Te Pātaka o Whare Tukutuku

Whare Tukutuku – Whānau Supporting Whānau

Te Pātaka o Whare Tukutuku is the storehouse to showcase a by-Māori for-Māori approach in addressing alcohol and other drug challenges.

We know that alcohol and other drug care practices have historically been led through a non-Māori lens. The Pātaka addresses the need to change and develop new knowledge options for an emerging care workforce.

Although the Pātaka will be open to anyone, our priority will be creating opportunities that reduce health inequity. The resources in the Pātaka will be carefully selected based on Māori frameworks of practice and Māori views of oranga.

We let our understanding of whakapapa, our stories, our values, and the work we leave behind be the mountains that always remain.

The pathways to wellbeing are many, choose the ones that inspire and uplift whānau in all the places they are present.

Te Kōrero o Aoraki

In Ngai Tahu oral traditions, Ao-raki is the eldest son of Raki (the Sky Father). Aoraki and his brothers brought their canoe (Te Waka o Aoraki) down from the heavens to visit Papatūānuku, their stepmother.

When Aoraki and his brothers saw that they would not be able to separate their father from his newfound love, they decided to return to the heavens to be with their own mother, Pokoharua-te-pō.

However, when Aoraki was reciting the karakia for the journey back, he made a mistake in his words. The waka stranded on a rock and he and his brothers were marooned.

As time passed, they turned to stone, their hair turned white and they became the highest peaks of Kā Tiritiri o te Moana – the Southern Alps.

There is much to learn from our creation stories. Our stories act as guidelines for us as future generations, explaining to us the relationship between traditional beliefs and principles of life, and the important lessons learnt during the process.

Roopū Whakahaere