Vision: Kaupapa Tupeka Kore
In 2006, in preparation for the Smokefree Symposium, Iain Potter CEO from the HSC asked if I,
along with other speakers, could present a vision statement on where I felt the
future of tobacco use lay within a Māori worldview.
The
term
‘Tupeka Kore’
was the result of
that vision seeking and a discussion with my colleague at the time Skye Kimura.
It described a Māori worldview that removed tobacco from within the community that was determined by Māori. This
was the kōrero
that was carried to
the Symposium. It was seen as progressing the
Auahi Kore
agenda to another evolutionary stage.
Tobacco industry
The
core kaupapa
is
clear and unambiguous as it highlights and then attacks the core product - the root cause of this
epidemic been continually imposed on Māori. Effectively the tobacco industry operates in a ‘business as usual’ mode with no direct
consequences for the carnage it creates within our communities.
5000
New Zealanders, 600 of which are Māori, die prematurely each year with no
accountability or responsibility taken against the actions of this industry. A focus on undermining a perceived legitimacy and right to operate in Aotearoa needs to be challenged.
Government responsibility
A discussion of Government complicity in supporting the
continued existence of the tobacco industry, despite the overwhelming public health evidence, must also be addressed openly and frankly. A justification, to not only Māori but all New Zealanders, by the Government for this industries continued operation would be keenly welcomed.
Considering the rapid Government response to concerns regarding BZP party pills, that accounted for
no loss of life
, one can only wonder why a product that accounts for
5000
lives is
not
considered with the same urgency or due care by Government.
Auahi Kore-Smokefree
Kaupapa Tupeka Kore is complimentary to the Auahi Kore-Smokefree programme that is run from the Health Sponsorship Council. The reality is that one requires a stepping stone for some individuals, whānau , hapū and iwi before Kaupapa Tupeka Kore is fully enabled.
Community focused
Kaupapa Tupeka Kore
is a community action initiative that
does not have a brand or social marketing programme/campaign applied to it.
Effectively it is a statement of tino
rangatiratanga
by our community, with support from our workforce, to assist
in its development and sustainability.
To
enable this kaupapa
to spread there
will need to be leadership from this sector that carries the kōrero
to the people.
It will also require energy and passion to have the kaupapa
taken on-board by individuals, whānau
, hapū
and iwi.
Tikanga – Kawa: A Māori response
Tikanga1.
(noun)
correct procedure, custom, habit, lore, method, manner, rule, way, code,
meaning, reason, plan, practice, convention.
2.
(noun)
correct, right.
Kawa
1. (noun)
marae protocol - customs of the marae and wharenui, particularly those related to formal activities such
as pōhiri, speeches and mihimihi.
Kaupapa Tupeka Kore is envisaged as a platform for engaging Māori by utilising tikanga and kawa as tools that will influence social and cultural behaviour. If tobacco use is approached within a cultural framework there are opportunities to invoke and determine the use of tikanga and kawa.For example Kaupapa Tupeka Kore might be used to define a tikanga that stopped the carrying of tobacco onto specific places of importance for a hapū or iwi – wāhi tapu, marae, maunga, awa etc.
This
approach would be a major shift in how Māori determined public health issues,
such as tobacco, and what was deemed an appropriate cultural response. The
challenge for Māori communities, and for those leading the institutionalisation
of Kaupapa Tupeka Kore,
is to
ultimately see the tikanga
embedded
in Māori procedure, lore and practice in what is seen as a normalised position
to take.
Legislation/regulation
has a valuable function for enabling strategies on the tobacco control agenda.
By its very nature it is a Government process that employs its legal framework
to impact on behavioural change in the broader population. This process will
benefit Māori to varying degrees.
Examples
Marae:
A marae
would use tikanga
to modify
behaviour.
Kaupapa Tupeka Kore
would
mean that no tobacco can be brought onto the marae
as it would breach the tikanga
determined by the tāngata whenua.
Maunga/awa/wāhi tapu/roto/kainga
Events: Numerous events ranging from hui
, kapa
haka, Pā Wars,
reunions, birthdays, etc can take place throughout the rohe
. These events could have a
Kaupapa Tupeka Kore
focus.
To make a cultural change the norm within Māori-dom then the only law is the LORE.
He moemoea – whakaaro
Following
a meeting with Māori working within the community the following whakaaro
was put forward to capture what
the overwhelming views were at that small hui:
‘Kia mau te kaupapa
Tupeka Kore mō ngā uri Māori’
To
take up the kaupapa
for future
generations of Māori is truly a vision of ridding tobacco from our lives as
Māori. Māori can celebrate a victory over an industry and a product that has
been a major burden on health (morbidity/mortality & inequalities), economics
and the ability to maintain the integrity of cultural transference of mātauranga
Māori for generations to
come.
Ka
whawhai tōnu mātou
Currently
smoking prevalence rates are at 44% for Māori. The urgency required to
bring these rates down into the 30s then 20s and beyond will need ongoing
(re)dedication and a change in strategic direction.
Government
rhetoric that Māori are the priority community is not matched with the necessary funding
or resourcing for such massive decline in Māori prevalence rates.
Kaupapa Tupeka Kore
is a way forward as it is the
community that determines and controls its destiny. But the kaupapa
will need mass mobilisation and support to realise the
benefits from such a commitment.
Some problems are considered to be as
hard as moving a mountain
He ngaru moana, me te ihu o te waka e
wāhi.
But others can be solved as easily as
the prow of a canoe parts the sea