MAORI CULTURE

This is about understanding Maori values and culture. Maori thinking is quite opposite to pakeha (Maori for European New Zealanders) thinking, in that they tend to go outwards and understand something holistically, and this includes their own identity. (Durie, M. & Hermansson,G. 1990). Something must be understood by its place in society and the relationships that form from this. To Maori, dualism doesn’t exist, except for the tapu and noa system of dividing things in those which are touchable and those which are not. Maori traditionally do not separate the heart and head in the way they express themselves. They do not tend to verbalise their feelings, rather they demonstrate them openly and honestly. They may tend to have different expectations of a counsellor than a Pakeha. While most counselling techniques used in New Zealand have been imported from America or England, these need to be tailored to suit Maori needs, which are not as westernised in expression. Reducing a Maori person's requirements, to locating small details about what happened to them (if they had emotional issues) won’t necessarily find solutions. Instead, they may not find the need to speak about all they are feeling, but would be more satisfied speaking about their relationship to the family/whanau, their iwi or their place of birth. This would give them more of a sense of connection to those things which matter most. Maori do not normally seek "self-actualization" or to become self-directed and relying only on themselves to find solutions within, they are a social people and tend to perceive their identity as part of a group/tribe. To Maori doing one’s own thing is unhealthy -- if they are not connected and working together with many other people in society. So a counseller should not impose western ideals to stand alone and be self-reliant upon Maori during counselling.

There are three essential concepts for counselling Maori which have been addressed by Professor Mason Durie and Gary Hermansson (1990). These are Whanaungatanga, whakamamawa and mauri. The first, Whanaungatanga is addressed to the person’s relationship to their family, as well as extended family. Maori tend to include a large number of people under the term family. They tend to keep track with each other by visiting all over the country, and so this can place demands on their time and energy. Secondly, whakamamawa is the need to demonstrate encouragement and caring for someone, to show basic compassion. Touch is important from a Maori perspective and they like to feel connected this way to people to get to know them with human warmth involved. Many words would not be a substitute for demonstrating simple human kindness in need. Thirdly, mauri expresses the life essence of something and its connection with those things all around it. It is the spiritual component. A person who has good self esteem and positive energy has mauri flowing well. It depends on may things like the tribal connections. It shows the unseen force backing something.

As part of implementing the Treaty of Waitangi in work practices, premises can be made very welcome for Maori.
I consider these things helpful:
Know the Maori language with notices written in Maori alongside English. Pronounce Maori names correctly.
Watch Maori TV and listen to MAI FM and Maori music to be more in tune with Maori emotionally.
Offer refreshments, when they arrive.
Subscribe to the Kokiri Paetae Maori and other Maori newspapers and magazines.
Have Maori poems and designs on the wall.
Keep articles on Maori activities and keep up to date by watching documentaries on TV about these.
Learn some karakias and waiatas. (prayers and short songs)
Learn a Maori craft, e.g weaving, or Maori art and design. Learn what the Maori carving symbols mean.
Have Maori books to read in waiting room.
Get in touch with people from Maori organizations to refer clients to the right people if they need contacts with them.
Be familiar with where each iwi (tribal territory) is located and be able to know the people for the client to contact, to be in touch with their own tribe.
Have an assessment form the client can fill in at the end of the final session to know if their expectations were met.
Have a range of helpful brochures similar to the Citizen’s Advice.
Do a course in drawing therapy to add skills to help the client express themselves with art, if they prefer. Also have art materials there in case they would prefer to picture what they can’t yet find words for. As Maori can be very creative, I would ask if they’d like to do a picture each week to show the inner process at work and then they can take them when they go. If other clients allow it, pictures from other Maori clients could go on the wall as an inspiration.

A diagram picture of a Maori metaphor called "Putangitangi" can go on the wall so the Maori client can understand in a visual way, why (at the start of the series of sessions) initially they may be asked questions about their life as a whole. Do they feel comfortable placing theirself into categories, regarding what culture they are more comfortable in, of the four areas. The traditional Maori culture; Pakeha culture; both cultures or are they not connected strongly to any particular culture? Did one represent the person they would like to become? The NZ Journal of Counselling (1993) gave a description of this model named Putangitangi which defines how Maori can define their identity in four categories, according to changes which have happened to them since the colonization of New Zealand.

