Rangatahi Māori in Manawatu are being offered a way to heal through hunting, gathering and connecting to te taiao.
Pania Tepaiho-Marsh, who previously started Wahine Toa Hunting to encourage girls to engage with the outdoors by gathering food, has now stared a hunting wananga, Hakuturi.
While there are parallels between the programmes, Hakuturi is aimed at rangatahi who are may have complex emotional needs.
“It’s that holistic approach I think we’re missing off our children right now . We can do all the things like boot camps and chuck them in (youth jail) but what happens when they get out? We didn’t heal the mamae. We didn’t do it. We’ve just held them accountable for their actions, ka pai, but then what? The actions will repeat because they’re not doing it because they want to. They’re doing it because they’re mamae. They’re doing it because they’re not being healed,” she says.
