Taurikura: A transformative te ao Māori approach to swimming for māmā and pēpī
“He pukenga wai he hononga tāngata. He hononga tāngata, he pukenga kōrero.”
“Where water meets, people meet. Where people meet, knowledge flows.”
Taurikura swimming class. The investment from Comet Swimming Club into Taurikura over the last three terms is over $5,000 which has allowed our māmā and pēpi to continue.
TAURIKURA is working to harness the power of mātauranga māori in a transformative approach to swimming and water confidence.
Te Tairāwhiti is surrounded by 80% of water, between 2012 – 2022, 50% of drownings in Gisborne occurred at beaches. All-year round activities involving water is common practice for the region. Subsequently the region continues to be impacted by severe weather events including significant flooding in some areas, the importance of water safety and water confidence is paramount for the region.
From a Te Ao Māori perspective, the relationship with water is considered important to many of our tikanga and kawa (protocols and practices). Most believe that we are born from water, it is a giver of life and the connection to water is embedded in our cultural identity. However our drowning rates paint a different picture.
Drowning is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide (WHO, 2014). Last year, Māori accounted for 31% of all drownings in Aotearoa, New Zealan d despite only making up 17.1% of the population (Statistics New Zealand, 2021; Water Safety New Zealand, 2021). The 2021 Māori drowning toll was slightly higher than 2020, and 43% higher than the five-year average, recording the highest number of Māori drownings since 2001 (Water Safety New Zealand, 2021). Most of these drownings for Māori occurred while swimming (Water Safety New Zealand, 2021).
Tomairangi Higgins (Healthy Families East Cape, Manager), is a current board member of Comet Swimming Club. Tomairangi first attended learn to swim lessons with the club when she was 5 years old, making this kaupapa a full circle moment for her and her whānau. Comet established in 1958, earlier this year was unsuccessful in their application for the learn to swim tender, which was awarded to an overseas provider for the newly established Kiwa Pools. Comet still run lessons out of the Elgin School swimming pool. They recently won the Best Swimming Club Innovation Award for 2023, the Taurikura kaupapa formed part of the application for the award.
“I feel deeply connected with the kaupapa and whānau in this space. I am truly
blessed to be able to hold and grow this space for our māmā, pāpā, pepi and
whanau where we combine valuable swimming skills, positive experiences,
Waiata, Kōrero, Te Ao Maōri as one. I hope to encourage more whānau to come
and be a part of this kaupapa.””
After the birth of her first baby in January 2023 Tomairangi inquired about swimming lessons that could be offered to māmā and pēpi through another sub provider, they incurred a number of barriers including long wait lists and costs. Through Tomairangi’s relationship with Comet Swimming Club she approached them with the idea to run classes for māmā and pēpi. Within a couple of weeks, funding had been secured to offer free lessons to 10 māori māmā and their pēpi between the ages of 3 to 6 months. The Taurikura kaupapa began to take shape, with a building and flying the plane approach started. We have named this kaupapa Taurikura this translation means 'to be prosperous, to be thriving". This is the opportunity we are giving both our māmā and their pēpi through building a positive connection to waiora.
Through a systems mapping exercise, the Healthy Families East Cape team uncovered that there is a need for more water safety and confidence classes to be offered. Taurikura is the only kaupapa offering classes to babies under 4 years of age. Other providers are focusing on high needs tamariki or tamariki 4 years and over. There were over 1200 Māori pēpi born in Te Tairāwhiti between 2022 and 2023. Healthy Families East Cape’s aspiration is that Taurikura is able to be scaled and offer classes beyond the 10 māmā and pēpi the kaupapa is currently serving. From a health prevention lens, we can see the potential and the need for these classes to be offered in the future.
Healthy Families East Cape, has been partnering with a number of kaupapa partners using
maramataka to understand our natural environment and how the marana has an impact on our
overall health and wellbeing. The Taurikura prototype seeks to harness the power of mātauranga
māori by using the maramataka to guide the lessons, waiata and karakia māori as a form of
transitional knowledge while normalising te reo māori in places we live, learn work and play.
We recently asked our māmā to share their experiences with us, and this is what they has to share:
These swimming lessons with my pēpi have been an incredible bonding experience. Starting at just 3 month old, my pēpi and I embarked on the best journey of wai exploration.
Justine has been simply amazing, her patience and skill in teaching and ensuring Xaves safety in the water have made every lesson enjoyable and reassuring.
My cousins and I grew up swimming for Comet and to be welcomed back as a parent has been awesome. Comet has been so responsive generous and community- minded with the Taurikura kaupapa. Taurikura has given us the opportunity to learn, play and connect with other whānau in the wai.
I would love to see Taurikura thriving with more pēpi and matua , with older tamariki and their wider whānau.
Love sharing this swimming experience with my darling girl and seeing the joy she gets from it. Thank you so much Comet for the opportunity to grow our confidence in the water.
As a first time māmā being able to bring our pēpi to the Taurikura classes with Comet has been an amazing experience. Being a coastal nation, swimming should be a normal part of our lives of our tamariki. Being able to introduce our daughter to wai through these classes we hope the hononga (relationship) she establishes with wai will enable her to be safe and enjoy many waterways throughout the rest of her life.
Since starting her in swimming I have noticed her love for water unfold as well as my confidence in her being around it. We still have a long way to go in learning how to swim but these classes have been a great way to start.
Healthy Families East Cape are continuing to partner and have conversations that seek to elevate the growth of Taurikura into the future.