THESE DAYS OF OUR LIVES
In her day job, Dr Hinemoa Elder guides young people in extreme mental distress. In ko¯ rero with Ataria she explains how traditional Mā ori understandings of the lunar cycle guide her, and why she is sharing them in these tumultuous times.
Sharman,
There’s something comforting in the fact that as the moon orbits, we only ever see its face. There is a constant connection between the earth and the celestial body that coaxes our tides and keeps us steady on our axis.
‘‘Hina, she’s not turning around; she’s constantly watching. I think this is a fascinating thing to think about, Hina in a kind of kaitiaki [guardian] role for Papatā ā nuku,’’ says Dr Hinemoa Elder (Te Aupo¯ uri, Ngā ti Kurı¯, Te Rarawa,
Ngā puhi-nui-tonu).
As a Mā ori child and adolescent psychiatrist Elder holds a kaitiaki role in her everyday life, but as author of Wawata Moon Dreaming, I think of Elder as kaitiaki for Hina, like Hina is for Papa.
The book’s subtitle is ‘‘daily wisdom guided by Hina, the Mā ori moon’’. It sets out the rhythm of days as seen through the eyes of our tā puna, not as a seven-day week, but by the maramataka – a lunar calendar in which each day of the month has its own energy.
For example, today, October 9, is Rā kaunui when the moon is at its fullest. ‘‘Tonight is the night to look long and hard into ourselves in the full beam of rā kaunui,’’ writes Elder. ‘‘We cannot hide tonight.’’
I am nervous when I connect with Elder by Zoom. She is a tuakana to me; I am a teina. She’s someone experienced in being interviewed, public speaking and talking, a recognisable face since her days as a television presenter in the 1990s.
Now on Te Motu A¯ rai Roa/Waiheke Island, her home for more than 20 years, she wears a cream woollen jersey knitted tightly beneath her moko kauae. We ko¯ rero in te reo for a while before I get out of my depth and tell her I’m on my learning journey. We share similar stories of reclaiming our language that start with her mum and my nanny, the same as many other Mā ori.
The two of us have something in common; our whā nau originate from the North, Te Tai Tokerau. She codeswitches between te reo and English, her pronunciation immaculate. Talking to Elder is like talking to one of my aunties.
The beginnings of Wawata were seeded many moons ago. Elder started collecting maramataka models in the 2000s, which she still has in her home. ‘‘I started buying those [maramataka] and using them. I found them useful because they had pictures of Hina and descriptions of what you could do on different days.’’
The particular taonga that Wawata draws on is the okoro [maramataka model] of Ted Jones, a whanaunga of Elder in Taipā , Northland. Ted made the original in 1969; Elder first saw it on her cousin’s wall in 2020.
‘‘I saw this amazing picture on the wall. Honestly, it was like being hit by a truck and getting goosebumps. I was like, ‘Oh, cousin. Why haven’t I seen this before? It’s amazing!’’’
The okoro is reproduced on the inside cover of Wawata. Four rings of circles emanate outwards on a galaxy night sky with descriptions of the 30 days of the Mā ori lunar cycle.
Ted was 16 when he made it after meeting navigator and traditional waka builder Tā Hekenukumai Busby with his Grandmother Raiha Moeroa Jones. They shared information on bits of paper. From this transmission of knowledge, the circular okoro was born.
Elder began writing the book on the individual days of the Mā ori lunar cycle in 2021 when waves of Covid-19 disrupted Aotearoa. ‘‘There were lockdowns and coming out of lockdown, always this uncertainty. So I wrote a daily reflection on the energy of that day.’’
It’s not like Elder needs to write books to fill the time. She’s a psychiatrist at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland, and in 2019, she was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to psychiatry and Mā ori. Elder is also a researcher on traumatic brain injury for AUT, and a member of the New Zealand Mental Health Review Tribunal. Alongside lawyers, psychiatrists and community members, she’s an important part of the hearing process for those treated under the Mental Health Act.
As a Busara Circle member for the Australian organisation Homeward Bound, Elder is part of a senior women’s group called on for their wisdom, experience and leadership. Its mission is to increase the influence of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medical professions.
She is also one of 26 women in Women Emerging, a programme that explores women’s leadership approaches. One of the more recent topics was mothers in the workplace, which connects strongly to Elder’s profession as a psychiatrist.
‘‘I work with women and their babies, women with severe mental illness. So I’m very interested in exploring the research which shows that, you know, there are a lot of biases in the workplace about women who are mothers at work.’’
In her daily work at Starship she sees more and more young people entering the system with severe mental illness, an issue that has only worsened during the turmoil of the last three years.
‘‘I think it is fair to say that the level of complexity, the level of desperation and at times life feeling overwhelming is higher now than it was before Covid,’’ says Elder. ‘‘We have seen an increase in our Mā ori whā nau, around double the proportion of rangatahi Mā ori in the community.’’
