Walk The Talk of Our Ancestors
Waiata : Courtesy of Moana Maniapoto
The title of this round table ‘Walk the Talk of our Ancestors’ is a line from the waiata (song) ‘Ancestors’ by Moana Maniapoto. It is a powerful reminder of the strength of the knowledge that our tūpuna (ancestors) have gifted to us and future generations. This round table provides a discussion of key ideas around Indigenous research methodologies that are grounded upon traditional practices that have been shared through Intergenerational knowledge transmission within Indigenous collectives. The round table includes Māori and Choctaw researchers working in areas of Indigenous health & wellbeing and the reclamation of Indigenous knowledge, language and cultural practices. Each of the presenters, Leonie Pihama, Marjorie Lipsham, Naomi Simmonds, and Michelle Johnson-Jennings are involved in research that brings forward ancestral knowledge as a means of informing and undertaking research with our own whānau (extended families), iwi or tribal nations. They will each draw upon that work to discuss Indigenous research methodologies and methods that are embedded within Indigenous knowledges and practices and that are driven by the aspirations of our whanau (extended families), hapū (sub-tribal groups), iwi (tribal groupings) or Native communities. Indigenous methodologies of kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophical approaches); wānanga (Māori cultural practices of collective knowledge sharing; mātauranga-ā-whānau (knowledge and practices generated from within whānau contexts); and walking journeys across Tribal lands (Land based healing methodologies), will be shared. Each of these methodologies are informed by mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), as shared and practiced within our whānau, hapū and iwi and Choctaw traditional knowledge forms and practices. Round Table presenters will provide insights into these approaches as examples of how Indigenous communities and nations are bringing forward traditional knowledge as ways of informing both research methodologies and methods.
Presenters: Leonie Pihama, Marjorie Lipsham, Naomi Simmonds, Michelle Johnson-Jennings
Watch NAISA 2021 Virtual conference: Walk The Talk Of Our Ancestors here.
Further Reading from these Presenters
Leonie Pihama
Marjorie Beverland
Michelle Johnson-Jennings
Discrimination as a barrier to Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people’s healthcare in New Zealand
Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people experience a number of challenges when accessing healthcare services in New Zealand. While discrimination in the form of racism is a known barrier experienced by Māori accessing primary healthcare services, little is known about discrimination as experienced by Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people. Our study sought to understand discrimination – racism, homophobia, transphobia and misogyny – as barriers to accessing primary healthcare as experienced by Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people. Discrimination by ethnicity, sexual and gender identity experienced when accessing health services in the last 12 months was self-reported by 368 Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people in a non-representative national survey of adults aged 18 to 75-plus years. This was the first survey of its kind in New Zealand.
More than a fifth of participants reported significant emotional and physical health problems requiring healthcare, yet 47% reported their GP likely did not know their sexual identity, and 20.9% reported their GP likely did not know their gender identity. Easy access to GP services is the cornerstone of primary healthcare in New Zealand, yet GP clinics were cited by 19% of participants as places where they experienced racism, 17% reported experiencing homophobia at their GP clinic, and 25% reported experiencing transphobia or misogyny. Last, 11% of participants reported they had low or no trust that health services would treat them fairly as Takatāpui or Māori LGBTQI+ persons.
Our study confirms that discrimination in the form of racism, homophobia, transphobia and misogyny is experienced by a significant proportion of Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people when they seek to access primary healthcare services. Workforce development is urgently required before primary health services can claim to be the cornerstone of preventative healthcare for Takatāpui and Māori LGBTQI+ people in New Zealand.
Watch NAISA 2021 Virtual conference: Honour Project Aotearoa here.
Presenters : Leonie Pihama & Alison Green
