Mahi a Atua: Awakening Indigenous resistance through the voices of our Atua

Abstract

Indigenous resistance comes in many forms, such as attendance at Rangi Parauri (a five-day a-tinana wānanga) aimed at addressing institutional racism, healing, and reconnection for participants. This article unpacks the Mataora (change agents who attend Rangi Parauri) journeys of four wāhine (Māori women), three social work educators, and a healthcare worker in Radiology, who attended the Rangi Parauri training in October 2024. This article promotes not only speaking our truths in the form of narration (pūrākau) but also holds space for discussion and experiences, which centres around our own traditional ways of healing and transforming. Colonial forces are heavily indoctrinated into our everyday lives; therefore, taking five days out of a year to RE-learn and RE-claim and RE-remember our birthright as tangata whenua (people of the land) is essential to reconnect with the learnings and teachings of our tūpuna within our ancestral spaces. The training provoked thought on a personal level through stories and narratives, inviting participants to sit with a range of emotions as highlights of the wānanga are revealed. This way of writing allows Indigenous storytelling and emancipation to be showcased and is grounded in kaupapa Māori narrative praxis whilst utilising pūrākau and wheako as method.