Pania Newton (Ngāpuhi, Waikato, Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Maniapoto) is a cofounder of and a spokesperson for the SOUL Campaign. She is a law and health sciences graduate of the University of Auckland and was a contributor to the Mātike Mai Constitutional Transformation Initiative.

Frances Hancock (Irish Pākehā) is an Honorary Academic in Te Puna Wānanga, The School of Māori and Indigenous Education, at the University of Auckland, and a SOUL supporter.

Abstract : Tihei wā mauri ora: Activating a call to action for justice

We live in challenging and uncertain times. COVID-19 not only stopped the world in its tracks but also illuminates existing problems. Tihei wā mauri ora responds with the breath of life and a call to action, to protect, to speak and be heard, to enact respectful relationships. Indigenous Peoples have been living their own experiences of lockdown for many generations due to the ongoing effects of colonisation. Working to achieve justice at Ihumātao, we applied lessons from our past, to our current context, while looking to our future. We inevitably encountered challenges and drew on Indigenous ways of knowing and being to inspire our working relationships. Enacting a Kaupapa of Respect, we became whānau – people mobilised for a shared purpose. Working together cultivated an enlivening sense of faith, possibility and hope also expressed in Tihei wā mauri ora! The values at work in a Kaupapa of Respect can be applied in other settings and show how to sustain hope, embody trust, build unity through diversity and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Presenters