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Download AudioA Tai Tokerau rongoā Maori practitioner says there is still resistance to traditional health practices within mainstream New Zealand.
Jo Murray of Māori cultural development organisation Te Aho Tū Roa, says the Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill which is working its way through parliament still does not enable dual pathways that would allow both western and Māori practices to exist side-by-side.
“If there was true partnership we would be running dual everything because it’s about us in our own space, our own mana whakahaere to be able to carry out these practices without some of these legislative restrictions,” she says.
Jo Murray, says Māori are just as safety conscious as western medical practitioners – and after generations of caring for whānau, they have their own codes of practice, and models for qualifying Maori rongoā practitioners.
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