Indigenous Psychology: Applying Māori Values to Leadership

Please note that all registrations have to be paid in full before the event takes place - otherwise you will miss out on receiving the Zoom link. This event will be recorded for all those who are registered on the day. Recording is available for three weeks.

Māori leaders hold distinctive roles in relation to progressing Māori needs and aspirations. Dr Wirihana’s PhD research aimed to identify how 13 Māori women’s life experiences influenced the development of their roles as leaders within Māori communities. Using life story narrative and pūrākau (traditional Māori narratives) as a methodological analytic tool the study identified four major findings. First, the source of Māori leadership grew because of nurturing received from their ūkaipō (early childhood nurturing and protection) and was maintained by their connections to their whakapapa (genealogy) and whanau (family) expectations. Second, specific experiences that led to māramatanga (enlightenment) precipitated and guided their roles as leaders. These included experiences of wairua (spirituality), mātauranga (education), and their responses to racism and discrimination. Third, their roles as leaders were inherently defined by their communities needs and their social, historical, political and cultural contexts. Fourth, the individual characteristics they portrayed in their roles as leaders were transferred across generations through oral intergenerational knowledge transmission steeped in narrative traditions such as pūrākau (creation stories), waiata (songs) and whakatauki (proverbs). To summarise, Dr Wirihana’s workshop aims to explore how Māori leadership has developed based on traditional Māori knowledge and practice and can be applied to meet the needs of contemporary Māori communities. Moreover, the workshop highlights how this research can provide a basis for exploring potential in the context of our clinical work by drawing from traditional Māori narratives to inform and guide engagement with whānau.

PRESENTER: DR REBECCA WIRIHANA

Dr Wirihana is of Ngā Rauru kī tahi, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri, Tainui and Ngāpuhi, Irish and Hawai’in descent. Currently residing in Te Tai Tokerau, she is the Principal Advisor (Trauma) for the Crown Response Unit to the Abuse in Care Inquiry. She was raised in rural Taranaki but spent the majority of her career working in kaupapa Māori community mental health and addictions services while studying in Tamaki Makau Rau. Since leaving Tamaki in 2014, she has had the privilege of working in a kaupapa Māori research institute, health psychology services and a kaupapa Māori community alcohol and drug counselling services before returning to Te Whatu Ora ki Tai Tokerau. Dr Wirihana has a passion for working with whānau with a focus on generational healing and well-being, particularly given the complex impacts of historical trauma within Indigenous communities. Her research has focussed on Māori experiences of learning te reo Māori, Māori leadership and Māori healing and well-being from intergenerational trauma. Dr Wirihana is an active member of He Paiaka Totara and the President Elect for the NZPsS. She is excited about her transition from this role into the Presidency this year.