July 30, 2013
Rongoa resisting red tape
Traditional Māori healers are determined to keep their mahi from becoming too bound up by rules and red tape.
Rongoa Māori practitioners met in Parihaka over the weekend to share knowledge and discuss issues affecting the sector.
There is now some government funding and support for rongoa, but practitioners are wary of capture.
Te Kāhui Rongoa trustee Marilyn Vreede says healing is a gift, and the path to becoming skilled in rongoa is not conventional.
"They don’t need qualifications as we know qualifications. They have the skills. We need to acknowledge those skills because they are not of this time. We need to acknowledge these things are happening and they are valid resources for us as Māori, because they are Maori," Mrs Vreede says.
Many healers were brought up in fear about who they are, and they now need to find a balance.
Ngā Take Rongoā
He wehi nō ngā tohunga rongoā kei pepēhi rātou i raro i ngā ture mē ngā tikanga Pākehā.
Koia tētahi kaupapa kōrero ā aua tāngata i tā rātou hui ki Parihaka i ngā rā whakatā.
Kua whakawāteangia ētahi pūtea hai tautoko i ngā mahinga rongoā engari, e matakana ana rātou ki ngā pānga ō te whiwhi moni.
Kaati e kī ana te Kāhui Rongoā, horekau he hua ō ngā tohu ā te Pākehā, kei tēnā, kei tēnā ōnā pūkenga, mē ngā mōhiotanga tuku iho.
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