Family Futures

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A dvancing S ocial I ntegration and I ntergenerational Solidarity
ity and housing costs; medical costs; cost of household items;
changes to benefit levels (government income support) owing to
changing whānau circumstances; stress and the affordability of
school sports trips. Nevertheless, the protective factors of Tūhoe
traditions provided buffers against adversity for these whānau
– for example, a hapū raising money for a whānau to bring the
deceased back home from another country for burial.
The cultural resources the Tū hoe whānau identified as factors
that strengthen resilience included the transmission of Tū hoetanga
– the world view or essence of being Tūhoe; Whakapapa –gene-
alogical connections to each other and the land through the past,
present and into the future; Whanaungatanga –kinship relation-
ships; Kanohi kitea – the ‘seen face’, or being physically present
with one another; and Marae –a central, ancestral meeting place
governed by tribal protocol and one of the few places where
Māori can be essentially Māori; and Ahurei – coming together
for the biennial Tūhoe Festival where up to 25,000 descend on
their tribal homelands to celebrate their Tūhoetanga.
Social resources included whānau hapū , iwi, Māori and
non-Māori organizations and committees. Access to education
that provides immersion in Tūhoetanga and Māori language
along with information technology and online learning are
significant educational resources. Tūhoe have their own tertiary
institution and the local schools support Tū hoetanga. Between
2008 and 2010 there were increases in tertiary enrolments
among Tūhoe living in the Whakatane Territorial Authority.
Enrolments here increased by 51 per cent compared with an
increase of 7 per cent among Tūhoe nationally.
The whānau stressed the leadership of kaumātua (elders) as
essential to their well-being. In the Tūhoe case study, the pref-
erence is for Tūhoe to work with their own whānau directly,
as they are trusted to do so. Advocacy from within the whānau
is the first step, then the wider whānau, followed by the hapū
and/or iwi. This means the focus is on the entire whānau, not
isolated individual members.
Economic resources included Koha, a reciprocal giving of
time, food, and other resources. Māori communities are adept
at fundraising and quickly come together to fundraise regu-
larly for wh ānau in need. There is also income derived from
whānau and land trusts, housing on tribal land, and signifi-
cant farming and forestry trusts.
Environmental resources included access to resources from the
land, lakes and rivers which provide rongoa (traditional medicines)
as well as a food supply. As the Kaitiaki (guardians), whānauwork
with the resources to ensure sustainability. There is also the oppor-
tunity for communities to develop their own natural resources. For
example, the community of Ruatāhuna put in its ownwater supply
and is exploring the use of its own energy sources. These resources
strengthen whānau resilience and create choices for whānau.
Consequently, the Tūhoe whānau have many protective factors to
support them in times of economic hardship and adversity.
In this study, whānau wanted the whānau service provid-
ers trusted by the community to be better resourced to work
with them. This is an ‘inside-out’ approach, recognizing key
roles in the community that are known and respected by
local people. The approach is preferred to formal ‘outside-in’
interventions that are implemented in isolation of kaumatua,
marae and the hapū, and which tend not to engage wh ānau
because trust is not easily developed.
The study found that the South Auckland wh ānau experienced
financial pressures around job loss, food insecurity and having
to use food banks, costs of tangi (funerals), the clothing and
food trucks that operate on credit arrangements leading to debt
and loan repayments, changing benefit levels, power costs, rent,
adult health issues, children’s health issues, medication costs, the
expense of whānau members coming to stay, and school fees.
In the face of such pressures, many of these whānau have
shown significant resilience on a daily basis. They do this
with the support of effective organizations that are trusted by
whānau and are supported and resourced to work with and
walk alongside whānau. Like Ngāi T ūhoe, these urban-based
wh ānau also drew upon their cultural resources. However,
this was largely in isolation from the traditional support
structures of hap ū and iwi. Consequently, they built strong
networks with friends and neighbours. Furthermore, M āori
organizations and churches were also called upon to fill this
significant gap in traditional support structures.
The cultural resources these whānau drew on included Tikanga
Māori (Māori values and customary practices). Although isolated
fromhapū and iwi networks, their lives are framed by these values
and practices. They drew heavily on Whanaungatanga (the prac-
tices that strengthen kinship relationships). One mother said: “I
refer to my neighbours as whānau even though we have no blood
ties.”Whānau also provide aroha (love), andmanaakitanga which
includes providing food, money, fundraising, clothes, furniture,
transport, and sharing of household appliances and lawnmowers.
Whānau seek out activities and organizations that support
their Mana (self-esteem and personal dignity). In times of stress,
whānau used karakia (prayer) to support and sustain them. Their
social resources also included Kaumā tua who build and maintain
networks along with churches, sports clubs and urban marae. As
with the Tūhoe whānau, people also sought out opportunities
for further education. The study found that four out of eight
mothers were engaged in tertiary education such as nursing, a
Feeding the whā nau: from left, Ponti Te Moana, Boz Te Moana
and Charlie Wiremu
Image: MRangiaho Te Moana