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E Mahara Ana Te Whanau: The Family Remembers

Abstract:

Indigenous New Zealand women live in two worlds, the world of the predominant Anglo-Saxon culture (Walker, 1990) and the world of taha Maori. The interface among the cultures brings about a tension between traditional and modern definitions of childbirth and motherhood (Daviss, 1997) for wahine Maori. Wahine Maori come from diverse backgrounds (Durie, 1998; Ministry of Women's Affairs, 1993) and share a universality (Rabuzzi, 1994) with women in general in wanting: to have sovereignty over the birth process; to have a safe birth; and to retain their mana as wahine and as members of whanau, hapu and iwi. Women are central to the transmission of traditional cultural wisdom (Long & Curry, 1998) encompassing childbirth beliefs and practices (Daviss, 1997). Among the Maori are tribal elders, kuia, aunts and mothers who are pivotal in the journey of wahine Maori towards childbirth and motherhood. Colonisation (Durie, 1998; Walker, 1990) and the medicalisation of birthing processes (Abel, 1997; Ramsden, 1994) have been factors that have resulted in the breakdown of cultural transmission (Daviss, 1997; Long & Curry, 1998). This paper review the need for health services to collaborate with Maori communities traditional or otherwise to support constructive transformation for wahine Maori and the role of government policy making in sustaining Maori values and beliefs.

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cultural wisdom, indigenous women, Maori