ABSTRACT
Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand) experience notable inequities in access to and use of health services, and in health outcomes. A Māori worldview positions physical health as a factor influenced by and influencing one’s environment, whānau (family), whakapapa (genealogy and histories) and wairua (spiritual element). In this chapter we begin by discussing these aspects of a Māori worldview that influence our health and wellbeing as Māori. Using traditional oral sources and contemporary mātauranga Māori (knowledge) based approaches, we introduce Māori values, beliefs and practices underpinning physical wellbeing, contrasting an Indigenous worldview of hauora (health and wellbeing) with mainstream approaches. We review the many external forces that have impacted and continue to impact our physical wellbeing; provide an overview of the current status of physical wellbeing for Māori; and then present some recent responses to the state of Māori physical health. We conclude that strategies to improve Māori physical health and wellbeing are more likely to succeed when they build on a mātauranga Māori foundation; incorporate Māori values; and are driven by Māori themselves.