According to Davies, S., Elkington, A. & Winslade, J., contemporary Maori can place themselves in a range of categories which fit in four quadrants of a circle, which represents the present dominant cultures upon them. For simplicity, this has been divided into four areas which a native duck called Putangitangi, frequents. These are: the sky, the sea, the land and rivers of Aotearoa/New Zealand. At any time the duck may inhabit one of these areas and easily traverse the boundaries. They may live in one habitat and not be able to perceive the possibility of living in another, or even how they may all be accessed on different occasions. The vertical axis represents the influence of the dominant culture on what they think about themselves, with the horizonal axis showing the strength of their ethnic influences and their thoughts on that. The top right quadrant should show which particular dominant culture has been the strongest, in comparison with their traditional background. This would represent the sky. In the bottom left quadrant we can put those in whom the dominant culture has had minimal influence and this would represent the land as forming their main identity. In the top left quadrant we have those people who are influenced equally by the dominant culture and their ethnic traditional culture. Their identity is fluid and they can be represented by the river. The bottom right quadrant represents those in whom the dominant culture has not shaped their definition of themselves and neither has their own ethnic culture. They are "in the sea", as many influences affect them and they don’t often find an identity which is firmly defined. They have not accepted both cultures and they may even fear rejection by both of these.

Cultural identity in New Zealand Maori has become diverse and the 1991 census has revealed that Maori have now identified themselves in different ways (Te Puni Kokiri, 1993, as cited in Davies, S., Elkington, A. & Winslade, J.,1993). The census revealed there were 511,947 with some "Maori" ancestry. 433,080 said they were the "NZ Maori" ethnic goup and/or another ethic group with the smallest number of 321,396 claiming to belong soley to the NZ Maori ethnic group. NZ's population is 4 million. (Of that, very loose approx ethnic figures are: 1 in 7 have Maori blood, up to 2 in 7 have English origins, 2 in 7 Scots, 2 in 7 Irish, and the remainder Pacific Islander, Asian and mostly other European. Some have mixed origins and all Maori have some European ancestry somewhere along the line from inter-marriage) So using the word Maori to identify oneself frequently has within it the possibility that another race is present. It might be appropriate for a Maori client to show how much tradition they are influenced by before the counsellor initially leaps in with the Carl Roger’s client-centred practice style of trying to make a person stand alone and be self reliant. Though a modified version with the empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruency remaining is still applicable. To Maori to be apart from their tribe and family is not a healthy way to be living. The Putangitangi definition of placing oneself in a category would be a good start to see what options would suit the counsellor to begin the style of counselling sessions. But the counsellor needs to be well versed in Maori culture in order to feel the necessary empathy for the client, and walk in their shoes, which is part of the key to helping the client to open up and release their emotions.

d’Ardenne and Mahtani (2004) cite Reber as saying, "...race cannot be defined usefully using only genetic criteria. The whole biological issue is fraught with complexity and contradiction. He concludes that a useful definition of ‘race’ must include social, political and cultural factors." There may not necessarily be a firm distinction between one’s race and culture sometimes, bringing back the question of nature and nurture. This may overlap and sometimes one may be misjudged at being thought of a particular racial character, but they’ve been brought up in an area where their own race has been scarce. So they may define themselves by their relationship to in society, rather than their own race. It may depend on if traditional ways are reinforced or not in the family, especially if one has a Maori parent and a pakeha one. However they still may identify strongly with Maori if they are linked to a marae with associated expectations. If a Maori has pakeha blood, they may also align with whichever side of them they have a better relationship with. If they are not in touch with people with all their racial heritage they may not feel complete. Although a person’s appearance may show one aspect more, this can vary even with brothers and sisters in one family, ultimately how a person feels shows how they cope with life. A metaphor developed which can establish cultural identity is available, not only for Maori with Pakeha blood but to understand how Maori are adjusting to New Zealand society as a whole, but expressing their own identity within it.

