E tae rā anō ana ngā kōrero ki te āhuatanga onāianei o te hunga mahi tapuhi Māori, ka kī a Kerri Nuku, ko te kaiwhakahaere o Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO e whakaritea ana te wānanga.
Among the topics for discussion will be the current state of the Māori nursing workforce, said Kerri Nuku, the kaiwhakahaere for Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO which organises the conference.
“Ka tautuhi mātou i tētahi rīpoata nā ngā mātanga ōhanga, ā, he tino whakaohorere ō rātou kitenga, engari he Māori tātou, ā, e mōhio ana ahau ka taea e tātou kia eke panuku ai.
“We will be highlighting a report by economic experts and their findings are scary, but we are Māori, and I know we can rise to the challenge.
“Kei whea kē e pai ake ana kia tautuhi i tēnei hiahia, ko ngā ōhanga o te tapuhitanga Māori, i te wānanga nui rawa atu i te whenua o ngā nēhi Māori.”
“What better place to highlight this need, the economics of Māori nursing, than at the country’s largest gathering of Māori nurses.”
Ko te take o te wānanga e toru rā te roa, ko te ‘mauri oro, mauri reo, mauri ora’, e kōrerotia ana ki “tētahi hokinga mai ki te tōiritanga, ki te reo me te hauora mā te arotahi mātauranga Māori,” kua kīia e Nuku.
The theme of the three-day event is mauri oro, mauri reo, mauri ora which speaks to “a return to vibration, voice and wellbeing through the lens of mātauranga Māori,” Nuku said.
“Nō muri i te wānanga i tērā tau, kua kakari tātou i ngā kōkiri a tēnei Kāwanatanga haumi ki runga i a tātou anō, nā te mea ka kawea whakamuri e rātou te hauora Māori, ā, me te hauora o te iwi katoa hoki,” hei tā Nuku.
“Since last year’s conference, we’ve been fighting the attacks on our people from this coalition Government because they are taking Māori health, and the health of the entire nation, backwards,” Nuku said.
“Nō reira, ahakoa ngā kōrero taumaha i te wānanga e pā ana i ngā take nui i tēnei tau, e whakaritea ana hoki ngā āhuatanga tika e āhei ai ngā nēhi kia noho Māori noa iho — kia noho mārika i te mātauranga ahurea, me te mātauranga tuku iho, hei whakatā, hei whakahou i a rātou anō mō ngā pakanga kei te mōhio mātou e haere ake nei.”
“So while we won’t be shying away from talking about the hard issues at this year’s conference, we’ve made sure to include many elements this year that allow our nurses to just be Māori – to immerse themselves in cultural and ancestral knowledge, to relax and reset for the battles we know are coming.”
E ai ki te tatauranga hou o te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa e 7 ōrau noa iho te hunga Māori i roto i te hunga mahi katoa o ngā nēhi engari e 17.4 ōrau kē rātou ko te iwi Māori o te taupori katoa.
The most recent Nursing Council statistics indicate that Māori make up just seven percent of the nursing workforce but are 17.4 percent of the population.
Ka tīmata te wānanga i te Wenerei, i ngā rau ākonga Māori o Te Rūnanga ka hui tahi i tō rātou hui-ā-tau me tētahi wānanga toi.
The event starts on Wednesday when hundreds of Te Runanga’s Māori students meet for their annual general meeting and art-based wānanga.
“I tērā tau kua tītohia e ā mātou tauira tētahi waiata, e hoputia ana ō rātou aurongo, me ngā piropiro o te nuinga o ngā nēhi Māori i taua wā. E kawatau ana kia kite anō i tō rātou mounga whakamīharo i tēnei tau.”
“Last year our tauira wrote a song, capturing how they, and most Māori nurses, were feeling at the time. I’m expecting to see another amazing masterpiece from them this year.”
I te Tāite ka hui mai ngā ākonga me ngā rau o ngā tapuhi e mahi ana me ngā tapuhi whakawhānau i te Sir Howard Morrison Centre kia rongo i te rārangi kaikōrero, e tae rā anō ana ki te ringatoi a Linda Munn, me te rōia Annette Sykes, te kaiwhatu Māhina Raharuhi, te kiritohe ā-toi a Frances Goulton, te māngai Pāremata o mua Donna Awatere me ngā rangatira tapuhi Māori, Wikitoria-Raukura Mitchell me Kathryn Chapman.
On Thursday the students and hundreds of working nurses and midwives will gather at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre to hear from a lineup of guest speakers, including, artist Linda Munn, lawyer Annette Sykes, weaver Māhina Raharuhi, art activist Frances Goulton, former MP Donna Awatere and Māori nursing leaders Wikitoria-Raukura Mitchell and Kathryn Chapman.
Ka whakawhiwhia te tohu tino hira Akenehi Hei i te ata Paraire, ā ka whakawhiwhia ngā Tohu Tapuhi Kaitiaki — ngā tohu nēhi Māori — i taua pō tonu.
The prestigious Akenehi Hei award will be presented on Friday morning while the Tapuhi Kaitiaki Awards – the Māori nurse awards – will be presented that evening.