Te Rourou Aroha: Healing through raranga - Chapter 3

The following is an excerpt of my Indigenous Masters Thesis

Chapter 3: Rangahau & Literature Review

This chapter will discuss what Indigenous health can mean and why we need to provide tools and education for healthier lives. My theoretical framework is covered in the first part of this chapter: Who will be researched, how the research will be conducted, what the research is and why it is important. Through discussing art and culture as therapy and why it is a beneficial tool for indigenous people, the aim of this rangahau is to promote the art of raranga (Māori weaving) and the benefits it can have for the domains of hinengaro, tinana, wairua and whanau (Te whare tapa wha, Mason Durie).

The literature review will briefly examine:

1. What does it mean for an indigenous/Māori person to be healthy? (Mason Durie’s Te Whare tapa wha) and why is it important for indigenous/Māori people to pursue health for themselves? Their whānau?

2. How can rāranga as culture and art therapy, benefit people in their everyday lives?

3. What kinds of purpose has rāranga had in the past?

4. How can rāranga assist in the domains of well being? i.e (Mason Durie) te whare tapa wha: wairua, hinengaro, tinana and whānau?

Theoretical Framework

Focusing on good mental health is something that all people can benefit from. Art and culture therapy has been tried and proven to have a cathartic, expressive and often healing effect on participants. This research aims to display and discuss the tangible and intangible characteristic’s surrounding rāranga practice which can be used in conjunction with trauma and recovery. Specifically, my research is targeting Māori women in mental health.

WHO you are interviewing, and what their relevance is to the answers you are seeking?

I am working with 2 different groups of participants. The first group that I am researching with are experienced weavers. These weavers are at all levels and have seen or experienced the holistic healing benefits of rāranga in either themselves or others. This is a vital part of the evidence that shall contribute to what is already known about rāranga. This first group are the fundamental grounding that my research is based upon. It is necessary to emphasise that this first group validates this rangahau, as it is real lived experiences and history surrounding rāranga already.

The second group I am working with are participants who live with mental health. There are 3 wāhine Māori, who live with mental health (as I do) and are close friends of mine. I hope to share the knowledge I have surrounding mental health (the social sciences) and rāranga practice with them. They are relevant to my research because they will provide evidence as to how effective rāranga can be for better health. We will go through the movements of learning about harakeke, and tikanga pertaining to rāranga, getting our hands and minds on weaving activities. While discovering how our interaction with harakeke symbolises and reveals our interactions within ourselves and with our environment.

HOW else you will be gathering data and how you will be analysing your data

I will also be gathering data such as health statistics, using surveys, conducting formal and informal interviews with participants, a literature review, using online resources such as video and media articles. I have given my group 2 participants a journal each to write about their personal experiences of rāranga. Their instruction from me was to write as often as they like about what they are learning and their feelings during their weaving journey. This information will all be a part of my final presentation.

WHY you are undertaking this research (what is the overall aim).

I chose to pursue this line of research because I believe art therapy is a powerful tool/medium for healing. I myself as an artist, Māori and someone who has struggled with mental health found much healing through rāranga. I know there is a lot of research on art therapy, horticulture therapy and culture therapy already and I anticipate the many positive and constructive outcomes that can be discovered within rāranga. I have a Bachelors in Māori Visual art, majoring in rāranga and I also have a Bachelors in Social Science, majoring in Psychology and Anthropology. This research is a combination of my training, my passion for people and my personal experience with mental illness. I have found a position within this indigenous masters, where I am able to utilize my resources and help those around me. By sharing my culture, my knowledge of rāranga, the social sciences and my own journey of well-being: My overall aim is to facilitate spaces of healing and growth through learning and manaakitanga.

Literature Review

What does it mean for an indigenous person to be healthy?

