TE HOKOWHITU A TŪ: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE, ENVIRONMENTS & WELLNESS IN AOTEAROA

Centre for the Law and the Environment Assistant

Centre for the Law and the Environment Assistant

Oct 20, 2022

Social media card announcing the Te Hokowithu a Tu workshop

Friday, October 14, 2022, 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM PST

The workshop speakers applied ancestral Māori knowledge in partnership with the environment to address contemporary issues in Indigenous health, education and wellness.

Te Hokowhitu a Tū are the 140 warriors of the war god Tūmatauenga, and the name adopted by New Zealand's all-Māori contingent in WWI. The battalion's 500 Māori volunteers, drawn from across Aotearoa, were renowned for their ferocity, pride and cooperation, often leading enemies to vastly overestimate their numbers. The battalion's formation marked the first time that all iwi (tribes) united to fight a common enemy. The name of the workshop not only honours those Māori soldiers but symbolizes the collaborative, Indigenous-centred, decolonial focus of this event, grounded in Māori knowledge.

About the speakers

Photo of Dr. Ihirangi Heke

Dr. Ihirangi Heke | Dr. Heke is active in helping Māori and other indigenous groups build their own health and wellness activities based on their traditional environmental knowledge. Dr. Heke retains an Honorary Research Fellow position to the University of Auckland’s Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and was recently contracted to consult to Google X’s diversity initiative to address unconscious bias.

Photo of Paora Messiah Te Hurihanganui

Paora Messiah Te Hurihanganui | Te Hurihanganui is a son of the sovereign tribal nation of Ngāti Rangiwewehi and is of Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa descent. Paora is currently the CEO of Te Arawa Whānau Ora and a PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington School of Health.

Photo of Hemi Tai Tin

Hemi Tai Tin | An educator at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kōtuku (a Māori immersion school), Tin is endeavouring to re-connect Māori descendants to their environment using the many metaphors of the white heron to guide their philosophy of Te Aho Matua.

Poster announcing the Te Hokowithu a Tu workshop
  • Centre for Law and the Environment

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