Mātauranga Māori: A cornerstone for this whānau of innovators

In communities across Aotearoa, people are coming together to spark change through innovation. Working alongside these communities is the dedicated Healthy Families NZ workforce, which includes three siblings from the Te Moananui – Collier whānau.

Although each sibling is working in a different Healthy Families NZ location team, their mahi within the Healthy Families NZ movement is grounded in the values they were raised with; manaakitanga, a strong work ethic, and a belief that mātauranga Māori holds powerful solutions for today’s challenges. We sat down with them to explore the journey that led them to the kaupapa and how those childhood values continue to guide the work they do today.

At Taharua Marae, Paeroa, siblings Kristen Te Moananui (Healthy Families Waitākere), Hinemoana Te Moananui – Collier (Healthy Families Te Ngiira), and Rereahu Te Moananui – Collier (Healthy Families South Auckland) reflected on the legacy passed down to them by their māmā, Stacey Te Moananui.

Through their laughter and playful teasing, a picture emerged of an upbringing rooted in te ao Māori and shaped by a deep aroha, and commitment to serve the community. “Ko te ao Māori te mātāmua¹,” says Rereahu. “It’s a guiding principle in our whānau, to be grounded in te ao Māori, and to share that not just with our own, but with our wider communities too.”

A māmā and whāngai (foster) to many, and a teacher by trade, Stacey Te Moananui is a leader across multiple spaces. The values she instilled in her tamariki, continue to shape not just who they are, but also how they serve their respective communities. “Manaakitanga is a massive one in our whānau,” says Hinemoana. “Ahakoa ko wai, ahakoa nō whea, puare ana ngā tatau o tō tātou nei whare² and that’s probably evident in my māmā.”

As these siblings continue to walk their own paths illuminated by whakapapa, they share a common purpose; uplifting mātauranga Māori to enhance health and wellbeing for communities.

Mātauranga Māori as Innovation:

Mātauranga Māori is powerful vehicle for supporting hauora. Each sibling, in their own respective roles for Healthy Families NZ, weaves ancestral knowledge into contemporary contexts. This demonstrates that innovation isn’t always about creating something new, but sometimes it’s about returning to ways of the past.

For Kristen, her journey into systems change and innovation has been a natural convergence of the world she was raised in and the professions she’s pursued. With a background in both dentistry and education, she brings a unique lens to her mahi with Healthy Families Waitākere, using her skills and lived experience to bridge western and indigenous knowledge systems.

“For me, as a Māori Systems Innovator, it’s about designing initiatives that centre and uplift our mātauranga,” she explains. “Both my and my siblings mahi focuses on Māori systems return, so we’re constantly thinking about how our ancestral knowledge can be used in practical, meaningful ways to support our hapori and improve hauora.”

Kristen’s whakaaro are echoed by her sister Hinemoana, whose mahi is driven by a deep hunger to uplift te ao Māori in her home of Hauraki. “He mate hiakai mō tō tātou nei ao Māori, ki konei [ki Hauraki nei]. Ko te hiahia ō ētahi ō o mātou whānau te hoki atu ki ō rātou marae, ki ō rātou pā kainga³, and so if I can support them through my mahi, better yet if we can support in a way where we are improving health outcomes alongside that, then [we will be better for it].”

Through her role at Healthy Families Te Ngira, Hinemoana uses innovation as a tool to centre and elevate whānau voices and values, and to create space for mātauranga Māori to redefine how community understand wellbeing. “I love working with my own, in my own rohe, serving my own people,” she shares. “Collaborating in the hopes that together, we can make positive changes.”

He anga whakamua

Te Wharehuia Milroy once said, “Kia tai pari whakapiki waka te whakaaro – be the tide that raises ships.” It’s a powerful call to collective action: a reminder that our thinking and actions must uplift whānau and create conditions for them to thrive. As Rereahu reflects, it’s about returning to that space “to elevate whānau health, to elevate wellbeing within our spaces, and to bring our whānau back into a regenerative approach.”

This is the future that the Te Moananui – Collier whānau are shaping. Their strength lies not just in moving across systems but in how they do it: grounded in legacy and an unwavering worldview. Mātauranga Māori is not an addition to their work; it is the foundation. It guides how they reshape environments, challenge assumptions, and influences change from the inside out.

1. Te ao Māori is the priority.

2. Regardless of who you are, or where you are from, the doors of our house were open.

3. There is a yearning for our ao Māori, here in Hauraki. Some of our families want to return to their marae, to their pā kainga.