While Elder’s psychiatric work in medical science may seem removed from the maramataka, her work with the okoro is integral to her role in supporting whā nau. Cultural resources are a tool she uses to reinforce cultural identity.
‘I think Aroha and Wawata are examples of tools for reclaiming identity. Tools for reclaiming our lives as Māori people. These books are part of a cultural toolkit we can hold in our own hands, examine in the privacy of our own homes and share with those we trust.’ PETER-LUCAS JONES
Displacement and intergenerational trauma make it difficult for many Mā ori to connect to their cultural identity. Elder highlights this as a critical part of her work and why Mā ori are overrepresented in mental illness.
‘‘We want to bring out our Mā ori cultural resources to serve the whā nau in our care when working with them and getting to know them. Knowing the day of the month and being able to include that in our mihi to our patients. Any opportunity to infuse our cultural resources and mā tauranga is very much part and parcel of what I do.’’
The importance of Elder’s work in this space is echoed by the cousin on whose wall Elder first saw the okoro. Te Aupo¯ uri whanaunga Peter-Lucas Jones (also Ngā i Takoto), is general manager of Te Hiku Media in the Far North, deputy chair of Whakaata Mā ori and chairman of the Iwi Radio Network.
‘‘It’s not that our whā nau decided they did not want to embrace their identity. Their identity was ripped away from them and the journey to reclaim our identity is not easy for everyone.’’
He describes Elder as kind, caring and someone who has always stayed connected with her whā nau, hapā and iwi. ‘‘She reminds us how important
identity is for our whā nau. To be mindful that many of our people have been alienated from our language and culture because of colonisation.’’
Wawata, follows on from the success of Elder’s Aroha, a collection of 52 whakataukı¯ [Mā ori proverbs] that was the top-selling New Zealand non-fiction title of 2021.
Peter-Lucas Jones believes Elder’s books are tools for those on their cultural identity journey. ‘‘I think Aroha and Wawata are examples of tools for reclaiming identity. Tools for reclaiming our lives as Mā ori people. These books are part of a cultural toolkit we can hold in our own hands, examine in the privacy of our own homes and share with those we trust.’’
Elder is a role model for many Mā ori, particularly wā hine Mā ori, in reclaiming their identity. Her background in television and celebrity began in the 1990s with youth shows such as 3.45 LIVE! and The Bugs Bunny Show, followed by a high-profile marriage to the late television and radio journalist Sir Paul Holmes.
In the years that followed, Elder left television to pursue medical studies in psychiatry. She reclaimed her moko kauae and proudly wears it, although she has had to speak publicly against racism. And she is still active in the media, more
recently for her live performance with nine other impressive wā hine Mā ori at the M9 Matariki event and as one of the Indigenous 100, a podcast by Julian Wilcox celebrating indigenous thought leaders.
Although she didn’t grow up speaking te reo for the same reasons as I and many Mā ori, Elder went on her learning journey and is now fluent. This is an act of courage, determination and resistance.
Peter-Lucas Jones explains why this is. ‘‘It’s different for a Mā ori person that doesn’t speak Mā ori to learn than it is for Pā kehā . Pā kehā don’t have to feel inadequate about not knowing their language or less than for not knowing their culture.’’
In her reo practice, Elder reminds herself to try different things, such as writing the opening dedication in Wawata in te reo and welcoming mistakes. ‘‘Learning te reo was challenging. I always return to Pania Papa and her ko¯ rero about ‘nau mai te hapa’, welcome the hapa. And look, you know, I’m like everybody else. I make mistakes, then I go back and think, oh, I don’t think the grammar there was quite right. It’s about trying, refining and improving all the time.’’
Combining her love for te reo and the maramataka was one of the reasons for writing Wawata. ‘‘I started writing this book because I was trying to find ways to remember [the names of] each of the faces Hina shows us through the month.’’
It is a task to remember 30 names, from whiro, tirea, ohata, o¯ uenuku and okoro, in a language that isn’t your first. This is why Elder chose to retell tā puna stories and parts of her own to aid in remembering them.
‘‘Even though I have been using these beautiful model maramataka for years, I hadn’t found a way to embed the names.
‘‘I think that often happens when we’re learning our language again. I realised I need stories to help make meaning of those things.’’
It’s an auspicious time for the release of Wawata, with Matariki, the Mā ori New Year, made a public holiday for the first time this year.
‘‘Isn’t it wonderful we’ve had Te Wiki o te Reo, Mahuru Mā ori and 50 years of the Mā ori Language Petition? To see how people are embracing te reo, particularly our own.’’
Elder pauses for a moment and then continues her ko¯ rero. ‘‘[Wawata] is another resource I hope can help people on that journey.’’
This is the book Elder wished she had read when she was young.
Wawata – Moon Dreaming: Daily wisdom guided by Hina, the Mā ori moon by Dr Hinemoa Elder published by Penguin is out Wednesday, $30.