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Tangata · Researcher

Meretini Bennett-Huxtable

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Rautaki Māori

I was born in Whanganui and raised in Taihape, where I now live as a mum to three young mana wahine on our ancestral lands in Mōkai Pātea. I'm raising our girls in the lessons of sustainability and survival with the whenua whether as a gardener, hunter, gatherer or diver immersed in our taiao. We live flanked by the landmarks and sites of significance as told through our whakapapa.

An eagerness from a young age to learn the intricate art of whakapapa, under my mother's watchful eye, has helped to acquire transferable skills in building relationships, networking and collaborating. I have always been passionate about the wisdom of our tupuna, and I believe that this wisdom can help us as Māori to live vibrant and healthy lives.

I have been actively part of the movement of Maramataka in the Whanganui, Rangitīkei and Ruapehu region since 2017, however I have been a practitioner of it from birth. This passion for Maramataka has led me into dynamic and innovative mahi that is oriented around increasing community and whānau wellbeing through the active application of mātauranga Māori. I am currently employed as a Lead Systems Innovator at Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitīkei Ruapehu where I get to mobilise with our communities to explore and think innovatively, developing opportunities to tell and measure our own narrative as indigenous people.

Rangahau · Related projects

Matakitenga project

23MR07 Whakarongo, titiro, korikori kōrero ki ngā wāhine – exploring embodied and reciprocal healing relationship with our natural environments
Kaiārahi · Project lead Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Whare wānanga · Host Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Matakitenga · Framework
Wā rangahau · Timeline Commenced 2023 · Completed 2024

Māori (and Indigenous) women engage in embodied relationship with the natural environment in a range of ways, such as raranga, rongoā, or physical activity. This research explored what these embodied relationships can teach us about the potential for reciprocal healing between wahine and whenua, person and place, by developing a network of Māori and…

View project

Ētahi atu · Other people