WAVES Conference 2024: Taurikura takes the national stage, contributing to building a strong, healthier system for the future and beyond

For more than twelve months, Healthy Families East Cape have been working collaboratively with local swimming club Comet Swimming, and Māori Womens' Welfare League Ngati Uepohatu to explore a Te Ao Māori approach to water safety with whānau and their pēpi across Tairāwhiti. The initiative, Taurikura, is grounded in a Māori worldview and draws upon the foundations of mātauranga Māori to impact and improve wellbeing for whānau, hapu and iwi in, on and around the water.  

It is this very approach to water safety, centred around whānau and their pēpi that saw Healthy Families East Cape receive an invitation to the prestigious Waves Conference 2024 in Lower Hutt at the end of August. The Healthy Families East Cape team will be embarking on their trip to Te Whanganui A Tara, the venue of the event, to not only participate in building a resilient, responsive and sustainable swimming sector, but also present the Taurikura approach that has seen improved relationships between whānau and wai (water), and has created a roadmap for future generations to reconnect to our whakapapa through wai, beginning with our own pepi. 

Led by collective values of pukengatanga (empowerment), manaakitanga (welcoming and safe experiences) and kotahitanga (working together), the WAVES Conference boasted an impressive lineup of guest speakers from across Aotearoa New Zealand, speaking on a range of kaupapa from swimming confidence, mātauranga Māori and better preparing our communities for swimming in different aquatic environments.  

The presentation from Healthy Families East Cape, whilst centred on the Taurikura kaupapa, was an opportunity to highlight and showcase the power of mātauranga Māori, particularly the Maramataka, on the national stage, and the innovative ways in which the team is utilising traditional, indigenous tools to grow and educate our future generations. 

Healthy Families East Cape Rautaki Māori, Jade Kameta, says that at the heart of an initiative like Taurikura is the fundamental idea that we are fostering transformation through the lens of Māori and indigenous worldviews. 

“Taurikura is innately “us”, from the very beginning of the water confidence sessions till the end, we draw from the knowledge and systems of our ancestors that have been passed down to us, in order to maintain and create wellbeing for our pēpi. This is what was central to our presentation at WAVES and it was received positively by the audience.” 

In addition to the excitement of being able to present at WAVES, was the opportunity to connect with other programs and kaupapa Māori leads, including Kauora ki Otaki Pools. Kauora is a whānau derived theory and praxis of swimming that is based on whānau pūrākau (narratives) and mātauranga Māori to flourish health and well-being in and around the water environment (Raureti, 2023). Their talk discussed the strength of working in partnership from the perspectives of Kauora lead Terina Raureti, Ōtaki Pools manager Shelley Ashton, and learn to swim instructor Kiri Winiata-Enoka.  

Both Kauora and Taurikura are a part of Tangaroa Ara Rau, a collective of Māori practitioners and researchers passionate about kaupapa wai, and who lead and contribute to mahi around wai with regards to: Māori water safety messaging; networking with indigenous water safety leaders and kaimahi; provide Māori advisory to non-indigenous water safety groups; advise on water related tikanga (safety in and around wai); support and run wānanga and conferences; rangahau; teaching, and; rauemi development. 
The haerenga to the WAVES Conference also provided an ample opportunity for Healthy Families East Cape to connect with our whānau at Healthy Families Hutt Valley, connecting kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) with our Hutt site and providing time for teams to wānanga about the Healthy Families approach and strengthening the mahi (work) we achieve as a collective. Healthy Families East Cape thanks our team at Healthy Families Hutt Valley for their manaakitanga and time to tautoko our team. 
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For more information and to stay connected with Taurikura, follow us on Facebook and also on our website www.healthyfamilieseastcape.co.nz, and reach out to Tomairangi Higgins at [email protected]z ​