Some appropriate questions to ask might be about the Maori client’s family, and what culture does the partner (if they have one) come from. Is this a help or hindrance in the client’s identity perception? How often do they see family members and are they close by? Do the partner’s culture, if different to theirs, dominate theirs to its detriment? Could they increase contact with their own tribe or iwi by moving to an area closer to them. Is there a Marae nearby? Going to a marae isn’t a completely predictable experience according to Durie (2004) because what happens on marae doesn’t equate with a single Maori psychology, and the way they do things varies slightly across the country. However, the potential of regularly connecting with one for Maori has the potential to contribute to health and well-being, by reinforcing traditional Maori social behavior and cultural norms. This can sometimes help when an individuals Maori identity has not fitted into either a Maori or typical New Zealander’s pattern, because of inconsistency in relating or communicating with one or the other. Durie (2004) says that marae allowing Maori to have a secure identity is good for spiritual health, as research has shown there is an overwhelming desire for Maori to retain Maori, rather than be assimilated into Pakeha ways. Alienation from mainstream society and Maori society is both a cause and effect of disadvantage. He says that Maori values and principles can be learned from numerous opportunities to think and feel according to tradition and there at the marae they have less chance of being misunderstood e.g. by indirect thinking, which to a Pakeha might be interpreted as disordered though, but to Maori this is normal in that they are generally more abstract thinkers -- they tend to think outwards, away from details, and compartmentalized thinking. Maori tend to perceive their identity in relation to others, as well as their relation to the earth, their home, and relationship to God.

Maori have ideals in areas that paheka have none worth speaking of e.g. in the way they treat natural materials. Durie (2004) describes the word mauri as embodying the concepts of dynamic life force and the network of interacting relationships that result between some thing and another thing. To Maori nothing is dead, whether rock, river, tree or person. Their life fields live on beyond the vision of the human eye. The mauri concept is taken into consideration when valuing something and gives it it’s identity and uniqueness. Patterson (1992) writes that when Maori traditionally use materials they focus on maintaining the harmony engendered by their contact with it e.g. if flax is taken from a plant care is taken not to destroy the whole plant, when taking off leaves. If a wooded area is chopped down to make a house, the ideal is to make something beautiful from it, furthering its value. Things are not used for instant gratification or purely practical reasons. The consequences must be thought about as an effect in relation to other parts. For Maori to live and indeed anybody to feel inner harmony, it is healthy to have a positive relationship to the environment, and where nature has been respected, it can have a positive effect on the soul. Maori are very spiritual people and Patterson (1992) writes:

It is very rare to meet a Maori atheist. Almost without exception, Maori acknowledge the existence of a Being that is superior to humans. Traditionally, they would acknowledge a range of gods e.g. Tane of the forest; Tangaroa of the oceans; Tawhiri of the winds etc. As well as a number of local and tribal deities.(p.83-83)

Care was taken not to offend the gods. Tapa and noa must be invoked so the right protocol is done. This formed the Maori form of regulation and control of living, whereby everything was divided, people, places, or events into either category so as to know if one could approach it or keep away from it or not at that time..

Maori have the right to have their potential in all areas of life recognized and developed. This has been stifled and destroyed in past mistakes by laws passed by the crown after the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, was signed in 1842 by Queen Victoria and Maori giving equal rights to Maori and paheka. Maori believed that they were giving only governorship and British military protection to New Zealand, not signing away all their authority to the British to rule them. At the signing there were approx. 2000 European settlers and between 100,000 and 200,000 Maori. Durie writes that Dr. Peter Buck put Maori as high as 500,000. Durie says that they declined to as low as 42,113 in 1896. Captain Cook in approx. 1769 estimated Maori to be about 100,000, though inland Maori numbers were not known. (Figures as cited by Durie, 1995) The English version and Maori language version however, were different in how they described the sharing of authority. This may have been due in part to the hastiness of the document translated into Maori or that there wasn’t an equivalent Maori word for sovereignty. Other reasons have been put forward such as an accidental omission or the text was too simplified. The Treaty of Waitangi bringing British governorship over independent New Zealand was done quickly, in part according to Orange (1997) because, "Busby remained wary of increasing French and United States activity in New Zealand waters...he hoped to inhibit the intrusions of any political power other than Britain".