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity… The extension to all peoples of the benefits of medical, psychological and related knowledge is essential to the fullest attainment of health” (World Health Organization, 2018). This is a universal definition of what it means to be healthy. For indigenous people however, there is an additional aspect of health that needs to be included when considering health. In Te ao Māori, a whole person is made up of 4 significant parts: Wairua (spirit), hinengaro (mind), tinana (body) and whanau (family/community) (Durie, 2011). The world health organization do not take into account: spiritual wellbeing. For Māori, te whare tapa wha (the house of four walls) represents a person’s holistic health. “Providing holistic healthcare to Māori in a respectful and collaborative way will provide opportunities for health professionals to have a positive impact on the health of individuals, their whanau and, in turn their communities, hapu and iwi” (Cram, Smith & Johnstone, 2003). There are many medical specialists who can provide care for physical and mental issues. But in te ao Māori, being healthy is the co-existence of physical, mental, social and spiritual wellness. When we use te whare tapa wha, we acknowledge that all aspects of our wellbeing are interconnected. Statistically Māori are marginalized in healthcare across the board (Ministry of health, 2017). This is significant because to give Māori a healthier life, we need to know what health is to Māori. Health to Māori is the recognition and care for our tinana, wairua, hinengaro and whānau.

What is art therapy?

Art with therapy? Therapy with art? – Neither, it is art as therapy. There are various opinions about the functions of art and therapy, but this research will discuss HOW rāranga is therapeutic. “…[T]he art therapist is not primarily concerned with making an aesthetic or diagnostic assessment of the client’s image. The overall aim of its practitioners is to enable a client to effect change and growth on a personal level through the use of art materials in a safe environment.” (BAAT, 2003). This example reinforces the idea that no matter how talented or not a participant can be, art encourages the participant to experience growth. Art therapy engages different parts of the brain simultaneously and activates memory, co-ordination, intuition and analytical ways of thinking and being (Lusebrink, 2004).

The triangular relationship, is the dynamic that exists between 1.) the artwork, 2.) the therapist and 3.) the client. Depending on the intention, nature, relationship and various other factors, the importance on each aspect will differ and change over time (Edwards, 2004). Art therapy to me, is the ability to give life to outer, physical and seen realities from the inner, emotional, spiritual and unseen (Oatley, 2003). It is giving voice to things that are difficult to say (Kester, 2004). It is making the uncomfortable topics accessible (Laub & Podell, 1995) by giving the hands tools and minds, activities that can fulfil (Katz, 2000). Significantly, art therapy empowers a person to go to the dark places inside themselves and shine a light where there was none. Art is a form of communication, it is a safe platform to say the hard things (Casey, 1971).

What is culture therapy? Why do we need it?

Culture is a lens. It is the filter through which we perceive the world around us. How we think about and interact with our environment is determined by our culture. A culture moulded by our household, our families, our friends, schools, workplaces, our places of faith, our communities, our geographic placement. Everything we do is culture, including the way we think and feel and act toward (Spencer-Oatley & Franklin, 2012).

As a marginalised person, my culture is something that my ancestors, my tupuna fought to keep. Indigenous culture is in a continuous battle against colonial oppression whether aggressive or subtle (JanMohamed, & Lloyd, 1987). For so many historical and social reasons, there is a need for cultural based therapies that acknowledge the importance of our ancestry, our loss, our survival stories (MacQueen, McLellan, Metzger, Kegeles, Strauss, Scotti & Trotter, 2001). We need our own narratives in a world that so forcefully acculturates us into a Western, white washed, watered down existence (Unwin, 1974). Pursuing the practices of our ancestors reaffirms our connection to the land, it strengthens our identities (Smith, 2013; Wilson, 2008), it gives us back parts of ourselves that often we don’t realise are missing until we find them again. This act of reclaiming our cultural practice can be an individual journey of growth while also signifying social revolution. Cultural based therapy is recognition of a marginalised position, of being generationally disenfranchised. Cultural based therapy is an act of embrace in a world where we are expected to walk as only a fraction of our truth.

