Ngāti Kahungunu is moving towards an Iwi-led Health Authority, Te Toka Tū Moana o Ngāti Kahungunu (Kahungunu Health Authority), an initiative born out of years of partnership, advocacy and lived experience.
On the back of the first address of Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, calling for Māori independence, Ngāti Kahungunu are looking to embody those words.
Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Chair, Bayden Barber says the Māori monarch’s words further cemented the idea to establishing the Kahungunu Health Authority and leading the nation in new iwi-led ventures like this.
“E kōrero ana mātou, e whakaaro ana, hei āhea te wā tika kia whakarewaina tēnei kaupapa. Ētahi i pirangi te whakarewa i tērā marama. Ko tāku noa, me waiho ake ki te kōrero tuatahi a te Kuini kia whai hāngai ki āna kōrero, ana kua pērā.”
Focus on delivering whānau centered health services
The Kahungunu Health Authority will be a Māori-led initiative focused on whānau accessing holistic, whānau-centred health services.
However, for more than 15 years Ngāti Kahungunu has been pursuing this goal of an iwi-led Health Authority, sending health workers from the region overseas to better understand indigenous and mainstream health services.
Barber says, researching different health systems and services from overseas was a means to finding different pathways to deliver better health services for Māori.
“Kua 15 tau te iwi nei kua tuku ā mātou kaimahi, hauora nei, ki roto o Alaska ki te āta titiro atu ki te pūnaha hauroa motuhake, iwi taketake, o tērā whenua.
“Kua toro atu mātou ki reira, ki reira hopu ai ētahi whakaaro.”
Te mana motuhaketanga o Ngāti Kahungunu
Nō te wiki kua taha ake, me te kauhau tuatahi a Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, e kōrero ana mō te mana motuhaketanga o te iwi Māori, me te tahua pūtea kua whakaritea e te Kiingitanga, mō te kotahitanga te take.
Ka mutu, he ara tēnā ka whāia e ngā iwi maha o te motu, ā, ko Ngāti Kahungunu te tuatahi o ngā iwi katoa ka takahia tērā huarahi.
Hei tā Barber, kāre rātou i aro atu rā ki te kāwanatanga hei tauawhi i a rātou, engari he kaupapa e kōkiritia nei e te Māori, mō te Māori.
“Ehara i te mea ko te kāwanatanga te kaiwhakahaere o te anamata o Kahungunu. Ā ko tēnei te tohu ki ō tātou nei whanaunga, e kao, mā Kahungunu anō a Kahungunu e ārahi kia tae pai atu ki te anamata e tika ana.”
He tahua pūtea tō Te Whatu Ora e 32.7 piriona tāra te nui i ia te tau.
Ka mutu, ko te kī a Barber, ka noho tonu te iwi Māori hei papa i ngā tatauranga kino mō te hauora, ā, he nui noa atu ngā ara ka whāia e rātou e tutuki ai ō rātou wawata.
“Mō te hauora kua noho mōkai mātou mō ngā tau e hia nei, i roto i ngā tekau tau, ko tātou tonu te papa.
“He timatatanga noa tēnei, ko te tūmanako ia ka whai mai ko ngā iwi o te motu, kia rapu i tētahi kotahitanga kia tū ai tētahi mea ā motu.”
