Activating Te Tiriti Practice and Cultural Confidence
RISE has been working collaboratively to develop cultural confidence as a Tangata Tiriti organisation, building skills, knowledge and understanding to strengthen outcomes through mana enhancing, Tiriti informed relationships.
RISE is working with Thirdspace Aotearoa to learn more about Te Tiriti, and find ways we can lift the mana of te ao Māori in our mahi.
We want all clients to feel comfortable, seen and respected at RISE. We also want to build our staff’s confidence and capability in bicultural spaces.
Therefore, an important part of the sessions is to help ensure our Māori clients feel more at ease when they come to RISE by making te ao Māori more visible and authentic in our work and our offices.
Thirdspace Aotearoa’s Resource Design Lead Jaime Kingi (Ngāti Raukawa) says it has been holding monthly sessions with RISE and exploring different kaupapa during those hui.
The first workshop looked at Te Tiriti of Waitangi. It also placed Te Tiriti in a local context by examining what happened in Te Tauihu (The Prow of the Waka of Māui, also referred to as the Top of the South Island) and the impacts on the region’s eight iwi.
Jaime says another session examined how te ao Māori’s creation pūrākau (story) could be applied and used with the Cycle of Change approach RISE already uses working with clients.
The creation pūrākau tells the story of how Ranginui (sky father) and Papatūānuku (earth mother) were separated by the atua Tāne and light was brought into the world.
RISE’s cycle of change – looks at the different stages people experience when thinking about and making changes, they include pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, relapse and maintenance.
Jaime says the creation pūrākau starts in the state of te kore – or nothingness, but in te ao Māori te kore is also a space of great potential. Out of this Ranginui and Papatūānuku were separated bringing in light and space for people to thrive.
From a te ao Māori perspective pūrākau can often teach us how negative situations have a positive light, and this positivity could be a way to help reach some clients, she says.
“We discussed how the creation pūrākau can layer over top and fits quite nicely into some of the cycle of change categories. It’s another way to give mana to te ao Māori in their workspace.”
The sessions also have looked at tikanga – partly in preparation for when RISE visits a marae later in the year. A deeper understanding of tikanga will also help RISE feel more comfortable in bicultural spaces and settings. It will also empower staff to feel more comfortable to use te reo or tikanga at work – for example in their mihi whakatau when welcoming new staff.
RISE is working to become better Tangata Tiriti and to find ways we can lift the mana of te ao Māori in our mahi.
Jaime says RISE has been given a karakia to use and have been working on the reo they need for their introductory paku mihi and pepeha. They have also learnt about the reasons why Māori introduce themselves this way, the way it builds connections, and why that is so important.
She says the RISE team has been good to work with.
“They are open-minded and somewhat educated in this space to begin with. There was already an existing respect and acknowledgment of what has happened in the past and a readiness to continue to learn and move forward.”
RISE general manager Dee Cresswell says it has been very beneficial working with Thirdspace Aotearoa and she is already seeing changes around the RISE offices.
“Staff are feeling more confident in using te reo and bringing their learnings into practice,” Dee says.
“From an organisational perspective our cultural journey alongside Thirdspace is meaningful and is helping us authentically embed and work at becoming Tangata Tiriti.”
She says this is another step on RISE’s cultural journey and RISE is looking forward to taking this knowledge, using it in their work and continuing to build on it.