September 03, 2013
Kainga crucial to whanau life
Kaumatua from around the country have been meeting in Auckland to discuss ways to strengthen the family.
Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua hosted the two-day hui, which was part of the E Tu Whanau series funded by the Ministry for Social Development as a way to find Maori ways to tackle family violence.
Runanga chair Naida Glavish says it was valuable for Maori to take stock and talk about things from their own perspective.
She says one thing that emerged was the importance of the kainga or village as a shared Maori space and the basis for whanau.
"The kainga is in reference to where your umbilical cord is, where your whenua is buried, where it really matters in terms of 'when I die I'm going home kei te kainga,' and where you are living now is a house, it's not the kainga, and it is a home, but it’s not the kainga," Ms Glavish says.
Ngati Whatua will find ways to share the outcome of the hui, possibly as part of the publication covering E Tu Whanau.
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