How can rāranga (and horticulture therapy) assist on a journey of healing?

The sensory and motor control areas of the brain are engaged when a person involves themselves in the practice of creating art. The parts of the brain that are activated to create art also can be strengthened. This in turn can assist with memory, problem solving and language (Lusebrink, 2004). The harvesting of flax, is the interaction between a person and whenua. Touching, smelling and being a part of the harakeke ecosystem, listening to the birds, cutting away the dead parts of the plant so that it can grow. This is an act of cleansing in a spiritual sense and physical exercise as well as participation within the community. Research shows that gardening is beneficial for all types of health (Armstrong, 2000; Soga, Gaston & Yamaura, 2017). After harvesting, it is preparing the harakeke, sizing, boiling, extracting the fibre: this is an exercise of determination, of patience. Weaving (the prepared harakeke) and creating is therapeutic but practical as it shows acquisition of knowledge. This is good for self-esteem and self-expression (Magrane, Ephgrave, Jacobs & Rusch, 2000). The finishing of the kete achieves a sense of accomplishment, has a new skill, and means of therapy that costs nothing but time.

Qualitative Rangahau

INTERVIEWS

GROUP 1 - Experienced weavers

“Ko te rāranga he rongoa o te ngakau, te hinengaro, te wairua, te tinana rāranga is a medicine of the heart, mind, spirit, body” - Jacqui/My Mama, Muka enthusiast.

“Rāranga helped me to reactivate the cognition of my brain” – Marlene, Rāranga practitioner and stroke survivor

GROUP 2 – Kaupapa Applied: Te rourou aroha recipients

“The emotions and feelings that came forth during the process was deep, it took me back to times in my childhood, it helped me see my day in a different perspective and gave me a hopeful outlook for the future. All in one moment. I think raranga would be beneficial for all but especially for those with addictions, illness of the mind, those that have suffered hideous injustices in any way shape or form. To experience something that brings you closer to yourself as a person...is worth the effort. Weaving should be part of recovery, if anything it will make you more aware of what you want. Jehovah God has provided the land with giving means and by availing ourselves of these means along with different techniques, we too can follow suit, pay it forward and give to others 📷” – Kacey, Te Rourou Aroha recipient

“First day weaving and I had never made a flower with harakeke before, so it was a new experience. It frustrated me a little because it wasn’t as perfect as I wanted it to be, but I did the job and finished it. Moving onto the second flower became easier but still frustrated. But not because of the flower, because of what I was thinking of and talking about at the time… I was happy I was getting better the more flowers I was doing, but annoyed that while doing it you could see in the harakeke how I was feeling inside, the spaces in the flower were like a sign, not a good sign either…

It felt like I was showing the broken pieces of my soul,…

And the roughness of it showed the willingness to hide the imperfections I feel inside. Although making flowers felt frustrating, and felt like you were showing your true self, or being naked in a way, it did feel good to get it out. It helped me to feel even if it wasn’t the feelings I wanted”. – Victoria – Te Rourou aroha recipient.

Results and Conclusion

In conclusion, through practising rāranga we are discovering how our interaction with harakeke symbolises and reveals our interactions within ourselves and our environment. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the benefits of rāranga for health. My overall aim is to facilitate spaces of growth through learning and manaakitanga. To give Māori a healthier life, we need to know what health is to Māori. Health to Māori is the recognition and care for our tinana, wairua, hinengaro and whānau. Art is a form of communication, it is a safe platform to say the hard things. Cultural based therapy is recognition of a marginalised position, of being generationally disenfranchised. Cultural based therapy is an act of embrace in a world where we are expected to walk as only a fraction of our truth. Rāranga is a means through which we can express ourselves safely, be in touch with our culture, be recognised as individuals within our community and thereby catering to wairua, hinengaro, tinana and whānau.

Citation

Waru-Keelan, Z. (2018). Te rourou aroha: Healing through raranga.

In text citation

(Waru-Keelan, 2018)