The possibility that the French were intending to take over New Zealand while no Europeans had laid official claim to it yet, (being only a few hundred settlers at that stage) was another reason to draw up a declaration of who actually was in charge of New Zealand and to keep lawfulness amongst the British colonists who were needing supervision. A Frenchman Baron de Thierry had already singly declared himself in charge of New Zealand in 1835 whilst living on land which he’d purchased. He’d surrounded himself with a Maori bodyguard trained in Tahiti. As well, French sailors massacred 250 Maori in 1772, after they slew a Frenchman. Many American whalers also frequented New Zealand before the Treaty and it wasn’t unnoticed how expansion of U.S.A. territory was a possibility. Orange (1997) says that, "Chiefs, however, were shrewd enough to see the advantages to be gained by forming an alliance. Indigenous societies in Tahiti, Hawaii and Tonga were adjusting to the accompanying European intrusion. " Maori were used to the British and their missionaries had already set up 24 stations in the North Island by 1840. Western diseases and the muskets (sold to tribes which were promptly used against each other in traditional tribal rivalries) had depleted the numbers of Maori and eventually some Europeans worried that they would die out altogether because of this. Britain didn’t annex New Zealand, but made it self governing and for the first time decided to let the indigenous people retain their rights. The Christian concept of peace appealed, so many Maori converted to Christianity and it initially gave the British a good name by knowing what principles they followed as a nation. Maori saw common ground to work together in future, so the British settlers were accepted as co-ruling partners in New Zealand. The fact that the British were the most powerful military in the world at the time gave the idea that no enemy would be able to withstand its protection of New Zealand against any other country that had ideas on annexing New Zealand. Other countries including Spain could have tried to take New Zealand, while it was unprotected because the tribes were not united and many were enemies so there was no single Maori ruler of New Zealand either.

Now much needs to be done to address social problems which have been developed by the taking away of equality, and especially land, language, traditional healing and customs in the ensuing years which brought this about from 10 years after the Treaty was signed and then not adhered to. As well as the initial introduction of alcohol, cigarettes, gambling and now drugs. If key differences between the English and Maori Treaty text and if the Maori version had been adhered to many social problems may not have ensued. The English version said all Maori were confirmed, "guaranteed exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties". In the Maori version, which approximately 500 chiefs signed eventually, (in order to allow Queen Victoria to govern New Zealand and protect it from possible impending invasion by other countries, when only about 2000 settlers occupied it then and it wasn’t strong enough to stop this) Maori were,

"...guaranteed the unqualified exercise of their chieftainship over their lands, villages, and all their property/treasures." It also gave a guarantee that Maori would have the Queen’s protection and all rights accorded to British subjects. Yet this was not adhered to and still isn’t yet implemented into NZ law in full, only the principles of the Treaty. It was a partnership between Maori and the Crown and the active protection of Maori people in the use of their lands and waters to the fullest extent possible. Article Four in the Maori translation states, "That cultural values be protected under article two." (The Treaty of Waitangi text, as cited by Migrant News 2005)

Patterson (1992) writes that Moana Jackson says that to Maori the power to impose a legal law was tied to the ancestral and spiritual origins of it -- the authority, if the law comes from the ancestors, and the mana implied in that power to impose it. The relationship with one’s own tribal ancestors have always given Maori their personal identity and veneration for them happened because the tribal mana was passed down. It wasn’t just knowing the genealogical table, but what they did, because that gave the ethical precedents for their descendants behavior. Patterson (1992) cites Jackson as saying that the Treaty of Waitangi relates to following the ancestors, as it is still binding as a solemn agreement -- a spiritual covenant that cannot be lightly dismissed. In other words, the material rights agreed upon in the Treaty have spiritual sanction. Therefore, as so many ancestral Maori chiefs signed the Treaty, as far as Maori are concerned, it is as binding today as the day it was signed. NZ paheka, on the other hand don’t necessarily feel bound by contracts of the ancestors, as they are more self contained and influenced by their own personal decisions as to what loyalties they will adhere to at any given time. As well, one political party, Labour, is more committed to the Treaty whereas the opposition party, National, does not want raced based funding. If National gets elected next time, it will be a blow for increasing the Treaty to be made into law, and any pakeha or Maori that did want to increase Treaty obligations would be powerless to do anything about it, unless other factors influence.

Claudia Orange (1997) writes,

Throughout the 1850s, it became more difficult for Maori to reconcile government actions with official statements about the treaty’s good intent, and there gradually emerged a strengthened resolve to resist the imposition of British supremacy. Maori, often referred to the sovereignty they wished to retain as the ‘mana of the land’, began to ask more searching questions about the power and authority that could be exercised by chiefs and government...A new dimension developed as the colony moved towards self government. It had been apparent for some years that practical application of the treaty would have to be worked out in New Zealand (p.136-137)

In history, Maori society was not egalitarian due to the ranking system being foremost from the chief to the ones of low birth. The NZ Paheka in contrast generally believes that one’s achievement can be best gotten by taking training opportunities, standing on their own two feet and working for their rank in society. Although the British class system operated in Britain as the emigrees settled in NZ, it was soon done away with, especially with women being the first to get voting rights in approx. 1892, about 50 years after Europeans arrived. During this period at the turn of the 20th century Maori lost most of their land (due to being swindled into selling it), their language and were confined to lowly jobs. It was not always this way for Maori to be classed subservient. But this lack of opportunity to become what were the ideal traits of a Maori nobleman, pre-settlement had an effect of giving Maori general low self esteem and inability to place their role in society. Maori traditional character traits were cited by Patterson (1992) from J Johansen in 1958.

