Working with Whanau in Mental

Health
Ken Taiapa
05 June 2013
 Overview

• What is the whanau?

• Why is it important working with whanau?

 What is the whanau?

• Whanau
The notion of whanau is drawn from a Maori
worldview and is used to refer to the extended
family; the family in its entirety. This can mean
Mum, Dad, siblings, uncles, aunties,
grandparents, first, second, third cousins and
other distant relatives.
Why are whanau important to mental health

• Discuss in groups and report back

 Importance of working with whanau

• Whanau
Are an integral part of the support framework
for tangata whaiora. From this perspective they
are a key feature of the recovery pathway of
mental health patients, as they can either hinder
or support the healing journey.
What do we know about whanau?

• The traditional function of whanau

• Outside influences on the whanau
 Social Organisation

Traditional Social Organisation

Whanau
Hapu
Iwi
Waka
Social rank

The aim is to create an understanding of the complex social

networks that underpinned customary Maori society and its
functions
 Social Organisation

In traditional time Maori society was regulated by a strong

hierarchical structure under which a persons social role was
determined by their place in the structure.

Another unique aspect was a focus on the things that connected

people rather than the degrees of separation - which was more
common in some western cultures. This collective identity was
apparent at both the micro and macro levels and sometimes used for
strategic purposes.

Lets have a look …

 Social Organisation

Whanau - family

• Derived from the word whanau – to give birth

• Basic social unit
• Biological family - to begin with (Buck, 1977)
• Extended to include wider relations
 Social Organisation

Hapu – sub-tribe

• Derived from the word hapu – pregnancy

• Refers to extended family
• Based on birth from a common ancestor (Buck, 1977)
• Expanded into multiple hapu who maintained close
ties which were reinforced through trade and
marriage
 Social Organisation

Iwi – tribe
• Political grouping
• Canoe ancestor or one of their descendants
• Includes all hapu descended from a common ancestor
• Often fought with one another but united against
outside iwi
• Some adopted ancestral names: Rongowhakaata
(Poverty Bay), and Manukorihi (Waitara)
 Social Organisation

Waka – canoe
• Largest social grouping
• Based on confederation of tribes descended from
waka that arrived in the fourteenth century (Walker,
2004)
Social Organisation

3 Levels of Rank in
Hapu and Iwi:
• Rangatira (chiefs)
• Tutua (commoners)
• Taurekareka (slaves)
 Social Organisation

Seniority between leaders in traditional Maori society

was determined by descent from original ancestor
(Walker, 2004).

Rangatira:
1st born in the male line: Ariki
Junior or teina brothers were Rangatira
 Social Organisation

Marriage
Marriage was a very strategic ceremony as it enabled hapu and iwi to build
alliances with others. Scouts who had been trained by the tohunga would go
to other hapu to organise a meeting with the rangatira who would grill the
hapu. When an ideal match was found the wife would accompany the
husband back to his hapu. This would formalise the alliances between hapu
and iwi for trade and in times of war.

Note: people from tuakana whanau did not marry people from teina whanau.
This was to maintain the social structures that bound each community.
 Hang on …

This is all very good but how did they all manage to live
together without police officers and ‘law’?
 Social Roles & Order

Traditional Maori settlements usually contained 200-500 people

living in close contact. This indicated a high need for order and
control to ensure the survival and wellbeing of the collective.
This was maintained by the social role each person was given
according to their place within the tribal hierarchy. This was a
way of making all people feel valued.

Some these roles included:

Collecting seafood, harvesting fruit from the ngahere, weaving,
formal speaking, healthcare & rongoa, mahi whakairo etc.
 Social Roles and Order

As the primary source of life the environment was carefully

managed to ensure the on-going sustenance of the collective.
To do this the surrounding land and ngahere were divided into
sections, like and invisible grid. Each person knew what area
they would be in gather food through the seasons, as well as
which areas were to be left to replenish.

Food gathering wasn’t an everyday task either. It was common

knowledge that tangaroa and tane needed time to rest.
 Colonisation

The colonising process heralded massive

changes to iwi and hapu. On one hand it
presented an opportunity to adopt and adapt
the tools of the western world for the advantage
of hapu and iwi, and on the other it was the
driver of marginalisation.
 Colonisation

This camein the form of land and culture

alienation at the hands of the Crown following
the signing of the treaty. This led to the first
breakdown in the notion of the whanau. This
often happened under the auspices of progress.
 Urbanisation
Urbanisation of Maori in the 1950’s further led
to the breakdown of Maori culture and society.
As people left their rural tribal homelands for
the city in search of work, they became isolated
from their traditional support structures; the
whanau.
 Whanau today

The role of whanau continues to be the main

support framework for tangata whaiora today. In
spite of the changes that colonization and
urbanization placed on whanau, it still draws on
the same nurturing, collectivist values and
function as in times past. This is especially
important to mental health and how we engage
tanagata whaiora.
Thank you
 References
Abercrombie, N., Hill, S., & Turner, B.S. (2000). The Penguin History of Sociology (4th ed). Albany:
Penguin Group NZ

Benet-Martínez, V., Leu, J., Lee, F., & Morris, M. (2002). Negotiating biculturalism: Culturalframe switching in
biculturals with oppositional versus compatible cultural identities. Journal of Cross- Cultural Psychology,
33, 492–516.