The Te Pou Mataaho framework provides a model of service delivery that is distinctly Ngāti Awa and distinguishes Te Tohu o te Ora o Ngāti Awa from a mainstream organisation.
This Māori paradigm and Iwi philosophy underpins the management and delivery of its services.
“Ko te pae tawhiti, whāia kia tata; ko te pae tata, whakamaua kia tīna.”
“Seek out distant horizons and cherish those you attain.”
Introduction
Te Pou Mataaho is a strength based framework with cultural essentialism as its core aimed at drawing upon inherent cultural strengths to aid recovery and empowerment. The framework incorporates 4 Pou; Te Pou o Tātaiwhakaheke providing knowledge of & connection between ourselves & others through whakapapa; Te Pou o Hinetītama – providing the connection between ourselves & others through the whenua to our place of identity; Te Pou Ihorangi o Papatūānuku – providing spiritual connectedness & cultural beginnings of whānau; Te Pou Aotūroa o Wairaka – recognizes the world around us and all of the influences both negative and positive that contribute to our development;
The fifth Pou is the manifestation of all four Pou culminating together to achieve ultimate wellbeing ,Te Pou Mataaho. The Te Pou Mataaho Framework has been implemented within Te Tohu o Te Ora o Ngāti Awa for the past 10 years and provides the organisation with its cultural lens, identity and practice model that connects the organisation and its people to the whānau, hapū and Iwi of Ngāti Awa and Mataatua.
Te Pou o Hineahuone
Te Pou Tātaiwhakaheke o Hineahuone provides us with the knowledge of the connection between ourselves and others through our kinship ties and whakapapa.
Te Pou Aotūroa
Te Aotūroa o Wairaka recognises the world around us and all the different influences both the negative and positive that contribute to our development.
Te Pou o Hinetītama
Tūrangawaewae is the place you call home, your connection through the whenua.
Te Pou Ihorangi
Te Pou Ihorangi o Papatūānuku represents the spiritual and cultural beginnings of whānau originating from the spiritual.
Te Pou Mataaho a Ngāti Awa Kaupapa Māori Approach
THE JOURNEY TO ACHIEVE – TE POU MATAAHO
Te Korenga
The state of un-knowing
The beginning of Te Pou Mataaho pathway commences at Te Korenga or a state of dormancy.
INTERVENTION
Manaakitanga
OUTPUT
Whanaungatanga
- Te Pou o Hineahuone provides us with the knowledge of and connection between ourselves and others through our kinship ties or Whakapapa.
- Strength Pou are used to find the strength within using Ngāti Awa tūpuna to help contribute to the solution. Utilising our tūpuna such as Wairaka the Ngāti Awa ancestress who used her karakia and strength to save the waka Mataatua even though all odds including tikanga were against her. Used in counselling with wāhine needing to find inner strength.
Te Aranga Ake
The state of Awakening
Activation has occurred. The inner being is being awakened to discover where they are from, why they are here and their legacy.
EARLY IMPACT
Aroha
- Te Pou o Hinetītama is the place you call home your connection through your whenua to your place of identity
- Using whakapapa, waahi tapu, urupā, we connect whānau back to their place of origin, to the cosmos through Io and Tuwarea to their physical presence.
Te Ohonga Ake
The state of Awareness
Learning is commencing, they are ready to learn new knowledge and becoming better informed of other factors unknown to the learner.
SHORT TERM OUTCOME
Māhaki Wairuatanga
- Te Pou Ihorangi represents the spiritual and cultural beginnings of whānau originating from the spiritual creator.
- Ngāti Awa believes in the 10 heavens from Kikorangi through to the 10th heaven, Tuwarea. Te Apaarau is the place and space that occupies a heaven that contains an existence unique to each and accessible to those who need to find their inner strengths. Connecting the physical and spiritual realms.
Te Mōhiotanga
The state of Knowledge
Mōhio means to learn. Mōhiotia is to be in the process of learning. Mōhiotanga is when a person has arrived to some informed conclusions.
MEDIUM TERM OUTCOME
Kanohi Kitea
- Te Pou Aotūroa recognises the world around us and all the influences both negative and positive that contribute to our development
Te Māramatanga
The state of Enlightenment
Māramatia means to be moving towards the state of fully understanding the knowledge you have learned. Te Māramatanga is the state in which one has fully comprehended the knowledge imparted to them.
LONG TERM OUTCOME
Tino Rangatiratanga
- Te Pou Mataaho
- Upon achieving all four Pou that make a person holistic and in a state of optimum wellness this Pou combines all the previous 4 to produce a person who is in a state of Te Pou Mataaho
- Through the use of Te Reo and hui we utilise history, whakapapa, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, wairuatanga and aroha to start the pathway of tinorangatiratanga