These were:
fighting ability,
giving the gift of victory,
firm and fearless mind,
contempt of death,
magnanimous,
‘living the life of the whole tribe’,
honour of promises and agreements,
diligence and skill in obtaining food,
liberality,
being of few words,
how to love and honour people,
kindness,
a certain reserve,
being weighty in speech,
subtle and steady in movement and dance.

The ideal character traits were not unlike Aristotles, so it was indeed a great loss for Maori to lose almost everything they valued. Twenty years after signing the Treaty, when different settlers arrived and governed and who had no particular role in the signing process, different conditions were brought about for Maori social conditions. More NZ land was sold in London, not taking into consideration the health (physical and spiritual) of Maori not retaining their tribal lands. According to Raeburn Lange, (1999) although many Maori on the northern east coast interacted more regularly with Pakeha and took on Paheka ways, (as taught by the many missionary schools) in particular, becoming Christian and learning to read the Bible. Many inland Maori, who hadn’t adjusted so rapidly to the changes brought by Paheka, became disconnected with their land and therefore identity. She writes that early Maori placed a huge amount of emphasis on the supernatural and this permeated their every action. It was their religion. Sickness was regarded as a moral problem, and as a result of disharmony with nature and society, or possibly at the instigation of a sorcerer. A malevolent spirit was deemed the cause of pain gnawing the organs or destroying the mauri (life force) or perhaps sickness came from offending one of the deities.

Peter Buck (1877-1951), a Maori doctor said, (as cited by Lange, 1999) "The Maori’s body is strong, his organs are sound, but in disease the mental factor comes in. Once the fear of the supernatural enters his mind, unless it is removed, his dies. " Other doctors noticed the same thing (according to Lange, 1999). An army surgeon-major in the 1850s noted an early Maori man might get ill, or imagine himself ill and believed he was being afflicted supernaturally, so he refused food and lay prostrate, becoming apathetic. After losing hope, which sustained life, and starving himself, the disease of his imagination caused him to die. A. K. Newman (as cited by Lange, 1999) also said early Maori became completely overwhelmed by the enormity of their sin, when they became sick and lay down to die passively, as if from severe mental shock. Dr. Peter Buck, (as cited by Lange, 1999) wrote that European doctors could give no relief if a Maori thought it was mate Maori (Maori sickness) then it was. They may also have believed it was from infringing tapu (bar on going near a place).

This may have been the cause of the extremely short life span of Maori pre 1769, before Captain Cook discovered New Zealand. Though the early European settlers didn’t live long either due to harsh conditions. Ian Poole (as cited by Lange, 1999) put the average life expectancy of Maori at 28-30 years, when NZ was first colonized. Durie (1995) put it at 25-35 years and he writes that Maori life expectancy by 1991 had risen to 68 years for males and 72.9 for females. It also may have been due to the teeth wearing down from the gritty shellfish and fibrous fern root in the diet enabling malnutrition. Lange (1999) writes that because of the isolation of Maori before European settlers arrived they were shielded from many acute viral diseases that were epidemic in the western world and these also required more people to spread. So they did not naturally develop an immunity to cholera, typhus, typhoid fever, bacillary dysentery and smallpox. It is not known if streptococcal and staphylococcal bacteria were present. There is no evidence of tuberculosis found inn the pre-contact period. Due to poor housing being given to Maori when they lost their pas which were build on hills (where damp didn’t rise so much) and the adherence of tapu and noa and general high basic hygiene according to tradition (the latrine was placed well away from the village) their social conditions deteriorated rapidly. This was hastened by poverty, overcrowding and malnutrition.

