in the deficit-laden narratives and statistics on the health and wellbeing of M&#257;ori men in contemporary Aotearoa. This did not match what I was seeing around me- a k&#257;hui of resilient, hardworking, and flourishing men who practice a broad range of wellbeing rongo&#257; and ceremonies- t&#257;tai, karakia, taonga puoro, t&#257; moko, Maramataka k&#333;rero, going bush, mahinga kai etc. I also reflected on how beautiful and broad the diverse spectrum of T&#257;ne M&#257;ori of home are too- different whakaaro, korokoro, h&#257;hi, roles, mita, aspirations&hellip; yet all underpinned by the nurturing shared whakapapa o Te Awa Tupua.</p>

<p>With the tautoko of Dr Tanya Allport, I will be writing a literature review of what I can only describe as &lsquo;Bro-ora&rsquo;- a movement of well T&#257;ne M&#257;ori managing their wellbeing based on k&#333;rero tuku iho &#333; Whanganui. This will include a scan on what other T&#257;ne M&#257;ori around the motu and Indigenous men around the world are doing, which hopefully will lead to a research project.</p>

<p>Whakauae- Thank you for being a part of the karanga home, for making a space in your k&#257;inga for me, to Dr Amohia Boulton for encouraging some bravery and try research, to Dr Heather Gifford for bringing Whakauae to fruition and ng&#257; kaihoe o te tari &#333; Whakauae, steeped in their Hauiti-tanga for giving this guy a chance. Ng&#257; mihi nui.&nbsp;</p>

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