The
Changing Face of Māori Development
“Ka
pu te ruha, ka hao te rangatahi.”
“A new net goes fishing”
Dr
Wiremu Manaia
Senior
Lecturer
Division
of Maori Health
School
of Population Health
Faculty
of Medical and Health Sciences
University
of Auckland
This
paper is an extension of research from a PHD thesis entitled ‘The Changing Management of Māori Health Development (1991-2001.)
It has developed from an
evaluation of Māori experiences with managing Māori health
strategies in the midst of health sector restructuring from 1991 to 2001.
Since then several lectures, seminars
and conference papers on this research have been presented and updated
based on Māori health developments in the last few years and
international trends amongst other indigenous population groups. Papers
on future Māori developments based on past experiences and international
trends have been added to this paper and one of these is the development of
innovative future Māori leadership.
Mäori
development has been based on a philosophy of integration, which combines
public sector interests such as health, employment, education and housing, all
of which are considered part of the same Mäori development plan.
A greater impact on Mäori health development can be achieved if the Māori
health strategies are supported by corresponding shifts in other Crown policy
areas. Unemployment, educational under achievement and poor housing are more
relevant to Mäori health than strategies for delivering better health
services to Mäori. This is not
to say that there have not been major gains for Mäori health as a result of
the Governments past Mäori health objectives, it is simply to suggest that an
unfair burden is placed on Mäori health professionals and providers if they
are expected to improve Māori standards of health within the isolated
health sector environment.
Future Māori
development is about expanding this concept on an international scale from a
changing New Zealand society to a rapidly evolving world.
A key imperative for this is the development of innovative, creative
and energetic Maori leaders who may herald an era of Maori entering a global
society confident and skilled in te ao Pakeha, while proud and proficient in
te ao Maori.
This paper also
examines issues associated with Maori parenting today including the
difficulties of raising Maori children equipped to survive and prosper in a
society and world that has limited relevance to childhood experiences of Maori
adults, parents and elders.