Although pre-contact Maori had a short lifespan, they at least flourished in numbers due to the tapu/noa system they adhered to for keeping down the germs. Lange (1999) lists as making tapu or a no go/no touch area: the dead and their possessions; sick people, removing and not eating uneaten scraps of food in case of them being in contact with someone’s head (another tapu place), removing human body waste and body fluids, including blood. Spitting was discouraged. Stagnant water was tapu for drinking. Noa means that something can be done or used, it is free from restriction. It’s also possible that a more varied western diet, and conversion to Christianity, which would remove some fear of the supernatural, (which traditionally caused a wasting away of hope and probably depleted the immune system from stress) as well as help from the early missionaries who were most often doctors, help the lifespan lengthen. Though other factors which include new diseases, inter-tribal fighting with muskets and wars with the British thinned out the population up to the start of the 20th century. The missionaries translated the spoken Maori into words and printed the Bible into Maori for them. This was the first Maori book. Maori were once subsistence cultivators and food gatherers and then later started growing vegetables for trade purposes. They became a more resilient, adaptable culture after about 1900, but the years from about 1850 until then were bad for Maori as far as having their traditional hierarchy in tribally shared lands, which were sold by individuals without consent of all iwi members, and the loss of everything that went with it -- housing and a social support structure. They were almost wiped out when they lost more than half the numbers and they lost their traditional understanding of their place in society, their easily identifiable ethnic tribal identity. Some Maori through loss of their traditional place in society have lost their ability to cope in a western ruled world and according to the book Hauroa (1995) have had increasing schizophrenic psychosis, affective psychosis as well as increased drug and alcohol addiction since the 1970s. Also Maori women have suffered increasing depression and there are a large number of cigarette smokers. Maori are increasingly becoming institutionalized and make up half the number of prison inmates and forensic units. Suicide is also increasing.

In summary, although many Maori have created a new identity from the aftermath of settlers bringing disease, conflict, dispossession, and loss of traditional belief and value systems, avoidable lifestyle health problems have now replaced these as a further hindrance to their progress as an ethnic group. Tobacco, alcohol, drugs, hypertension, bad diet, poverty and the associated social friction in families have taken over as the main problems to be tackled now. However, the Waitangi Tribunal (developed by the NZ government to implement the quest for lost Maori equality and rights) has started making inroads towards returning lost ancestral lands to Maori, and funding social and health services more suited to Maori needs. The Maori psychiatrist Mason Durie (2004) has written extensively about the reasons for Maori failing health and social problems, in that he has identified many causes why the western health system is not entirely suitable for Maori advancement. The Waitangi Tribunal was set up in 1975 to address the treaty settlement process and this includes iwi/hapu/whanau groups, as well as individual claimants and their lawyers, agents and Ministers of the Crown. The Tribunal is a permanent commission that gives recommendations brought by Maori that relate to actions, breaches and omissions of the crown regarding the guarantees made in the 1842 Treaty of Waitangi. About half the 16 members are Maori and the other half are Paheka. Property claims are settled and unfairly taken land has been given back to Maori.

Hirini Moko Mead (2003) also writes that the Waitangi Tribunal has been successful in bring about many Maori language pre-school, along with teaching Maori language in primary and secondary schools. Tertiary institutions have played a major role in increasing active roles for Maori ensuring that tikanga Maori (Maori customs and values) and knowledge is studied and pursued with more interest. Government now distributed literature in both English and Maori and has set up primary health centres with Maori staff to cater more for the needs of Maori. The last 20 years has seen an increase in understanding Maori philosophy and culture thanks to many Maori academics who have written books which show many more sides to Maori mental and social processes and changes they have gone through since colonization. Since health have given race based statistics, it is easier now to keep track of where the most need is for Maori social services. Also the census asking what tribe/s one belongs to will go further in keeping track of tribal progress. Maori mental health has come a long way in the last 2 decades since the first hui was held in 1983 where Durie introduced his Te Whare Tapa Wha model to determine Maori overall health: Taha Wairua in which the focus is spiritual. Faith is determined and the person’s relation to unseen and unspoken energies; Taha Hinengaro where the focus is mental, but this covers the capacity to think and feel. Mind and body are inseparable; Taha Tinana in which the focus is physical and physical health, growth and development is determined and Taha Whanau which determines the capacity to belong, care, share and link with the extended family. These four aspects build the side of a house and are necessary in order for health to be evaluated from a wider perspective, rather than just getting a medical doctor to give medicine and not ask about these things. Many huis (assemblies) have been held at marae (meeting houses) now which embrace this Maori concept of overall Maori development and well being and progress from a more positive angle. These huis have also been made to address lifestyle problems such as bad diet, stimulants, gambling and violence, by reconnecting Maori with their own culture and addressing the causes which may not be easily apparent to paheka. However, they are able to have the best of both worlds with a combination of western medicine, as Maori health professionals determine which are the most important health needs to be addressed from liaisons with iwi. (Durie, 1995)